This Clarkson thing

Re: What a fuss about nothing

In any regard, multimillionaire Jeremy Clarkson will be alright one way or the other. Not like some people at risk of redundancy through no fault of their own, or the working poor who can't make ends meet. Thankfully Clarkson's good friend David Cameron has solved the cost of living crisis, so maybe all will good in the end and we can all get on with buying huge Aston Martins (as per Clarkson's recommendations) and we can sneer at affordable vehicles made by the likes of Kia, Hyundai, and so on?

Personally I find it extraordinary that Jeremy Clarkson is in more trouble for something he is accused of mumbling, rather than some of the stuff he has said out loud.

 

Its like being in a playground. Racism fvck me -_-

 

I quite like Jeremy Clarkson. Not his politics or whatever he rambles on about in The Sun (a lot of that isn't what he actually believes btw, he's paid to be controversial, to be a gob on legs), but because he reinvented Top Gear. I've no great interest in cars, but I love that show. I watch it with my wife, who has zero interest in cars. And that's the genius of the show, it gets people watching who care not a jot about the subject matter. That's a hell of a trick to pull off.

Top Gear has probably past its sell-by date now, but it makes the BBC far too much money to pull the plug. In the past it was innovative and ground breaking. I maintain that some of the travel specials are just as valid and just as important as any of the more high brow travel series the BBC have done over the years. What did I know about what it's really like in Crimea and Syria before Top Gear went? Next to nothing. It's their coverage I think back to when these territories are covered on the news. What did I know about The Shan State? Absolutely nothing at all, I didn't know it existed. However, it's the way the three presenters speak to the locals that is the stand out aspect of the trips.

Brits abroad, and people from most nations I guess, tend to do one of two things: they look down their nose at the locals and act rude, or, more commonly these days, they over compensate, become deferential and polite beyond necessity, affording people the same respect they'd usually reserve for a king. Nothing wrong with that I suppose, it's better than the rudeness and lack of respect a lot of people used to show, but it's still treating people differently. The three Top Gear presenters don't treat people differently. They speak to the locals like they would speak to friends: warm and friendly with humour. They're not rude in any way, they just don't change who they are and as result actually show more respect than being overly polite. The people they speak are treated as though there are no differences between them, they meet people as equals, as potential friends, their differing nationalities, skin colour, language, culture is not an issue at all. Which, of course, it shouldn't be. It's odd to see it at first, because it's never been done before on TV, but it's absolutely the right thing to do. Three berks from Top Gear showing us how it should be done.

This latest issue, well, it's ballacks. He never said it, it was years ago and it was never broadcast. However, the apology is ballacks too.

Clarkson claims the best known version of the rhyme eeny meeny miny moe contains a racist element. No it doesn't. The best known version by far is 'catch a tiger by the toe'. There is a version with the N word, but there's a million other versions too. We used to sing 'put the baby on the po'. Clarkson used this particular version to put that word in to your head without actually having to say it. He did it to be controversial. He could have said tiger or monkey or baby or one of literally thousands of two syllable words used over the years. He didn't, he mumbled nothing at all really, but he did that so the viewer would think ni....

So who is racist, you or him? Him for not saying anything or you for thinking n...... Well, neither really, it's a rhyme that is part of our shared conciousness and having that word pop in to your head doesn't make you racist. It's along the same lines as the recent joke that has been doing the rounds after the Malaysian air disaster:
What's yellow and lies at the bottom of the Indian Ocean?
Sand, you heartless racist b'stard.

Clarkson knew exactly what he was doing and he's still doing it. The apology looks sincere, no doubt at the instruction of the BBC, but he's not apologising for what he actually did. He's apologising for something he never said and he's still taking the piss.

 

Nicely put.

 

Brilliantly put Jay, my sentiments exactly.

 

My media studies degree had to come in useful for something eventually. That's it, done. I'm so glad I still owe 10 grand in student loans.

 

This is the biggest load of b*llocks posted on here since Hemmsy got banned.

 

Shirley you aren't paying owt back ?

 

No. It just increases every year. You've got to be earning a certain amount before making repayments. I do bits and bobs now, but don't earn nearly enough to make the repayments. I'm looking forward to when the government change the rules from individual income to household income. It'll come.

 

Does it stay as an open account indefinitely ?

ie can't you chalk **** after so long ?

 

It gets w/off when you retire.

 

On your great point about how they treat the people they meet abroad, do you ever watch Robson Green's fishing programmes? He is exactly the same.

 

Depends what year you got the loan. Some expire after a certain time, some when you retire, some never. I think mine is one of the never ones, passed down from generation to generation until my ancestors owe 10X the GDP of the entire planet. Good job I haven't had kids.

 

In that case you need to fake your own death or something.

**** system imho.

 

I'm not surprised at some of the usual racist apologists posting on here who don't really understand what racism is. I am surprised at people thinking that what the biggest ****** on TV said was ok. Did he mean to say it? Was it meant to be heard? Answer to both is no - but did he actually say it? Yes! Mumbled but there.

I've used that nursery rhyme hundreds of times with my children and it's always been "piggy".

To me it's just another reason why Clarkson shouldn't be allowed on the BBC. It exposes his thought patterns. Big Ron was chucked off TV for using the same word off air. Think the Big ****** should be as well

 

I'll try ( but why I have to in this day age I don't know). It's not the word - it's the context and intention. There's hundreds of years of history surrounding the use of certain words. ****** is one of those words. Certain black groups take the position that they break off the shackles of racism by claiming the word for their own use. I don't agree with them but they aren't being racist by using it. There is a similar sort of thing happening with the "we are all monkeys" campaign.
As for Clarkson not saying it. It beggars my belief that intelligent people can say that. It's like me standing in front of you and mumbling the word cnt at you (missing out the u of course) and saying I didn't say it.
While I'm at it....Jay is wrong when he says the joke he told isn't racist. It isn't a joke unless it is!

 

I don't believe I said that. I said that you're not racist if the word n.. pops in to your head when Clarkson did what he did or if you start to get offended if you think the bottom of the sea joke refers to the people on the aeroplane. The joke itself is, if a joke can be racist, which it can't, a person is racist. So who is racist? The person telling a joke about sand or a person who thinks about people on an aeroplane? Neither are, it's a joke about our past and our collective consciousness, about how we can be manipulated and about how sensitive we are to race related issues and about how we can induce offence without saying anything offensive. Being aware of our own politically incorrect past and racist ideas does not make you racist.

Clarkson did something similar and he's still doing it. Does that make him racist? I don't know, I don't know his motivation. I do know it was nowhere near as innocent as he is making out and he knew exactly what he was doing.

 

Time for me to be banned...shut up you white people!!