Jeremy Clarkson Meets the Neighbours

[edkwon]

Yes its an old show (between his time on Old TG and new TG) but its a good one where he visits and explores british perceived stereotypes of neighboring countries in Europe. Plus you find out the origins of all his stereotypes he makes on TG.

For those who haven't seen it yet, theres a new torrent here http://www.mininova.org/tor/1155039

People from France, Holland, Germany, Spain, Italy, etc, do you agree with his blanket generalizations of each country or just find them plain inaccurate and offensive?

I'll sum up his views on the ppl of each country he visits

1. France - full of arrogant, good looking, safety-neglecting food enthusiasts

2. Belgium - home of penguin dressing weirdos and the most boring sports in the world (shit yourself rich, champion pipe smoking, etc) and ppl who hate living in their own country

3. Holland - liberal dope-smoking, gay pornographers anarchists who are also ultra-conservative bible thumpers

4. Germany - uptight meticulous arrogant ppl who don't laugh unless they're told when and where, and are all set to reconquer europe again

5. Italy - fashion and style obsessed speed lovers who ironically are never on time anywhere

6. Basque - superhumanly strong big-earlobed ppl who think having their own language entitles them to act like terrorists (i'm sure he sees them like the N Irish)

7. Spain - laziest sponges of the EU who would rather take 3 hour lunch brake/naps and gladly take EU money paid for by the other members, and chronic fish thieves.

[LupoGirl]

His summary of the problems with every country are actually quite right. I mean, even I do think the French are arrogant sometimes and the Italians are style and speed obsessed. But i have worked with Italians and Germans and still work with the French and you know what? They are great people!

And yes, as being a Dutchman (woman), I think that the Dutch are dope smoking, clog wearing, complaining, chips with mayonaise eating idiots.
But what the h*ll, it's what's every country makes so different from another. And i'm still proud to be Dutch!

Like the Brits are perfect... teethless, drunken morons..

[Elvis313]

It's interesting that the first 15 minutes of the "Germany" episode are completely about the soviets fucking up half of our country

[Dins]

Originally Posted by Elvis313

It's interesting that the first 15 minutes of the "Germany" episode are completely about the soviets fucking up half of our country

Because that effect can luckily not be felt anymore.

[Cobol74]

Originally Posted by LupoGirl

His summary of the problems with every country are actually quite right. I mean, even I do think the French are arrogant sometimes and the Italians are style and speed obsessed. But i have worked with Italians and Germans and still work with the French and you know what? They are great people!

And yes, as being a Dutchman (woman), I think that the Dutch are dope smoking, clog wearing, complaining, chips with mayonaise eating idiots.
But what the h*ll, it's what's every country makes so different from another. And i'm still proud to be Dutch!

Like the Brits are perfect... teethless, drunken morons..

OK got some of them. ...

but like everywhere else there are some non morons. ...

+ YouTube Video

[LupoGirl]

Video doesn't work...

[efoolution]

Originally Posted by edkwon

People from France, Holland, Germany, Spain, Italy, etc, do you agree with his blanket generalizations of each country or just find them plain inaccurate and offensive?

I'll sum up his views on the ppl of each country he visits[...]

I feel like I´ve watched a completley different program ... without some few exceptions, Clarkson´s comments weren´t offensive at all, it was more a case of showing stuff the average brit doesn´t know about. I never got the impression this is meant in a negative way or that it says "they are all like that".

The Point of inaccuracy ... of course. I think I know Germany, the Neatherlands and France quite well and what´s shown is of course just a mere fraction of what goes on in these countries and their differences. But what do you expect from a 30 Minute (or so) program? A whole history with in-depth look at all variations of socitey? Clarkson picked out some interesting points ... if anyone were to interpret more into the show it´s their own fault, not Clarksons.
I think this all comes to show in the last episode (Italy) when he is at the (southern) End of Mainland Europe and reflects on his journey and how great he thinks Europe is "I startet this journey as a little englander but I finish it here on the heel of Italy happy to call myself a European". Wich is also when I fell of the chair laughing ... because it´s done to the song "this is not america"

[Shawn]

Of course he makes sweeping generalizations and stereotypes... would you watch his programmes if he didn't? Clarkson's strong suit is irreverence and that he'll say whatever he thinks, as offensive and as inaccurate it might be.

That's why I enjoyed this programme... it didn't make me any smarter or more knowledgeable, but it was nice to see the Clarkson brand of humour in a different genre.

By the way, still hoping, wishing and dreaming for a higher quality rip of this. The ones available really are quite bad.

[NooDle]

I was surprised he was able to show me a side of Belgium that even I never knew existed.

Yes, I knew we were bores, but Pipe smoking championship? Shit yourself rich? And I believe theres a "how many songs can your bird sing in an hour" championship in there aswell

W
T
F
?

[MattD1zzl3]

Originally Posted by Shawn

Clarkson's strong suit is irreverence and that he'll say whatever he thinks, as offensive and as inaccurate it might be.

I dunno man, unified german states (read:"Ze Germans") have been trying to take over europe since antiquity, you cant say thats inaccurate.

[Shawn]

I said as inaccurate as his statements might be. For instance, I don't think any Dutch people smoke a mega cannabis joint like he did in Holland.

[AnGuRuSO]

Originally Posted by NooDle

I was surprised he was able to show me a side of Belgium that even I never knew existed.

Yes, I knew we were bores, but Pipe smoking championship? Shit yourself rich? And I believe theres a "how many songs can your bird sing in an hour" championship in there aswell

W
T
F
?

I'll never forget the "how many songs can your bird sing in an hour" championship. Its just one of those things, that is so surprising and hilarious.

[Ironlord]

I have no torrent capability at the moment.

Has anyone downloaded this torrent - and if so, is it a proper re-rip (say from Dave or one of the other UKTV channels) or the ancient Jabba rips which may or may not have his "Another Release by the O'Mighty Jabba" crudely smeared out of the top of the picture?

EDIT: Bah. The comments imply that it's Jabba's clunky rips.

[lueyyou]

You sir, are correct. Hope this get re-released on DVD or something, its actually quite funny.

[jensked]

Originally Posted by NooDle

I was surprised he was able to show me a side of Belgium that even I never knew existed.

Yes, I knew we were bores, but Pipe smoking championship? Shit yourself rich? And I believe theres a "how many songs can your bird sing in an hour" championship in there aswell

Yeah, what he shows is totally not representative. I don't know anyone who does any of the things he portraits as "typical belgian". And personally, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else...

[edkwon]

Originally Posted by Shawn

I said as inaccurate as his statements might be. For instance, I don't think any Dutch people smoke a mega cannabis joint like he did in Holland.

I wondered about that, i wonder legally is he allowed to show on UK television smoking a real joint/doing drugs in a country where it is legal?

I know in the US the FCC probably has some stupid rules about allowing the televising of actual drug use, bloody violent acts, nudity, etc (not stuff in fictional shows or movies of course)

[MacGuffin]

I think the biggest flaw of this project was/is, that Jeremy randomly picked stereotypes, declared them for real and deliberately searched for ways to somehow confirm them - ignoring realities and warping the truth all along the way. And more than once he was plainly lying.

I have nothing against stultification or satire (actually I adore both). But for my taste Jeremy went a bit too far in this case, because he sells it as a documentary, while in reality it is just the world view of a chauvinistic person. I refuse to call it satire and it certainly isn't journalism.

To me it's just propaganda, even though there are a few interesting and amusing parts. It could have been a satire, if it was clear all along the way, that Jeremy isn't serious about it all. But frankly it is made in a way that somebody, who doesn't know Clarkson and his humor, has to believe that it is meant serious.

And that is hard to accept and even harder to excuse.

[hajj]

I have to say I have only vague memories of meet the neighbours, I watched it when it was on TV in 2002 (before the first season of new Top Gear had started airing), I just settled in the UK back then and I really started to appreciate Clarkson humour. Sure there were generalisations, short-cuts and the lot, but it was a good TV series back then, if you get British humour. And I say that as a Dutch/German with strong ties to Belgium, so I have all reason to be offended.

[Shawn]

Originally Posted by edkwon

I wondered about that, i wonder legally is he allowed to show on UK television smoking a real joint/doing drugs in a country where it is legal?

I know in the US the FCC probably has some stupid rules about allowing the televising of actual drug use, bloody violent acts, nudity, etc (not stuff in fictional shows or movies of course)

Well I seriously doubt it was actually pot he was smoking... can you imagine how much it would take for a joint that big?

And as for showing you supposedly smoking pot, I guess it's okay since I've seen plenty of American shows do that. In fact, I've actually noticed about half the shows I watch have dealt with pot or at least shown it at some point.

[Smörgåsbord]

Originally Posted by Shawn

Well I seriously doubt it was actually pot he was smoking... can you imagine how much it would take for a joint that big?

Camberwell Carrot?