"poor us" Top Gear lot

So were there any racist comments made on this years TG special, or are people just repeating complaints from old editions?

Well, if TG can repeat a load of tedious old shite on a regular basis, I don’t see why we can’t too.
🙂

Does anyone doubt that Clarkson actually is racist?

I suspect (being an editor) this show has been very carefully put together to not add anything else to Clarkson’s naughty boy list.

In keeping with their general sense of humour I would be shocked if there weren’t plenty of references to the war on the cutting room floor this time around given the potential back-lash involved.

The number plate seems exactly like the kind of joke they would try to pull off to me. When it dramatically backfired the sympathy edit was put together.

Pure speculation but that’s how it reads.

As someone who rarely leaves the shores of Britain, I rely on the Top Gear specials to learn about other countries and cultures…

(They’re a bit like the old 1970s ‘Holiday’ programme, but with V8s and more in-depth cultural insights.)

It’s even on reddit. Top Gear, not STW.[/url]

MRD (RIP) applies

Yep, me too. I’m hoping Hammond and May would have a good laugh at my nuanced humour when I tipped a pint over Jezza’s head.

Fixed

The Facebook link assumes that the car came from Dudley (using the FK in FKL) The identifier is the KL, which is Maidstone in Kent.
There are currently 5 Porsche dealers around Maidstone and 3 around Dudley (Google maps) How many were there around 1990?

TG production team based in London, next to Kent. Does JC choose his car, or does a researcher do that?

IMHO it’s inexcusable to use terms that are known to be offensive

In the late 80s early 90s there was only 1 Porsche dealer in Maidstone. However until a year or so ago there was a DVLA office in Maidstone, so the KL suffix could have been allocated from there to any other nearby dealer.
What I thought was telling is that until the end, there were so many comments about the Falklands, how nice it was there and being diplomatic etc that it was either setting up to a planned finale or a hasty bit of filming after getting wind of the possible trouble to play innocent.
We all know they don’t buy the cars, but thought it was a bit blatant that on the mustang key set you could clearly see a tag with RH on it!

And post of the thread is:

Rusty Spanner – Member
Well, if TG can repeat a load of tedious old shite on a regular basis, I don’t see why we can’t too.

Close second:

deadlydarcy – Member
…I think they might have been a bit pissed off when they found out that one of them wasn’t even a real hamster.

Calling all Mexicans lazy, or all Scots people fat, or all Scousers work shy, or all Irish people thick, or Welsh people sheep botherers, those are (inaccurate) but commonly used stereotypes used for humorous effect, and have been for decades. The INTENT in their use is for fun, not to offend.

Aah – the good old “Bernard Manning Defence”.

We need more angst and more investigation behind this story..

Off you go!

Not like it’s not been done before, but why let that spoil a good riding day eh.. 🙄

and pity yopu deleted your post Kryton.

I can put it back. I stated that Dr J’s comment…

I said that if MCTD could defend using a sterotype of Mexicans because it is outdated, then logically he must defend an outdated stereotype of black people and consider it ok to use the “n” word, which he specifically did not. In other words his position, such as it is, is not consistent.

… is entirely wrong. The “N” word is not a stereotypical description of black people, its a word intended to cause offence regardless of who uses it and therefore is not acceptable in any context.

And to add to the rest of the context of this thread; these so called “nuances” were only deemed acceptable when our society was more secular. FWIW I grew up in a small sussex white english only village and was constantly and with ignorance bombard with jokes about other races and no one batted an eyelid. However, society and for the sake of this thread – Top Gear – is now so much in the national and international public eye the audience which is the recipient of such comments is far greater, and the target of the comment more likely to experience it.

I won’t excuse Clarkson, he has the will to refuse to speak the comment, but the producers etc are also responsible for the script an subsequent editing, which they must appreciate will be experienced by a large number of potentially offended people. Its Marketing 101 btw, and the fact that this thread exists shows TG has been successful in marketing it own exposure.

As an aside, I didn’t understand the “Peugeot in Chile” issue – anyone care to enlighte me?

The “N” word is not a stereotypical description of black people, its a word intended to cause offence regardless of who uses it and therefore is not acceptable in any context.

No reason why it can’t be both, is there?

Yes. Its highly offensive to black people, and is not a “descriptor” or “nuance” of a race / culture. Its a word intended to offend and was created for and is continued to be used that purpose only.

Your welcome to come to dinner at ours and try out your theory on my wifes uncles, I wont charge you to use the phone for the resulting 999.

What do you suppose my “theory” is?

I don’t doubt for a second that it’s highly offensive word – that’s not the point. However, it IS a descriptor, describing a skin colour, and I remember my grandfather using it to describe a person as such, without intending insult. It’s different in degree from most other racial appellations, but not different in kind.

Dr J are you black? If no please go an have the conversation with someone who is and update us with the result.

Cheers

Conversation about what? As I already said, that word is highly offensive and I wouldn’t dream of using it.

Nor would I make a TV show suggesting that all Mexicans are lazy.

I’m wondering what you’re actually disagreeing with me about?

The N word is widely used by black people. So the offense IMO is very context specific.

Top Gear is one of the BBC’s most successful programmes, its hugely popular here and abroad. I very much doubt Clarkson is on his last official warning, the BBC well know he “is the programme”. The BBC own the rights to the format but they know if Clarkson went out on his own he could easily attract the funding to create his own show. All this is PC gone mad. I read today “It Ain’t Half Hot Mum” has been banned from re-runs since 2013.

Its a word intended to offend and was created for and is continued to be used that purpose only.

N WORD [ edited out by me t says the word to be clear] is a noun in the English language. The word originated as a neutral term referring to black people,[1] as a variation of the Spanish/Portuguese noun negro, a descendant of the Latin adjective niger (“color black”)

WIKI

just as **** is an abbreviation of Pakistani but the meaning has changed over time. It was not created to be racist it became racist from use.

All this is PC gone mad

why not defend the use of racist language rather than do this lazy insult?

We’ve caught up via iPlayer now…

I’m going it ignore all the highly nuanced posts above and just say… that I enjoyed the show.

The N word is widely used by black people. So the offense IMO is very context specific.

Its use is equally condemned by the black Community in general

why not defend the use of racist language rather than do this lazy insult?

My post was a reference to all the fuss about Top Gear and Clarkson in particular. IMO it’s only got the coverage it has because the BBC is a publically funded broadcaster and Clarkson makes £3m-5m a year from it.

@Kryton – really ? I see and hear it being used all the time by black movie stars and music industry people.

jambalaya – Member

@Kryton – really ? I see and hear it being used all the time by black movie stars and music industry people.

How many times have you used it to greet black people you meet in everyday life?

How can I pitch my idea for a TV show to the BBC? No need for big budget shipping crew and gear to the other end of the planet. It should however generate similar controversy for a thousandth of the budget.

Nigel Farage, Katy Hopkins and Jeremy Vine go for a spot of greenlaning. But get this, they are in a Triumph TR7, a Rover SD1 and a Lotus Elan. To make it in to some sort of challenge, let’s pick arbitrary starting points like London to Brighton. Plenty of opportunity to film them driving in circles around muddy fields, and we could probably get some Polish labourers in to help them build a ‘Wall of Death’ stunt. Oh, and they have to buy and cook their own lunch from an Asian supermarket. We’ll get about as far as the Surrey Hills before an angry mob of STWers tut them out of the county.

I appreciate we will need a figurine to sell, so I propose an anonymous figure called ‘The Molgrips’ that humourously fails to overtake at any point in the trip.

@jimjam but I am not black, nor am I a Hollywood movie star or in the music business, so I understand it’s not a term I can’t use.

The vast majority of Spurs fans are not Jewish but the crowd chant “Yid Army” to mock those who try and insult the club for having ties to the Jewish community. There are those in the football hierarchy that would prefer they didn’t do it but they do.

There’s no point arguing about this.

Some people think it’s ok to use certain words whereas others know it’s not.

There was a thread a couple of years ago about a particular word used to refer to a Chinese takeaway – the general consensus was that it was ok to use that word.

I’m married to a Chinese lady, and I know her family are offended by that word. I spoke about that particular thread over dinner at the MiL, and my brother in law said even though I wasn’t saying it maliciously and was referring to a thread when I said that word his stomach turned and he was reminded of being bullied by racists at school.

He also suggested that anyone who thought it was ok to use that word might be a little slow.

The key thing for me is just that the format is so painfully, painfully tired. I haven’t watched it regularly for a long time but, d’you know what, whenever I do dip into it, it’s no different to any other episode they’ve ever done. Same format, same items, same jokes. Bored.

What’s perhaps more offensive than Clarkson’s gob is the considerable planning that goes into the programme’s ‘jolly japes’ that insult other nations and cultures. Flying to Germany in Spitfires? Gay innuendo in the deeply religious deep south of the USA? Driving British registered cars to the Argentinian port from where the Belgrano crew fatefully sailed to their deaths at the hands of the British?

The Top Gear production team know exactly what they are doing but clearly value ratings and income over insulting ‘Johnny Foreigner’.

Samuel L Jackson – N word in Django script vs Jay Z lyrics – there are lots of videos/interviews etc on this

link

Flying to Germany in Spitfires? Gay innuendo in the deeply religious deep south of the USA? Driving British registered cars to the Argentinian port from where the Belgrano crew fatefully sailed to their deaths at the hands of the British?

I would have thought Sacha Barren Cohen’s Borat/Bruno would be far more insulting to the conservative US. Being Jewish he can make anti-semitic jokes too.

What’s wrong with flying Spitfires to Germany ? I’ve been to plenty of air displays with German aircraft.

Funny how they didn’t take the pee so much on their Middle Eastern trip isn’t it? There would have been a bit more than stones being thrown if they had.

would have thought Sacha Barren Cohen’s Borat/Bruno would be far more insulting to the conservative US. Being Jewish he can make anti-semitic jokes too.

What’s wrong with flying Spitfires to Germany ? I’ve been to plenty of air displays with German aircraft.

Is more nuance again, I’m so lost here I have no idea who to argue with!!

@aa now we have your attention how is your knee ?

Getting better thanks. The physio has given me permission to take the road bike off the hamster wheel and go outside!!! No MTB though!!

Are you even a real hamster?

To be fair to the BBC, they have now extended their helpline. It was for those initially troubled with any television series, but now extended specifically for TG. I wonder if it will help the troubled?

Are you even a real hamster?

LOL