Clarkson: Outrage over Clarkson's 'sick' prostitutes joke

As long as Top Gear is discussed as controversial as this, everything is in order :) It means that the show keeps its quality.

I'll start to worry if the complains should suddenly stop...

And by the way: 4 year old children should be in bed before 8:00 pm.
 
And by the way: 4 year old children should be in bed before 8:00 pm.

FYI all my children are in bed before 8pm, not that I see how it's any of your business how I raise my family or what I allow them to watch either as broadcast or on sky+ (our version of tivo).

All programmes broadcast before 9pm in the UK on terrestrial channels must by law be suitable for viewing by all age groups. Last night's was to my mind a bit close to the knuckle and I took the decision as a reponsible parent not to allow my children to watch it and deal with the tears and disappointment that inevitably brought with it.
 
Well, I don't want to lecture or upset you.

But fact is that children these days will come across things that are not suitable for their age much sooner and much more often, than our generation did. And parents are unable to do anything about it, because those influences certainly won't come from inside our homes or a BBC program about cars.

So in my opinion the only way to prepare them right, is being honest and open with them as soon as possible and explain things to them in an uninhibited way.

Children are tougher than you think - especially when they have good guidance. If they can handle the horrors of the fairytales of the brothers Grimm without being traumatized for the rest of their lives, they can also handle Top Gear ;)
 
Well, I don't want to lecture or upset you.

But fact is that children these days will come across things that are not suitable for their age much sooner and much more often, than our generation did. And parents are unable to do anything about it, because those influences certainly won't come from inside our homes or a BBC program about cars.

So in my opinion the only way to prepare them right, is being honest and open with them as soon as possible and explain things to them in an uninhibited way.

Children are tougher than you think - especially when they have good guidance. If they can handle the horrors of the fairytales of the brothers Grimm without being traumatized for the rest of their lives, they can also handle Top Gear ;)

You're absolutely right, but for a little balance I read this earlier today......

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...r-among-those-watching-sexual-TV-content.html

I will always be open and honest with my children, but I am also aware that they shouldn't be exposed to certain things that will pique their curiosity at too young an age.
 
Ninety-Nine percent of truck drivers would find the segment hilarious comments and all.
 
Go fuck yourselves.... the people who complain, not you delightful people on here.
 
/facepalm.

I'm with you, though, Mineworksfine... I would imagine I'd be in quite the fix if I was watching this particular episode with yung'uns and the girly mags popped up on screen...
 
Calling it a "rant" and an "outburst" just makes me laugh. As usual the metro doesn't have enough proper news to fill its pages so it makes stories out of nothing.
For the benefit of those outside England-land who don't know who owns the Metro...

This, for the benefit of non-U.K. residents, is the Mail on it's all-too-frequent anti-BBC agenda. This story could have been predicted by anyone in the U.K. the moment Jeremy said it.
This newspaper is the Holy Grail for anyone who likes a bit of: racism, homophobia and misogyny.
...that should clear it up.

I understand your point, but I also don't think that children ages 4 or 7 are the target audience of TopGear.
Maybe not, but there have been a number of references to "if you're eight, you have my permission to stay up and watch the rest of the programme."

When I was eight, ten in the evening was almost this holy grail of a time I'd never seen before because I'd be in bed. These days, that's the time I'd just be getting warmed up.

And now, all of you go and download that James May interview that I spent my afternoon recording, editing and posting. The "murdering prostitutes" incident was heavily mentioned, and James' disdain for the people complaining is all too obvious.
 
My biggest beef is the references to and depiction of top shelf magazines which has rendered this episode totally unsuitable to be replayed to my 7 year old daughter and 4 year old son.

I mean TG is rated for 'parental guidance' it doesn't mean that the show will be entirely suitable for younger people.

I can think of many episodes where the content would not be deemed appropriate for young children.

Still, the content of the magazines was never shown, the covers dont show much..
 
What blows me away is people acting shocked and amazed at Clarkson saying something that sounds controversial. Or, parents with young kids allowing them to watch him in any shape or form without screening it first.

I anticipated this today. It's unbelievable - so did these 'shocked and outraged' people either a) sit there crossing their fingers that he doesn't say something that will offend someone (almost NEVER happens) or b) switch channels and say to their assembled offspring "Oooh, a fun program about cars, well I never. Who is this Clarkson chappie anyway?".

If you weren't a) or b) then you have no right to complain. And if your kids start shouting "Murdered Prostitutes!!!" in Tesco, you only have yourselves to blame. The hilarious point that seems to have been missed is, these people stayed tuned in long enough to count the number of times he repeated it, rather than rapidly engage their channel thumb on the first go? Shurely shome mishtake?

Charlie Brooker, rather predictably, commented on this sudden outpouring of outrage today: is this a new craze that has taken Britain by storm?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/03/jonathan-ross-russell-brand

I would take him up on one thing. The reason we might be inclined to give Clarkson, Monty Python, The Young Ones, Steptoe & Son, Blackadder et al a pass, but insist on the head of Brand to be delivered in a used carrier bag, is because the former collective were, by common consent, funny and Brand just isn't. We're all grown up enough to realise that insult is the debit column of humour but you still want to see a balance at the end. The Brand/Ross debacle was simply a bloke calling someone and leaving creepy messages on his answering service.

Ha fucking ha.
 
Wasn't the Yorkshire Ripper also a truck driver?

I was just thinking about that. I don't want this to turn into some morbid checklist in order to in some weird way justify Clarkson's comments as being 'correct' when he was being much more fatuous than factual (i.e. most lorry drivers manage to change gear without murdering anyone in between them). Stephen Wright was a lorry driver too. But, I don't think it's the case that if your occupation is a lorry driver that you're more likely to murder someone, but spend more time on the road and thus are more likely to show up in transport-related crimes of all kinds.

For instance - I'd wager that truck drivers are more likely to steal Ginster's Pasties than Chiropodists?
 
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Most postal workers manage to do their work without going on a shooting rampage too, but they still have to put up with the stereotype. :rolleyes:
 
I anticipated this today. It's unbelievable - so did these 'shocked and outraged' people either a) sit there crossing their fingers that he doesn't say something that will offend someone (almost NEVER happens) or b) switch channels and say to their assembled offspring "Oooh, a fun program about cars, well I never. Who is this Clarkson chappie anyway?".
I always see the "shocked and outraged" crowd, or more specifically the "Dear Daily Mail, I am shocked and outraged" sub-section (which is most of them) as those people who look for offensive TV programmes deliberately, watch them knowing full well they're going to be offended, and then write their standard letter of complaint.

They already know that Jeremy Clarkson, of all people, will say something outrageous - as James May pointed out on the Simon Mayo interview earlier, he is practically expected to.

For that episode of TG not to have had Jezza making a controversial comment about truckers - that's what would have been really shocking.
 
FYI all my children are in bed before 8pm, not that I see how it's any of your business how I raise my family or what I allow them to watch either as broadcast or on sky+ (our version of tivo).

All programmes broadcast before 9pm in the UK on terrestrial channels must by law be suitable for viewing by all age groups. Last night's was to my mind a bit close to the knuckle and I took the decision as a reponsible parent not to allow my children to watch it and deal with the tears and disappointment that inevitably brought with it.

And if it broke the law, i have full confidence that the BBC wouldn't of put it on or made them edit the content. So whats your problem?
 
Ninety-Nine percent of truck drivers would find the segment hilarious comments and all.

It probably weren't the truck drivers who complained, but people who felt they had to act for the truck drivers.

And I don't believe that after airing this Top Gear episode everyone now thinks that truck drivers are murders. If some do actually believe that, then it has merely something to do with the driving style of some of them and not with prostitutes ;)
 
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