Steve Coogan makes the case against Top Gear presenters ...
To quote:
the BBC said it was sorry if it had offended some people, but said jokes based on national stereotyping were part of British national humour.I'm British but I'm also ashamed and depressed at this statement. The BBC might be trying to 'tell it as it is' but if anything it has, rather than provided an apology or decent explanation (the presenters are racist, we'll sack them, sorry.), given tremendous justification to other media outlets to run with racist or stereotyping copy.
Jokes based on national stereotyping are found worldwide so Britain can't claim them solely as their own. Every other broadcaster in every other country can also say "jokes based on national stereotyping were part of [insert country name] national humour". Except not all countries populations are equally introspective, racist and quick to stereotype people they don't know. I feel sorry for the many hundreds of British comedians who work hard and please audiences night in night out without ever having to resort to the Bernard Manning School of Insult. But then, they are comedians who have developed a fine appreciation of the art and nature of comedy and what makes something funny and why. The comments in question (below) were made by TV presenters unschooled in the art of comedy but schooled in the art of shooting off their mouths and upsetting people with their ' devil-may-care stuff your PC nonsense up your arse and deal with it school of real life and hard knockings'.
I enjoy jokes based on national stereotyping on rare occasions and only if they are not delivered in the spirit of factuality, anger, seriousness, meanness or spite. My American friends might curse me for being a Brit but being good friends, and knowing the game, I respond as expected with some retort about Yanks. Both of us have travelled far enough and know enough history to deliver our lines with a wink and irony. The comments are not meant to hurt or insult but gently jibe. The end conclusion of most exchanges is an open admittance by all parties that no country or individual can claim any moral high ground or throw stones. The underlying agreement is that all nations and nationalisms are to a large extent 'houses of glass' - they are different colours and shapes but they all break the same way. Throwing water balloons is not the same as rocks. That's a fine level of communication possible between good friends from different countries. Now look at the comments of the BBC presenters that upset the Mexicans:
Jeremy Clarkson had said he was confident he would not receive any complaints about their comments because the Mexican ambassador would be asleep. The Top Gear team's comments about Mexicans were made when they were discussing Mexican sports car. Richard Hammond said vehicles reflected national characteristics so "Mexican cars are just going to be lazy". Reviewing the Mastretta on Sunday's show, Hammond said: "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." The presenters, known for their edgy jibes, then described Mexican food as "refried sick".Try this then: British cars (TV presenters) are just going to be fat, racist, sexist, bigots spewing their guts into everyone's living room whilst hiding their vile and vicious ideologies behind a veneer or humour. British food is nothing more than the crippled, psychotic, bastard child of far superior French cuisine.
I'm sure a few Mexicans right now are formulating their own responses along those lines - and Britain and British people just got a bad rap abroad because the BBC gave air time to two knuckle-draggers. Not content with letting them drag down my country's image abroad it then deigns to provide possibly the worst excuse and non-apology it could find.
If that wasn't bad enough, it seems the BBC have also pissed off the Japanese to boot.
BBC FAIL.
