Clarkson: Racist
Discussion
they admitted it was deliberate but claimed not to realise anyone might be offended
- so clarkson, the producers and BBC standards were unaware and it was broadcast in total ignorance - I'm therefore very surprised i've never heard it on the news, in kids programs or from jonathan head
(“When we used the word ‘slope’ in the recent Top Gear Burma special it was a light-hearted wordplay joke referencing both the build quality of the bridge and the local Asian man who was crossing it.
“We were not aware at the time, and it has subsequently been brought to our attention, that the word "slope" is considered by some to be offensive.”)
- so clarkson, the producers and BBC standards were unaware and it was broadcast in total ignorance - I'm therefore very surprised i've never heard it on the news, in kids programs or from jonathan head
(“When we used the word ‘slope’ in the recent Top Gear Burma special it was a light-hearted wordplay joke referencing both the build quality of the bridge and the local Asian man who was crossing it.
“We were not aware at the time, and it has subsequently been brought to our attention, that the word "slope" is considered by some to be offensive.”)
a tarantino movie is fictional characters talking fictional dialogue in a fictional situation. Any of those characters may be fictionally racist. Or more appropriately they talk as people tend to when they are among friends or certain communities.
many prominent african americans have accused tarantino of perpetuating racist language within cinema. but at the end of the day it is fictional.
TG is a scripted factual entertainment program and in the context of that final line on the bridge it was an unnecessary piss poor joke using an old slang/derogatory term for one of the locals. As the presenter of a major Factual entertainment show you are not talking to your mates down the pub,(where you may tell similar jokes), and certain standards are expected casual racism would be below those standards
this is all very very simple, you should not refer to a stranger walking across a bridge as a
, wop, , stani, dink, camel jocky, slope or what ever other outdated term you care to choose.
Put it this way, if the joke was changed to have a black guy walking across the bridge and clarkson turned to may and said, 'it's getting a bit dark over there', how would you feel about that? Again using a racial stereotype for a cheap gag.
many prominent african americans have accused tarantino of perpetuating racist language within cinema. but at the end of the day it is fictional.
TG is a scripted factual entertainment program and in the context of that final line on the bridge it was an unnecessary piss poor joke using an old slang/derogatory term for one of the locals. As the presenter of a major Factual entertainment show you are not talking to your mates down the pub,(where you may tell similar jokes), and certain standards are expected casual racism would be below those standards
this is all very very simple, you should not refer to a stranger walking across a bridge as a
, wop, , stani, dink, camel jocky, slope or what ever other outdated term you care to choose. Put it this way, if the joke was changed to have a black guy walking across the bridge and clarkson turned to may and said, 'it's getting a bit dark over there', how would you feel about that? Again using a racial stereotype for a cheap gag.
TTwiggy said:
McWigglebum4th said:
TTwiggy said:
Some things are simply racist though.
If someone asks me to describe a black guy in the office and I say 'he's black', then there's no problem.
No because you have noticed he is a different colour to yourself you must immediately kill yourself otherwise you are racistIf someone asks me to describe a black guy in the office and I say 'he's black', then there's no problem.
it is the only way to be safe
McWigglebum4th said:
TTwiggy said:
McWigglebum4th said:
TTwiggy said:
Some things are simply racist though.
If someone asks me to describe a black guy in the office and I say 'he's black', then there's no problem.
No because you have noticed he is a different colour to yourself you must immediately kill yourself otherwise you are racistIf someone asks me to describe a black guy in the office and I say 'he's black', then there's no problem.
it is the only way to be safe
London424 said:
Mr Snap said:
London424 said:
So when I watch a Tarantino film that delivers lots of racist lines...that has been scripted, in order to deliver a racist line. I'm genuinely confused.
a) Top Gear isn't a Tarantino film. Reservoir Dogs has an 18 rating and you can only see it at the cinema or, if it is broadcast, it comes with a parental warning and never earlier than 11pm. Clarkson is considered family viewing for before the watershed, Tarantino isn't. If someone can't tell the difference, it means they're a bit fked up and would probably show Reservoir Dogs to a minor. b) Yes there are racist insults in Tarantino but they're indiscriminate, in the sense that all races use them to each other. It isn't one 'superior' race insulting an inferior race and getting away with it, this kinda equals out. Moreover, if Clarkson had been in a Tarantino film, the asian gentleman might have crossed the bridge and kicked the s
t out of JC for being racist; whereas, in Top Gear, I think we can guarantee that wasn't going to happen. The man was used as a stooge - and that is racist. c) There's a tradition in western art and culture that you can create a work of art using something forbidden and transgressive to make a bigger point: Consider the sex in Lady Chatterley's Lover, the violence in Saving Private Ryan or the effing and blinding and racism in Till Death Us Do Part. Tarantino is a widely acclaimed transgressive artist who uses casual violence and racism to make points about violence and racism in the context of film. Clarkson, on the other hand, does it for giggles. In 100 years time, people will still be watching Tarantino for the same reason people still watch All Quiet on the Western Front now - it's great art. The only reason people will watch Clarkson will be to see what racism was like in 2014 - a bit like the way we cringe now when we see Love Thy Neighbour.
d) Ofcom said: "Jeremy Clarkson used the word 'slope' to refer both to an Asian man crossing a bridge, and the incline of the bridge…. [b]This was scripted in advance[\b]. The BBC failed to take the opportunity, either during filming or post-production, to check whether the word had the potential to offend viewers."
ie. Somebody scripted the line - probably in London - where it got approved. You can't get the money to do something like this without backing and backing requires 'script approval'. The gag was planned in advance like all the other gags in the program - that's how tv and tv commissioning works, very little on a project like this is truly spontaneous. A team then went to Burma and built a bridge knowing that the line was going to be delivered before the bridge was built.
As people have said 100 times in this thread, it's all to do with context; and that's where JC lets himself down.
The artist/person who makes the TV show/film that gives you a get out as well?
a) Go to an orgy b
k naked and wave your 3inch wonder in the faces of everyone there, and nothing will happen.b) Do the same thing at a children's birthday party and you can expect; your family to disown you, to spend time inside undergoing therapy, and your name on the Sexual Offenders Register.
Context and intent.
Mr Snap said:
Yep. Try this little thought experiment.
a) Go to an orgy bk naked and wave your 3inch wonder in the faces of everyone there, and nothing will happen.
b) Do the same thing at a children's birthday party and you can expect; your family to disown you, to spend time inside undergoing therapy, and your name on the Sexual Offenders Register.
Context and intent.
its the bbc for heavens sake and in similar circumstances presumably they'd say they did it deliberately but didn't realise....actually...a) Go to an orgy b
k naked and wave your 3inch wonder in the faces of everyone there, and nothing will happen.b) Do the same thing at a children's birthday party and you can expect; your family to disown you, to spend time inside undergoing therapy, and your name on the Sexual Offenders Register.
Context and intent.
I've got a friend who is of Vietnamese extraction, he was also born in Israel so you'd think he'd be constantly offended by people's comments. He isn't, the only thing that offends him are the people who get offended on his behalf and this whole thing about Clarkson annoys the hell out of him - the people complaining that is, not what Clarkson said. How many of the people complaining are of the ethnic background that has supposedly been insulted?
bobbylondonuk said:
People of asian descent will probably listen to that punch line and think 'he is right, that bridge does have a slope on it, should have built it a bit better'.
Sometime us brits need to lighten up! I am of asian descent...the british public has just educated all us brown people of another term to put on the race card. thanks!
PC gone mad...i will be the first to kick the next PC nutter...this is getting too much that black and brown people are laughing at this nonsense.
Good man...Sometime us brits need to lighten up! I am of asian descent...the british public has just educated all us brown people of another term to put on the race card. thanks!
PC gone mad...i will be the first to kick the next PC nutter...this is getting too much that black and brown people are laughing at this nonsense.
Perfect summary.FredClogs said:
McWigglebum4th said:
TTwiggy said:
McWigglebum4th said:
TTwiggy said:
Some things are simply racist though.
If someone asks me to describe a black guy in the office and I say 'he's black', then there's no problem.
No because you have noticed he is a different colour to yourself you must immediately kill yourself otherwise you are racistIf someone asks me to describe a black guy in the office and I say 'he's black', then there's no problem.
it is the only way to be safe
People seem to find anything, just anything to suggest a problem of some kind.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/jeremy-clarkson...
I think this annoyed me more:
"The Top Gear scenes now being filmed are due to screen in March next year."
http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/jeremy-clarkson...
I think this annoyed me more:
"The Top Gear scenes now being filmed are due to screen in March next year."
Edited by Morningside on Thursday 2nd October 12:42
Morningside said:
People seem to find anything, just anything to suggest a problem of some kind.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/jeremy-clarkson...
Superb free publicity.http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/jeremy-clarkson...
H982 FKL
http://regarchive.com/plate/H982FKL
This registration was first registered during the period August 1990 to July 1991. It is not a private plate and was registered to this vehicle as far as the quick research i've down seems to suggest.
23 Years and a few months all for a joke most people wouldn't have noticed. seems a bit far-fetched but then again the Argies and Mirror are always looking for crap excuses like this.
http://regarchive.com/plate/H982FKL
This registration was first registered during the period August 1990 to July 1991. It is not a private plate and was registered to this vehicle as far as the quick research i've down seems to suggest.
23 Years and a few months all for a joke most people wouldn't have noticed. seems a bit far-fetched but then again the Argies and Mirror are always looking for crap excuses like this.
The whole debacle gets right on my tits. There is no way Clarkson is racist, I met the man once at the Hilton Hotel bar in Birmingham many years ago. He was a great guy, and bought me a pint, even though I'm supposed to be a muslim. I necked it down in one.
Anyway, using a racist remark does not make you racist, its the intent.
Otherwise, I must be the most racist person on the planet, I abuse my fellow brothers all the time and enjoy it.
Anyway, using a racist remark does not make you racist, its the intent.
Otherwise, I must be the most racist person on the planet, I abuse my fellow brothers all the time and enjoy it.
Prawnboy said:
Put it this way, if the joke was changed to have a black guy walking across the bridge and clarkson turned to may and said, 'it's getting a bit dark over there', how would you feel about that? Again using a racial stereotype for a cheap gag.
That pune, or play-on-words will be in the next series.Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff