SSDD: Jeremy Clarkson’s in trouble again, for “mocking” Indians
In what’s becoming almost a daily occurrence – hence the SSDD in the title of this post – Jeremy Clarkson has upset viewers by “mocking” Indians and being allegedly offensive to their culture.
Viewers complained about Clarkson’s remarks and actions on the Christmas special of Top Gear, which aired on Wednesday night, in which he was seen taking off his trousers in front of “bemused” Indian dignitaries.
The incident occurred when Jeremy was demonstrating how a trouser press worked – and while joking that the implement could be used to heat naan bread – and he added insult to apparent injury by joking about India’s toilets, their trains and the country’s history.
The Daily Star states of his many faux pas in the show, “He ridiculed the country’s toilet facilities by driving around slums in a Jaguar fitted with a toilet…
“As he showed off the car loo, he laughed: ‘This is perfect for India because everyone who comes here gets the trots’.”
However, a BBC spokeswoman last night said they had so far received only eight complaints from viewers, who accused Jeremy of racism.
The spokeswoman added, “If viewers or religious groups want to complain, they can complain to the BBC.
“We won’t be responding through the media.”
But via various social networking sites, viewers branded Jeremy a “Nazi” and slammed the show for promoting “casual racism”.
In one segment of the show, Jeremy, along with co-hosts James May and Richard Hammond, apparently ridiculed India’s network of elderly trains when they opened the doors of moving carriages and leaned outside.
The troublesome trio then made two banners to “promote Brit industry” which they displayed on the trains.
One read, “British IT is good for your company”, and the other, “Eat English Muffins.”
The paper adds, “But the messages turned rude when the carriages split.”
This edition of Top Gear was shown two days after the horrific Boxing Day murder of Indian student Anuj Bidve in Salford, Manchester, and it seems that that sad and terrible event has made what Jeremy and the other Top Gear presenters said and did even more offensive than it might ordinarily have been, given that Anuj’s death is currently being treated as a suspected racially motivated one.
But – the dreadful tragedy of Anuj’s death aside – I must ask, yet again; are viewers overreacting to what Jeremy has said and done, or is he deliberately being provocative and/or ignorant?
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jeremy clarkson, for food you better shift to plum baby or heinz baby products (easily available in your village) as your intestines are weak to eat Indian food. And about hygiene, lions never care about it. So you are a small baby which cannot digest and mom caring for hygiene or you are an old man getting a retarded memory shitting in pants, which ever you like. DO NOT INSULT INDIA ON WHAT IT IS (Ref: as shown in the shit show of top gear)
1) They leaned out of the doors to put the banners on the train using the momentum of the train itself – logical, assuming they were careful not to lose limbs on the telegraph poles.
2) He was demonstrating the trouser press to the dignitaries – the naan bread quip was when they were setting up the party, and May and Clarkson actually used it for that purpose.
Get your facts right Daily Star.
It beggars belief just how appallingly poor and full of outright lies this Daily Star story is. It is a pathetic attempt to manufacture outrage out of thin air.
Clearly Aaron Tinney’s Ladybird Book of Journalism didn’t mention looking up the definition of a word before using it. A national stereotype is not racism. It’s not racist to say that Germans have no sense of humour, or that the French like garlic, or Americans are fat, or that the English have bad teeth. These are national stereotypes. Racism, as the word might suggest (to the observant), is the belief that all members of each RACE possess characteristics or abilities specific to that RACE, esp. so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another RACE or RACES.
To address some of the utterly mystifying accusations.
The ‘Indian dignitaries’ were people invited to a Top Gear party where the presenters made fools of themselves. Does anyone seriously believe people arrived at the event believing it was anything other than a joke? I hate to ruin the illusion, but some of the funny situations in Top Gear are staged. A trouserless Clarkson, the runaway lawnmower, the giant explosive firework, etc. Surely if, as the journalist seems to believe, nothing was orchestrated or exaggerated the headline should have read ‘CLARKSON SPARKS GIANT FIREWORK AND NEARLY KILLS INDIAN DIGNITARIES’.
How can one ridicule a countries toilet facilities by having one fitted to a car? At no point were Indian toilet facilities even mentioned. Using this ‘logic’ fitting the car with a TV would have mocked Indian TV facilities, and fitting a spare tyre would be mocking the Indian tyre industry. Coincidently in the Polar Special, Clarkson fitted a toilet to the back of his truck and not once did it cross my mind that he might be mocking arctic toilet facilities. I’m sure given phones, fingers and the power of speech a flood of outraged polar bears would have complained.
And how does one ‘mock a train system’ by opening a door? Not that any of the presenters were shown opening any train doors. How does one mock anything by (not) opening a door and laughing? Earlier in the programme we see some Indian people in a train with open doors laughing. Were they mocking their own train system?
Clarkson himself utters ONE contentious comment about India in the whole 90 minute programme. No where could I find jokes, crude or otherwise, about Indian food, clothing or toilet habits. And you’d need to be something of a pedant, or (it seems) a very poor journalist, to find the sentence “everyone who comes to India gets the trots” front-page-of-a-national-newspaper offensive. The racist mockery continued with Clarkson expressing his love for India and then insultingly calling it an economic superpower.
In fact, the only country consistently mocked throughout the entire 90 minutes of the programme was Britain.
And please can anyone explain how the terms ‘a flood of complaints’ and ‘outraged viewers’ tally with the reported 8 complaints. That’s 8, not 80, or 800, but 8. One wonders if The Daily Star’s new found appetite for hardcore political correctness, and sympathy for the outrage of women’s groups will see the objectification of women discontinued on the newspapers third page… or is a flood of 8 complaints from outraged readers required before action can be taken?
On a more serious note, suggesting this programme was in anyway ‘insensitive’ or ‘tasteless’ with regards the murder of Anuj Bidve is utterly, utterly pathetic. A contemptible attempt to manufacture outrage for the sake of a headline. The Daily Star, it’s editor and the pathetic excuse for a journalist who manufactured this story with lies and exaggeration should be thoroughly ashamed.
These people who put the complaints in are they really in the real world? Can you not take top gear and its team for what it is? It is a staged show mocking cars, people and certain countries and there ways. It is all in good humour and please do not take it or jeremy seriously. Watch the program again. “the joke was on the brits!”
Get of the racism band wagon and put the black/brown/ yellow/ pink cards away.
There are hundreds of stand up comedians that make clarkson look polite! do they get in the national papers and accused of racism.? Again its all about selling papers which makes money which makes power. With all the horrific things that go on in this world why dont you all write what really matters. Any way happy new year to you all. and wish everbody! peace and happiness.