Most people who have any sort of interest in cars will have watched Top Gear. I have been following it since the past few years, and have realized that the previous sentence is actually quite meaningless. Because although technically its a motoring show, and does require you to have some appreciation and knowledge of cars, many episodes are actually more comedy than car. There have been and still continue to be some incredibly hilarious moments which will have you in splits. These often have little to do with cars and over the years have taken precedence over actual straight-faced reviews weighing the pros and cons of an automobile. And I for one don't mind at all. I barely watch Top Gear to know which car is good and which is bad, and even if I did, I am not in a position where I'll buy cars because Clarkson liked them. If I actually need an unbiased opinion about a car, I'll read Motortrend. Or wikipedia. The point of watching the show is now mostly to get some good laughs and see some great road trips.
As with any comedy, people don't take kindly to being joked about. Jeremy Clarkson has been criticized numerous times about being racially insensitive, 'crass' and downright offensive. I completely agree. And thats what makes the show so funny. Generally, when he quite directly calls Americans stupid (who outside of America doesn't right?) or calls ginger people nasty or says a Mexican built car will be feckless, flatulent and lazy like its people, I used to think I find it funny because I am not really (born) American or ginger or Mexican. But it seems this is not the case. In December 2011, the guys went to India for a special. Here's what the media said:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2088297/BBC-refuses-apologise-tasteless-Top-Gear-India-special.html
Now I think I can speak knowledgeably in this case because I am Indian and I have watched all episodes of Top Gear (new format). Clarkson's humor has been time and again proven to be at others' expense. As I said before, the offensiveness is what makes it funny. The damn Indian High Commission or whatever, really needs to get a sense of humor. I agree with the BBC:
If you actually watch the episode, you will see that this is true. I don't see how Clarkson talking to the locals in his boxers could be offensive to Indian culture. I mean get your balls out of the knot! If we respected all your sensitivities, we would have a really unfunny world. Like Indian movies don't have people taking their pants off! And if foreigners get the runs when they come to India, the jokes on them isn't it? What exactly do these people not get offended by? And even if it was poking fun at Indians, so what? Learn to laugh at yourself for once! Saying that India has poverty and disease rampant is not offensive, its a fact. Maybe if your country was actually doing really great, and outsiders still said those things then you had a right to be offended!
I was once watching a youtube interview of Kunal Nayyar (the Indian actor who plays Raj in The Big Bang Theory) and I saw comments saying, 'how can he say that India has cows and monkeys on the streets?'. Well? Doesn't it? I don't know where the hell this guy lives but where I lived there were buffaloes on the street all the time! This oversensitiveness is what prevents these guys from enjoying really good jokes. And come on, Indians are secretly the most racist people in the world! I know how racist I can be! I just don't take it seriously and don't discriminate based on it. But when somebody makes a joke about you, you get all bent out of shape about it? Next someone will get upset because Americans find our food spicy! I know that's because they have the taste buds of a cow which finds grass tasty! These people have mashed potatoes and broccoli for dinner; what do you expect will happen when they eat food with ground up chili in it? People of India, learn to laugh a bit and know that there's always a way to turn the insult around on someone.
As with any comedy, people don't take kindly to being joked about. Jeremy Clarkson has been criticized numerous times about being racially insensitive, 'crass' and downright offensive. I completely agree. And thats what makes the show so funny. Generally, when he quite directly calls Americans stupid (who outside of America doesn't right?) or calls ginger people nasty or says a Mexican built car will be feckless, flatulent and lazy like its people, I used to think I find it funny because I am not really (born) American or ginger or Mexican. But it seems this is not the case. In December 2011, the guys went to India for a special. Here's what the media said:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2088297/BBC-refuses-apologise-tasteless-Top-Gear-India-special.html
Now I think I can speak knowledgeably in this case because I am Indian and I have watched all episodes of Top Gear (new format). Clarkson's humor has been time and again proven to be at others' expense. As I said before, the offensiveness is what makes it funny. The damn Indian High Commission or whatever, really needs to get a sense of humor. I agree with the BBC:
The BBC insists the jokes were at the expense of Clarkson and his fellow presenters, James May and Richard Hammond, rather than India or its people.
It said in a statement: 'Our film showed the charm, the beauty, the wealth, the poverty and the idiosyncrasies of India, but there's a vast difference between showing a country, warts and all, and insulting it.
If you actually watch the episode, you will see that this is true. I don't see how Clarkson talking to the locals in his boxers could be offensive to Indian culture. I mean get your balls out of the knot! If we respected all your sensitivities, we would have a really unfunny world. Like Indian movies don't have people taking their pants off! And if foreigners get the runs when they come to India, the jokes on them isn't it? What exactly do these people not get offended by? And even if it was poking fun at Indians, so what? Learn to laugh at yourself for once! Saying that India has poverty and disease rampant is not offensive, its a fact. Maybe if your country was actually doing really great, and outsiders still said those things then you had a right to be offended!
I was once watching a youtube interview of Kunal Nayyar (the Indian actor who plays Raj in The Big Bang Theory) and I saw comments saying, 'how can he say that India has cows and monkeys on the streets?'. Well? Doesn't it? I don't know where the hell this guy lives but where I lived there were buffaloes on the street all the time! This oversensitiveness is what prevents these guys from enjoying really good jokes. And come on, Indians are secretly the most racist people in the world! I know how racist I can be! I just don't take it seriously and don't discriminate based on it. But when somebody makes a joke about you, you get all bent out of shape about it? Next someone will get upset because Americans find our food spicy! I know that's because they have the taste buds of a cow which finds grass tasty! These people have mashed potatoes and broccoli for dinner; what do you expect will happen when they eat food with ground up chili in it? People of India, learn to laugh a bit and know that there's always a way to turn the insult around on someone.
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