Let’s stop playing games and start profiling. That seems to be the sentiment emerging from some quarters in reaction to the furor over TSA groping. The terrorists have by and large been male and Islamic, the argument goes, and, well, we know how to pick them out. No need to prod and poke nuns, eight year olds and octogenarians.
I’m reminded of the band of cutthroats lining up for work in “Blazing Saddles.” Nazis, banditos, Ku Klux Klansmen. It was obvious every one of them was a bad guy.
Assumptions are tricky though. I just learned as much in a slightly embarrassing turn. Speaking of favorite movies, a few nights ago I found myself watching “Amadaeus,” the classic Milos Forman take on Peter Shaffer’s Mozart play.
As I watched F. Murray Abraham’s remarkable Oscar-winning portrayal of Italian court composer Antonio Salieri, I thought to myself. “Wow, what an unlikely selection for the role: a Jewish actor from the stages of New York.”
A couple taps on the keyboard revealed that all my assumptions — based, yes, on a name and appearance — were entirely wrong. Abraham is the product of a Christian Syrian father and an Italian mother, and he grew up near El Paso, Texas. Well, well. But he earned that Oscar, God bless him. And I learned a lesson.
