If there’s one car I dislike, it’s the Scorpio. It has many influential cousins, all equally dislike-able, including the Outlander, Endeavour and the Land Rover. Well, the cars look good by themselves, I must admit. Its what happens to normal, decent, ordinary (though rich) people when they get behind the wheel of these metal tanks.
The driver of the typical urban SUV is reckless, fast, mannerless and uncaring. It is, I am certain, the result of the perception of power that one acquires in the insulated safety of a steel-encased tank, a perception fed adequately by the silly media industry that extols you to buy the monster for its power & go-anywhere feature (though a fraction of these monsters are actually used on roads they are designed to ‘conquer’). How else do you explain its bearing down on you as you cross the road, horn blaring and lights flashing, as though it were taking a patient on his last breath to hospital? Why else would politicians, for instance, and dodgy businessmen make SUVs (primarily the Scorpio because of its relatively low price) their vehicles of choice?
Reality often beguiles perception. I wondered if anyone had done any research work on the possible link between SUVs and self esteem (and its ugly side, narcissism). In the lovely book, The Spirit Level, I came across an excerpt posted below (with much delight):
“…the popularity of SUVs suggest a preoccupation with looking tough & reflects growing mistrust and the need to feel safe from others. Josh Lauer, in his paper, ‘Driven to extremes’, asked why military ruggedness became prized above speed or sleekness and what the rise of the SUV said about American society. He concluded that the trend reflected American attitudes towards crime and violence, an admiration for rugged individualism and the importance of shutting oneself off from contact with others – mistrust. Accompanying the rise in SUVs were other signs of Americans’ increased uneasiness and fear of one another: growing numbers of gated communities and increasing sales of home security systems.”
QED
