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Thread: Top Gear - Racist Comments

  1. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kitdy View Post

    I know it is all an act, but Hammond is the most forced and unnatural, and he seems like the least "car guy" of the three.
    he has heaps of cars/bikes/projects..
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  2. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by clutch-monkey View Post
    he has heaps of cars/bikes/projects..
    I know he does. I just get that vibe from him, it is probably wrong.

    I have wondered before if he was seriously into cars before being on TG.

  3. #18
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    To me, Jame is the proper car journalist and Clarkson is wel.. just Clarkson.

    Hammond is neither as funny as Clarkson nor as informative as May. So he is a bit of a nothing, to me.
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  4. #19
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    He presented Motorweek (Men & Motors TV series) in 1998 apparently. I'd say he would have had to have been into cars before TG, watching the early episodes it doesn't seem like he's any less knowledgeable or into them than now.

    As for the racism thing, it does seem that this time it was a bit too over the top. It was probably partially a reaction to that guy that got fired for making a suggestive to a lady or whatever it was - they support him, so I guess they wanted to make another shitstorm in protest or whatever. Lets be honest - if they fire one of them, they'll all take Top Gear to another channel (in all but name obv). I'd reckon the BBC wouldn't really want that.
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  5. #20
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    Top Gear - Racist Comments

    Hammond is most definitely a car guy. He's also a pompous jerkoff from what I've read. Off camera he is hated by staff/interns.
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  6. #21
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    Just another reason this show doesn't do anything for me. Infantile crap from them is standard fare. The chat sessions with audience standing around must be the oddest format on the tube... and while May and Hammond throw the first bombs out (in comparison, Clarkson is reserved), it's the audience reaction that's most telling. Change the word "Mexican" to kike, nigger, slope, spic; pick your favorite slur and see if they laugh along with it.

    I don't give a crap about political correctness, but some words matter. Think the TG franchise shows could get away with it?

    EDIT: BBC has pulled the vid from YouTube.
    Last edited by csl177; 02-03-2011 at 06:00 AM.
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  7. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kitdy View Post
    I know he does. I just get that vibe from him, it is probably wrong.

    I have wondered before if he was seriously into cars before being on TG.
    May and Clarkson present themselves more as your average person. To me, Hammond's always been presented as a metrosexual. And what kind of person gels their hair with a greasy hand.
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  8. #23
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    I'm a little late to see the vid, so I really can't comment on the content of their recent triad, I will have to wait until they show it on BBCA....


    As for Hammond, if you read his column in the magazine, you could tell hes a real enthusiast. He frequently talks about working on his cars, buying cars, etc. I've also read one of his books where he talks about how he got involved with cars and bikes early on and how hes been a car guy since he was a kid. So no one can deny he is a true car guy. He may not be as informed as May or as Funny as Clarkson, but I feel he represents the average car guy more so than either May or Clarkson, May being the "typical" enthusiast, Clarkson the "rich" bloke who could buy almost anything he wants (he owned Mercedes', Aston MArtin, Lamborghini, and a Ford GT to name a few).
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  9. #24
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    I think this was really just a calculated publicity stunt. Mexico isn't part of their audience and nor does any Mexican have any control or influence in UK broadcasting or motoring.

  10. #25
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    >>>> oops, wasn't thinking Moved the discussion on the racism to here from the TG thread .... and forgot that the chronological order woudl mean it woudl come before the rest. So post #6 is the original one that started this thread. THose prior are from the other discussion. Sorry for any confusion. But reckoned best to keep this all in one place
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  11. #26
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    To me, both Top Gear and Clarkson are overrated.

  12. #27
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    ^^^ true, to me Glenn Beck and Gordon Ramsay are too.
    It's an entertainment show
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  13. #28
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    Thanks for moving, Matra.

    I think the best racial comedy contains a dollop of self-deprecation, whether you are a part of the group you are making fun of, or by making fun of them you are implicitly making fun of your own racial/class/whatever group. e.g. Usually when Clarkson says something outlandish, you know that he knows in the back of his mind that he's a buffoon.


    Quote Originally Posted by Ferrer View Post
    To me, Jame is the proper car journalist and Clarkson is wel.. just Clarkson.

    Hammond is neither as funny as Clarkson nor as informative as May. So he is a bit of a nothing, to me.
    While I agree with you, it should be noted that though we don't think about like we do with the spinoffs they still have character spaces that they need to fill. This makes their onstage personas forced to some extent, and while Hammond may be the most obvious Clarkson, to a small degree, and May, to a larger degree, are guilty as well. May's pedantry/OCD can be overbearing and forced at times and I feel like there's a lot more of a speedfreak in him than we're allowed to see.
    Hammond is also pidgeonholed into the job of a 40-some-year old pandering to the TG production crew's slightly skewed view of "the youth." Though he is certainly the most in the wrong in this current instance he is critical to the personality balance on TG.
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  14. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by Matra et Alpine View Post
    ^^^ true, to me Glenn Beck and Gordon Ramsay are too.
    It's an entertainment show
    well for the first 3 seasons they tried to be serious video journalists

    TG got really big as the internet reached critical mass

  15. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by f6fhellcat13 View Post
    While I agree with you, it should be noted that though we don't think about like we do with the spinoffs they still have character spaces that they need to fill. This makes their onstage personas forced to some extent, and while Hammond may be the most obvious Clarkson, to a small degree, and May, to a larger degree, are guilty as well. May's pedantry/OCD can be overbearing and forced at times and I feel like there's a lot more of a speedfreak in him than we're allowed to see.
    Hammond is also pidgeonholed into the job of a 40-some-year old pandering to the TG production crew's slightly skewed view of "the youth." Though he is certainly the most in the wrong in this current instance he is critical to the personality balance on TG.
    I agree that the three characters are, to a degree, made up for the show. And especially as the series has progressed the acting has become more and more forced.

    But even so, the one that feels more artificial to me is Hammond's. Sometimes his alter ego feels like an annoying, envious twat. Let me put it that way, I'd watch a Clarkson TV car show and I'd watch a May TV car show, but I wouldn't watch a Hammond TV car show.
    Lack of charisma can be fatal.
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