Please Remove Your Shoes

Anybody who has been through airport security with a critical mind must have wondered just what is the point of frisking the 80 year old lady in front of them, what danger a bottle of water actually represents and whether there is really any point in removing one's computer from its case.

The answer this film gives is, as a lot of people suspect, that this is all security theater - designed not to increase security but rather the perception of security. It's main concern is to give the traveling public reassurance rather than actual safety.

Narrated by former TSA agents and air marshals, this film gives an alarming insight into the reality of airport security. The testers of security (red team) who were beating security so often that they were withdrawn - they made the agency look bad. The focus on whistle-blowers rather than the real concerns which they illuminated. In one case the screeners caught the water bottle at the top of the bag, removed it and passed the bag back to the red team member with the assembled bomb still in place at the bottom of the bag.

This film is a damning indictment of the bureaucracy that is the TSA. It also should be a real worry to anyone who is planning on flying anytime soon.