Airports Get Their Pop Culture Close-Up

U.S. television shows and movies are increasingly being set in airports. See: “The Terminal,” “Airport,” and the upcoming series, “LAX.” In a post-9/11 world, the question is: Why? John Leland explored the phenomenon in Sunday’s New York Times, quoting the usual suspects, like Pico Iyer, and getting some keen cultural insight from the likes of Karal Ann Marling, a professor of popular culture at the University of Minnesota. “[Steven] Spielberg did something very smart in ‘The Terminal’ to emphasize that the airport is one giant shopping mall,” Professor Marling tells Leland. “It’s a dodge game we play with ourselves to pretend airports aren’t airports. In that shopping world, it’s obvious that the management is going to take great care of you and nothing evil can happen to you. It distracts travelers from the possibility that they will meet bin Laden on the next flight. How can you be afraid when there’s a Gap next to you?”

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