You are thinking it wrong about malware in pictures. They don’t act like an executable rather then injecting instructions to an executable program you are opening your picture in. In that case you don’t need the +x flag on your file. Think of it as a Trojan horse
https://gizmodo.com/malware-images-virus-photos-pictures-how-block-antiviru-1849572516 If you are more interested
Your assumption is wrong mail can contain executables. Picture can hold executable instructions and so do videos. For example videos and pictures in mail can contain virus. You are not safe just because you download movies and pictures