More Than Meets the Eye

With Transformers 4 opening this weekend, my mind thought of their old tagline, “More than meets the eye” from years past when I saw the photo image topping this blog post on Facebook today.

Far too often, we judge or simply assess others by what we “see”. This is the very essence of stereotyping, judging based upon appearances. Yet our eyes can too often lead us astray. I’ve loved magic since I was a child, and one of the first principles any magician learns is the principle of “illusion”, making people think they see something they actually do not see. Stereotyping is itself an “illusion” as it leads us to assumptions based on what our eyes tell us we see.

I often ask audiences to “close your eyes and imagine you have just been attacked. Think of your attacker, what do they look like, what are they wearing, how tall are they, how heavy are they, do they have anything in their hands, what car are they driving, etc?” Then I have them open their eyes and the very first question I then ask is, “First of all, how many of you imagined being attacked by a ‘male’ attacker?” Almost universally (if the audience is honest), all hands go up. I understand the logic of the assumption — but it is an assumption. To “assume” a woman cannot pose us harm, to “assume” a child cannot lure us into harm’s way, to “assume” an elderly person cannot entice us into a vulnerable situation is not simply assumption — it is presumption!

The image used for this post is a chilling one, but a sobering one, a reminder to us all of what is possible if we remove the blinders of stereotyping. The person we “see” as a potential attacker may, in fact, be our “Good Samaritan”. Those we “see” as our potential rescuers may, in fact, be our potential enemies or accomplices of our enemy. Or at very least, those who just stand around and “video” our attack for later social media sharing. In fact, the moral of the story regarding the “Good Samaritan” is that you cannot judge people by their appearances, as the usual suspects passed by the man in need, while the most UNUSUAL of suspects was the one to stop and help.

There is “more than meets the eye” to almost everyone we encounter on a daily basis, but this is especially true regarding those who could potentially mean us harm. Names such as Ted Bundy, Joran van der Sloot, George Huguely, and a host of others (Google the names) line the gallery of those that most would have never suspected what brutality lied beneath their boy-next-door or Boyscout appearance. And that holds true for any Girlscout appearances as well.

No, stereotyping is NEVER a good thing! When evaluating those that could potentially mean you harm, whether meeting them offline, at a party, at a club/bar, or even at church, remember (regarding us all) there is “more than meets the eye”.

Jeff McKissack, Founder
Trouble Spotters