Top Gear's Clarkson suspended by BBC

[KZNSeagull]

And don't have to pay the licence fee that actually provides the show with a budget in the first place.

But we do have to subscribe to the people carrying the channel, who pay the BBC to carry it.

 

[Peteinblack]

I like Clarkson. How do I unsubscribe from the BBC? I have been on the website and can't find a cancellation number

Slight over-reaction, don't you think?!

 

[Peteinblack]

I hate the way that this immature, attention-seeking, overgrown schoolboy repeatedly accidentally-on-purpose causes offence and gets into trouble, and then his petrol-head followers - most of them UKIP supporters, I bet - rush to claim that he's the victim of Political Correctness and humourless po-faced Left-wing fascists

Presumably, those defending Clarkson think that assaulting someone in the workplace (or anywhere else) is acceptable behaviour?

 

[Everest]

Let's assume for sake of argument that Clarkson has punched this bloke, does it mean that punching the canteen staff because they've run out of chips is ok at the BBC?

If they've run out of chips, then they deserve it.

 

[Nibble]

It is pretty annoying when you've been filming all day and no one has bothered to sort your meal out. Don't think it requires physical violence though.

 

[BLOCK F]

I hate the way that this immature, attention-seeking, overgrown schoolboy repeatedly accidentally-on-purpose causes offence and gets into trouble, and then his petrol-head followers - most of them UKIP supporters, I bet - rush to claim that he's the victim of Political Correctness and humourless po-faced Left-wing fascists

Presumably, those defending Clarkson think that assaulting someone in the workplace (or anywhere else) is acceptable behaviour?

I hate the way the thin skinned, righteous, smug, faux offended,moral highground hugging population get so indignant about the likes of Jeremy Clarkson.
Most of them humourless po -faced chippy lefties I bet.
No,clobbering someone is not acceptable behaviour,but at least this alleged incident has given the smuggers a reason to put a smile on their miserable chops.

 

[maltaseagull]

He already had millions before he started. His parents made an absolute fortune from selling Paddington Bear stuffed toys.

I'm not particularly bothered about Clarkson one way or the other, but this latest series has been tedious beyond belief and completely bereft of amusing or original ideas. I've forced myself to keep watching in the hope that something funny will happen out of some misguided sense of brand loyalty, but it's been getting masochistic. We all know Peogeots are a bit crap, but sticking on a false moustache and pretending not to know how to drive to illustrate the point? That's the stuff of a primary school end-of-term revue, not prime time entertainment. Perhaps it was time to call it a day anyway.

I came to that conclusion several years ago.

 

[BLOCK F]

Oh Large One, I am so upset that you feel the need to give me another thumbs down.
If I am really naughty I might get a third naughty step from you.Now that would be so distressing.

 

[Deleted member 22389]

Slight over-reaction, don't you think?!

I was joking, but trying to prove a point that you can't unsubscribe from the BBC, but they can take a good show off the air if they like. The BBC, Bloated Broadcasting Corporation, or now as it's known Bring Back Clarkson.

 

[wellquickwoody]

I hate the way that this immature, attention-seeking, overgrown schoolboy repeatedly accidentally-on-purpose causes offence and gets into trouble, and then his petrol-head followers - most of them UKIP supporters, I bet - rush to claim that he's the victim of Political Correctness and humourless po-faced Left-wing fascists

Presumably, those defending Clarkson think that assaulting someone in the workplace (or anywhere else) is acceptable behaviour?

I love a good offended person, thank you.

 

[Diego Napier]

Good article from Steve Coogan

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2011/feb/05/top-gear-offensive-steve-coogan

As a huge fan of Top Gear I normally regard the presenters' brand of irreverence as a part of the rough and tumble that goes with having a sense of humour. I've been on the show three times and had a go at their celebrity-lap challenge, and I would love to receive a fourth invite. But I think that's unlikely once they have read this. If, however, it makes the Lads question their behaviour for a second – ambitious, I know – it will be worth it.
I normally remain below the parapet when these frenetic arguments about comedy and taste break out. But this time, I've had enough of the regular defence you tend to hear – the tired line that it's "just a laugh", a bit of "harmless fun".
Some of the Lads' comments again, in case you missed them. "Mexican cars are just going to be lazy, feckless, flatulent, overweight, leaning against a fence asleep looking at a cactus, with a blanket with a hole in the middle on as a coat" (Richard Hammond). Mexican food is "sick with cheese on it" (James May).
Jeremy Clarkson added to the mirth by suggesting that the Mexican ambassador (a certain Eduardo Medina-Mora Icaza) would be so busy sleeping he wouldn't register any outrage. (He wasn't and he did.)
OK, guys, I've got some great ideas for your next show. Jeremy, why not have James describe some kosher food as looking like "sick with cheese on it"? No? Thought not. Even better, why not describe some Islamic fundamentalists as lazy and feckless?
Feel the silence. They're all pretty well organised these days, aren't they, those groups? Better stick to those that are least problematic.
Old people? Special needs? I know – Mexicans! There aren't enough of them to be troublesome, no celebrities to be upset. And most of them are miles and miles away.
The BBC's initial mealy-mouthed apology was pitiful. It cited the more benign rivalry that exists between European nations (ah, those arrogant French, over-organised Germans), and in doing so neatly sidestepped one hugely important fact – ethnicity. All the examples it uses to legitimise this hateful rubbish are relatively prosperous countries full of white people. How about if the Lads had described Africans as lazy, feckless etc? Or Pakistanis?
What's more, this was all spouted by the presenters on one of the BBC's most successful programmes, with ratings that could only fail to impress Simon Cowell (very fast lap time). Forget the World Service; overseas, Top Gear is more frequently the public face of the BBC.
The Beeb's hand-wringing suggested tolerance of casual racism, arguably the most sinister kind. It's easy to spot the ones with the burning crosses. Besides, there is not a shred of truth in Top Gear's "comic" stereotype. I can tell you from my own experience, living in the US, Mexicans work themselves to the bone doing all the dirty thankless jobs that the white middle-class natives won't do.
What makes it worse is that the Lads wear this offensive behaviour as a badge of pride, pleased that they have annoyed those whom they regard, in another lazy stereotype, as sandal-wearing vegans with beards and no sense of humour.
Well here's some Twitter hot news: I don't have a beard, I'm not a vegan, I don't wear sandals (unless they're Birkenstocks, of course), and I have, I think, a sense of humour. I also know something about comedy. It's true there are no hard fast rules; it's often down to judgment calls. It's safe to say, though, that you can get away with saying unsayable things if it's done with some sense of culpability.
I've been fortunate enough to work with the likes of Peter Baynham, Armando Iannucci, Chris Morris, Simon Pegg, Julia Davis, Caroline Aherne, Ruth Jones, and the Mighty Boosh – some of the funniest and most innovative people in British comedy. And Rob Brydon too.
It's a diverse, eclectic group of people with one common denominator: they could all defend and justify their comedy from a moral standpoint. They are laughing at hypocrisy, human frailty, narrow-mindedness. They mock pomposity and arrogance.
If I say anything remotely racist or sexist as Alan Partridge, for example, the joke is abundantly clear. We are laughing at a lack of judgment and ignorance. WithTop Gear it is three rich, middle-aged men laughing at poor Mexicans. Brave, groundbreaking stuff, eh?
There is a strong ethical dimension to the best comedy. Not only does it avoid reinforcing prejudices, it actively challenges them. Put simply, in comedy, as in life, we ought to think before we speak. This wasn't one of those occasions. In fact, the comments were about as funny as a cold sweat followed by shooting pains down the left arm. In fact, if I can borrow from the Wildean wit of Richard Hammond, the comic approach was "lazy", "feckless" and "flatulent".
Richard has his tongue so far down the back of Jeremy's trousers he could forge a career as the back end of a pantomime horse. His attempt to foster some Clarkson-like maverick status with his "edgy" humour is truly tragic. He reminds you of the squirt at school as he hangs round Clarkson the bully, as if to say, "I'm with him". Meanwhile, James May stands at the back holding their coats as they beat up the boy with the stutter.
It's not entirely their fault, of course. Part of the blame must lie with what some like to call the "postmodern" reaction to overzealous political correctness. Sometimes, it's true, things need a shakeup; orthodoxies need to be challenged. But this sort of ironic approach has been a licence for any halfwit to vent the prejudices they'd been keeping in the closet since Love Thy Neighbour was taken off the air.
Also, a factor little picked up on elsewhere in the Lads' remarks is that they do, after all, present a car show. And archaic attitudes are endemic in a lot of motoring journalism. I confess I am an avid consumer and I have to wade through a sea of lazy cliches to get to anything genuinely illuminating.
Jeremy unwittingly cast the template for this. Twenty years ago, when I boughtPerformance Car magazine, his column was the first I would turn to. It was slightly annoying but unfailingly funny. Since then there have been legions of pretenders who just don't pass muster. There is a kneejerk, brainless reaction to any legislation that may have a detrimental effect on their God-given right to drive cars anywhere at any speed that they consider safe. They often remind me of the National Rifle Association in the US. It's a kind of "airbags are for poofs" mentality and, far from being shocking, it's just shockingly dull.
It would be fine if it was confined to a bunch of grumpy men in bad jeans smoking Marlboros at the side of the Millbrook test track, but it's not. As I pointed out, it's the voice of one of the BBC's most successful programmes.
The Lads have this strange notion that if they are being offensive it bestows on them a kind of anti-establishment aura of coolness; in fact, like their leather jackets and jeans, it is uber-conservative (which isn't cool).
Gentlemen, I don't believe in half-criticisms and this has nothing to do with my slow lap times. But, increasingly, you each look like a middle-aged punk rocker pogoing at his niece's wedding. That would be funny if you weren't regarded by some people as role models. Big viewing figures don't give you impunity – they carry responsibility. Start showing some, tuck your shirts in, be a bit funnier and we'll pretend it all never happened.

 

[Rogero]

I cannot stand him. So glad he is gone . But ,hang on ,he will be back on more money ! What has gone wrong with this world . He is getting paid more than 100 nurses.

 

[Tarpon]

You always see this trotted out whenever a high-profile celeb or sportsman behaves like a twunt in their place of work and gets away with it. "It should be the same for them as it is for anyone else" is the cry. And yes, by rights it should.

The fact is, if anyone in an "ordinary" job thumps someone at their place of work, then yes, they would almost certainly be sacked. But that's largely because we are all a bunch of anonymous Joe-Schmo's who are by and large very easily replaceable. There are FASANDS of IT bods, office penpushers, nurses, carers, forklift truck drivers etc etc. You thump someone, then you're almost certainly out the door. Whereas someone who has risen to the absolute pinnacle of their field and gained celebrity status as a result is not so easily replaceable as the likes of you and me. So the rules are different, because their value to the business is different. Its unlikely a football club would ever sack a player for assaulting someone on the pitch because they'd be writing off a substantial amount in £££ from any potential transfer fee. Whereas us, we're largely worthless by comparison. Easily and cheaply replaced.

I'm not saying its right. But that's the simple reality.

Yeah but agreeing to take part in football / a contact sport is tacit agreement to assault. Surely no self respecting club would say, let their player bite an opposition player and not take very serious action even if it had significant financial consequences?....












...assuming the bitten player didn't play for Chelsea of course.

 

[brakespear]

Good article from Steve Coogan

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2011/feb/05/top-gear-offensive-steve-coogan

As a huge fan of Top Gear I normally regard the presenters' brand of irreverence as a part of the rough and tumble that goes with having a sense of humour. I've been on the show three times and had a go at their celebrity-lap challenge, and I would love to receive a fourth invite. But I think that's unlikely once they have read this. If, however, it makes the Lads question their behaviour for a second – ambitious, I know – it will be worth it.
I normally remain below the parapet when these frenetic arguments about comedy and taste break out. But this time, I've had enough of the regular defence you tend to hear – the tired line that it's "just a laugh", a bit of "harmless fun".
Some of the Lads' comments again, in case you missed them. "Mexican cars are just going to be lazy, feckless, flatulent, overweight, leaning against a fence asleep looking at a cactus, with a blanket with a hole in the middle on as a coat" (Richard Hammond). Mexican food is "sick with cheese on it" (James May).
Jeremy Clarkson added to the mirth by suggesting that the Mexican ambassador (a certain Eduardo Medina-Mora Icaza) would be so busy sleeping he wouldn't register any outrage. (He wasn't and he did.)
OK, guys, I've got some great ideas for your next show. Jeremy, why not have James describe some kosher food as looking like "sick with cheese on it"? No? Thought not. Even better, why not describe some Islamic fundamentalists as lazy and feckless?
Feel the silence. They're all pretty well organised these days, aren't they, those groups? Better stick to those that are least problematic.
Old people? Special needs? I know – Mexicans! There aren't enough of them to be troublesome, no celebrities to be upset. And most of them are miles and miles away.
The BBC's initial mealy-mouthed apology was pitiful. It cited the more benign rivalry that exists between European nations (ah, those arrogant French, over-organised Germans), and in doing so neatly sidestepped one hugely important fact – ethnicity. All the examples it uses to legitimise this hateful rubbish are relatively prosperous countries full of white people. How about if the Lads had described Africans as lazy, feckless etc? Or Pakistanis?
What's more, this was all spouted by the presenters on one of the BBC's most successful programmes, with ratings that could only fail to impress Simon Cowell (very fast lap time). Forget the World Service; overseas, Top Gear is more frequently the public face of the BBC.
The Beeb's hand-wringing suggested tolerance of casual racism, arguably the most sinister kind. It's easy to spot the ones with the burning crosses. Besides, there is not a shred of truth in Top Gear's "comic" stereotype. I can tell you from my own experience, living in the US, Mexicans work themselves to the bone doing all the dirty thankless jobs that the white middle-class natives won't do.
What makes it worse is that the Lads wear this offensive behaviour as a badge of pride, pleased that they have annoyed those whom they regard, in another lazy stereotype, as sandal-wearing vegans with beards and no sense of humour.
Well here's some Twitter hot news: I don't have a beard, I'm not a vegan, I don't wear sandals (unless they're Birkenstocks, of course), and I have, I think, a sense of humour. I also know something about comedy. It's true there are no hard fast rules; it's often down to judgment calls. It's safe to say, though, that you can get away with saying unsayable things if it's done with some sense of culpability.
I've been fortunate enough to work with the likes of Peter Baynham, Armando Iannucci, Chris Morris, Simon Pegg, Julia Davis, Caroline Aherne, Ruth Jones, and the Mighty Boosh – some of the funniest and most innovative people in British comedy. And Rob Brydon too.
It's a diverse, eclectic group of people with one common denominator: they could all defend and justify their comedy from a moral standpoint. They are laughing at hypocrisy, human frailty, narrow-mindedness. They mock pomposity and arrogance.
If I say anything remotely racist or sexist as Alan Partridge, for example, the joke is abundantly clear. We are laughing at a lack of judgment and ignorance. WithTop Gear it is three rich, middle-aged men laughing at poor Mexicans. Brave, groundbreaking stuff, eh?
There is a strong ethical dimension to the best comedy. Not only does it avoid reinforcing prejudices, it actively challenges them. Put simply, in comedy, as in life, we ought to think before we speak. This wasn't one of those occasions. In fact, the comments were about as funny as a cold sweat followed by shooting pains down the left arm. In fact, if I can borrow from the Wildean wit of Richard Hammond, the comic approach was "lazy", "feckless" and "flatulent".
Richard has his tongue so far down the back of Jeremy's trousers he could forge a career as the back end of a pantomime horse. His attempt to foster some Clarkson-like maverick status with his "edgy" humour is truly tragic. He reminds you of the squirt at school as he hangs round Clarkson the bully, as if to say, "I'm with him". Meanwhile, James May stands at the back holding their coats as they beat up the boy with the stutter.
It's not entirely their fault, of course. Part of the blame must lie with what some like to call the "postmodern" reaction to overzealous political correctness. Sometimes, it's true, things need a shakeup; orthodoxies need to be challenged. But this sort of ironic approach has been a licence for any halfwit to vent the prejudices they'd been keeping in the closet since Love Thy Neighbour was taken off the air.
Also, a factor little picked up on elsewhere in the Lads' remarks is that they do, after all, present a car show. And archaic attitudes are endemic in a lot of motoring journalism. I confess I am an avid consumer and I have to wade through a sea of lazy cliches to get to anything genuinely illuminating.
Jeremy unwittingly cast the template for this. Twenty years ago, when I boughtPerformance Car magazine, his column was the first I would turn to. It was slightly annoying but unfailingly funny. Since then there have been legions of pretenders who just don't pass muster. There is a kneejerk, brainless reaction to any legislation that may have a detrimental effect on their God-given right to drive cars anywhere at any speed that they consider safe. They often remind me of the National Rifle Association in the US. It's a kind of "airbags are for poofs" mentality and, far from being shocking, it's just shockingly dull.
It would be fine if it was confined to a bunch of grumpy men in bad jeans smoking Marlboros at the side of the Millbrook test track, but it's not. As I pointed out, it's the voice of one of the BBC's most successful programmes.
The Lads have this strange notion that if they are being offensive it bestows on them a kind of anti-establishment aura of coolness; in fact, like their leather jackets and jeans, it is uber-conservative (which isn't cool).
Gentlemen, I don't believe in half-criticisms and this has nothing to do with my slow lap times. But, increasingly, you each look like a middle-aged punk rocker pogoing at his niece's wedding. That would be funny if you weren't regarded by some people as role models. Big viewing figures don't give you impunity – they carry responsibility. Start showing some, tuck your shirts in, be a bit funnier and we'll pretend it all never happened.

Great article, thanks for posting

 

[Wozza]

Good article from Steve Coogan

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2011/feb/05/top-gear-offensive-steve-coogan

As a huge fan of Top Gear I normally regard the presenters' brand of irreverence as a part of the rough and tumble that goes with having a sense of humour. I've been on the show three times and had a go at their celebrity-lap challenge, and I would love to receive a fourth invite. But I think that's unlikely once they have read this. If, however, it makes the Lads question their behaviour for a second – ambitious, I know – it will be worth it.

*SNIP*

His brother used to present on Top Gear - until he was done for drink-driving.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Perhaps Top Gear can go back to being about cars and not presenters.

That would be quite niche and incredibly boring.

Clarkson is a great broadcaster. Sack him. He'll be picked up by someone else and I will watch him.

 

[beorhthelm]

Good article from Steve Coogan

all glossing over that they will happyily critque English, regional or other european cars/manufactures/national icons with crude stereo types too. half the people he cites have made careers out of highlighting and piss taking stereotypes, so its a bit of a thin arguement. take the piss on anything, but dont touch any ethnicity, no, no, no.

 

[mikeyjh]

Good article from Steve Coogan

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2011/feb/05/top-gear-offensive-steve-coogan

He's actually done a really good job there, it's not an over complicated piece and seems from the heart - I suspect he won't be invited back on Top Gear though, the presenters' ability to be self critical probably extends no further than bemoaning the shade of their Levis, and that would be someone else's fault.

I was always disappointed when someone like Coogan appeared on Top Gear, thought he was better than that, maybe he's had some sort of awakening.

 

[Diego Napier]

He's actually done a really good job there, it's not an over complicated piece and seems from the heart - I suspect he won't be invited back on Top Gear though, the presenters' ability to be self critical probably extends no further than bemoaning the shade of their Levis, and that would be someone else's fault.

I was always disappointed when someone like Coogan appeared on Top Gear, thought he was better than that, maybe he's had some sort of awakening.

I agree, it appears very even handed although I fear it's still far too subtle a view to inform many caught up in the polar extremes of the argument or, of course, the inevitable narrow -minded hair-splitters.

 

[Icy Gull]

Looks like Coogan has decided that now would be a good time to grind that axe that he's obviously been gagging to grind for a while. It's all about timing. Interesting that his brother was replaced as a Top Gear presenter, did Coogan write and express an opinion on drink drivers at the time?