My Thoughts on Jeremy
Clarkson’s Suspension
Let’s face it, this was almost certainly going to happen at
some point. Jeremy Clarkson always has and always been a controversial figure.
He is very much a marmite figure, you either love or hate his antics. Honestly I
laughed when I first hear this news because it was so typical of Mr. Clarkson. All
this from the presenter of what started out in his words as a pokey motoring
show, Jeremy Clarkson is very much a household name. Finally all the
controversy has caught up with him. Here’s my spin on it.
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| Clarkson and the producer he apparently punched |
I’ll start of by saying I am a fan of Top Gear and Jeremy
Clarkson, I think he’s really funny. However I will be as objective as possible
for this discussion and for what it’s worth I can perfectly understand why
people hate him. However Jeremy Clarkson quite clearly does not take himself
seriously, at least on television. He is very sarcastic and he is very much a
laugh at everything kind of person. He does walk a tightrope a times but
personally I don’t think he’s ever crossed a line. A lot of his controversial
moments are taken way out of context. Some previous examples include his N word
incident, when he said strikers should be shot on The One Show and the recent
trouble in Argentina.
The easiest to dispel is his appearance on The One Show. Yes
he said strikers in the public sector should be shot. Go online and it will
talk about how awful it is. He started off by saying how fantastic all the
strikes were because London was empty. He followed this up by saying he has to balance
it up because it’s the BBC so they should all be shot in front of their families.
He was obviously being sarcastic in his comments, he doesn’t actually think
public sector workers should be shot. He has his own views and made them clear.
I watched this at the time and I thought it was pretty funny. He was joking in
his exaggeration, but people were offended so he apologised.
The N word. I hate this word, it’s a disgusting and
degrading term and a reminder of the monstrosity that is racism. I may be a fan
of Clarkson but if he had been racist then I would have been appalled. When I was
first alerted to this incident I was but then I saw the clip. He does not say
that word. The rhyme is very common, I remember hearing and using it all the
time when I was younger although the way I was taught it had the N word
replaced with Tigger from Whinnie the Pooh. Clarkson starts the rhyme but
mumbles through the middle and does not use that word. He makes strange humming
noises as filler but he does not use that word. The original rhyme uses that awful
word but Clarkson, so I think the controversy here is ridiculous. I don’t see
how you could take offense in someone humming in place of using a racist word,
that would be like being offended at the beeping sound used to censor a swear
word.
Finally Argentina. I remember watching the Christmas episodes
and being utterly shocked at what I was seeing. I knew there was still some
tension out there but I didn’t realise it was to that degree. The attacks were
savage and it’s a miracle that no one was seriously hurt, or worse. The
question is did Clarkson have anything behind that number plate. I doubt it. He
has always apologised for his controversial moments, even if he didn’t believe
he was wrong. He maintains his innocence here and I don’t see any reason to
accuse him of lying, there’s no proof. Plus it’s not like he alone was responsible
for that car. The show’s producers and cameramen and fellow hosts had seen it
and didn’t bat an eyelid. The BBC surely would’ve stopped him if he had gone to
the trouble to get a personalised number plate to offend Argentina. I think it
was an honest mistake.
Of course there are plenty of things I haven’t mentioned
from him saying the BBC is obsessed with hiring Black Muslim lesbians to his
ordeal with Mexico but I still don’t think he has overstepped the line. Jeremy
Clarkson speaks his mind, but he does not intend for any of us to take him
seriously. It’s easy to remember people poke a lot of fun at him, as well as
him at himself. His humour is not for everyone but I don’t think he is trying
to offend anyone.
So what about his most recent incident. All the BBC have
said is because of a fracas with a producer. For those of you (Such as myself)
who don’t know what Fracas means, it is a noisy disturbance or quarrel. However
he has also been said to have punched producer. Not much has been said. What
confuses me is he was apparently on his last chance after the N word incident
according to the BBC. If he really did punch a producer then why haven’t they
sacked him? They have come out saying no one man is bigger than the club. If it’s
that serious then according to their own words he should have been sacked.
However he is only suspended.
Maybe they need to investigate further, although I can’t see
how much needs to be looked into for someone punching someone else. Fellow Top
Gear presenter James May was spoken to Outside his house and he said it’s not
that serious. Obviously he won’t say too much as he doesn’t want to get himself
or his mate into trouble but surely there is some truth in this. Otherwise he
would’ve said he didn’t know anything.
Top Gear makes the BBC a colossal amount of money. The show
is popular worldwide and in its current format would not work without Clarkson.
He is arguably the most important presenter on the show, he is certainly the
face of the show. Whenever there’s an advertisement he’s in the centre. Plus
they would lose a large number of fans if he wasn’t present. If they want Top
Gear to continue being a success they cannot afford to sack him.
This will likely be a temporary thing. It is a shame that
the Top Gear is not on this Sunday or if I’, no mistaken the week after but I imagine
it’ll be back soon. A lot of people have come out in support of Clarkson and I can’t
see the BBC cutting him loose. It would not be a smart move to sack him, for
the BBC or the fans of Top Gear. What we all need to remember is Jeremy
Clarkson is a massive idiot, but that’s part of his TV persona. We all know
someone who acts like a bit of a tool, doesn’t make them a bad person. I enjoy
him on TV but I don’t take him seriously at all. Yes he walks a fine line
sometimes but let’s face it, what he does would be a lot more boring if he didn’t.
So don’t over react, instead enjoy him if you like him, ignore him if you don’t
and hopefully soon back on BBC 2 during Sunday nights will be the greatest car
show … IN THE WORLD!
Watching Hammond and May close the show felt incredibly
sombre. Hammond looked ready to well up and there was no acknowledgment of the
elephant in the room, no talks of the future, simply the TWO of them said
thanks for watching and Goodbye. It’s always goodnight said at the end of a Top
Gear Episode. Then the credits came up with the usual black background and
white text. There was the simple change
of no music, instead a silence lingered over the screen. It almost felt like
there’d been a death, it felt meaningful as did that first line, “Hello and welcome
to what’s left of Top Gear”.
