TOP GEAR in Argentina

After listening to James, I believe him except for one small point. I just find it hard to believe Jeremy did not notice because he is a very sharp man.

But you know what, I don't care. In fact, I like to picture what the laughing jag was like when they put two and two together. The legit plate that came on the car from new and where they were going.

It is the Argintenions that will take the worst hit because the country is basically pitiful to begin with and a Top Gear show with 350 million viewers could get them a lot of positive publicity. But they have sure fucked that up over a stupid lic plate. Shows just how stupid they really are. I certainly have no desire to go there ever and I have gone to several places the boys have been and have a few more on my bucket list.
 
Meanwhile: don't British kids study UK/British history in school? Surely the twenty- and thirty-somethings who work at TG would have studied the Falklands War. So I don't know if I buy the idea that no one in the office spotted the plate.

Well, I have a hunch that British kids learn history in school about two things: A) The British Empire and B) How they won WWII :p It probably is like here: Contemporary history (and the 80's are still contemporary) are being ignored most of the time - as if history has stopped after 1945.

And to be honest: I'm sometimes a little pissed about their anti-German routine as well. But hey, instead of going all ballistic about it, I take it with a grain of salt and remind me that they love our cars - and that the British car industry is gone :p

Personally I find Jeremy's, James' and Andy's explanation very plausible and let me be frank that one needs to be very stubborn and a little obsessed in their opinion to seriously state "I don't care what they say, they're all lying" - which is what you basically said ;)
 
Meanwhile: don't British kids study UK/British history in school? Surely the twenty- and thirty-somethings who work at TG would have studied the Falklands War. So I don't know if I buy the idea that no one in the office spotted the plate.

How much did you study the Vietnam war or Desert Storm in school?

It is the Argintenions that will take the worst hit because the country is basically pitiful to begin with and a Top Gear show with 350 million viewers could get them a lot of positive publicity. But they have sure fucked that up over a stupid lic plate. Shows just how stupid they really are. I certainly have no desire to go there ever and I have gone to several places the boys have been and have a few more on my bucket list.

I actually disagree here. Any loss in tourism is outweighed by the gains that I'm sure political pundits are ranting on about down there. I wouldn't be surprised if it's sparking patriotism and being used my politicians to bolster their pro-Argentina image.
 
Well, I have a hunch that British kids learn history in school about two things: A) The British Empire and B) How they won WWII :p It probably is like here: Contemporary history (and the 80's are still contemporary) are being ignored most of the time - as if history has stopped after 1945.
This. Most of what you cover in British history is about the Roman occupation, the Middle Ages, skipping to the Victorian era, a glance at WWI and finishing off with WWII. There may be some mention of the political movements of the 1960s/70s regards race/gender equality, but that's about it.
 
I'm not sure I buy the notion that a team of demonstrably well-educated guys, one of whom is particularly famed for causing controversy (especially in the run-up to, and in promotion of, a new series) simply didn't twig. Call me a cynic, but it smells of a promo.
 
Well, even Desert Storm isn't quite the same, because that war didn't happen on our own soil. I'm leaving Vietnam alone, though, because that did have implications back home, but...

Initially, I was all, "Bha...like it's really that big of a deal. Someone's too sensitive. That lic plate is such a stretch, I have a hard time believing someone would have seen that plate and gotten upset".

However...if they came to the US and had a plate that said "TLBN911" (Taliban 9/11) or something like that...ok, I'm starting to see it.
 
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I dunno - if I was a researcher on TG I don't think I'd have twigged. I'd have been filling out bits of paperwork, making phone calls, and the numbers and letters of the plate would have been passing by my eyes occasionally- would I think to tie it to the Falklands? I don't think so. It just looks like a normal plate. We all think it's obvious now because we know why.
If it was a personalised plate (or even one of those less common ones with two numbers rather than three) maybe it would be different...
 
How much did you study the Vietnam war or Desert Storm in school?

Desert Storm happened while I was in middle school. I don't remember how far we got in US History by the time I got to eighth grade or in high school. (I'm sixteen years removed from that shite!) I vaguely remember the textbooks did cover at least some then-contemporary history -- so up to the 1970s or 1980s.

The reason I asked is because I know in schools here, US History is a requirement. So I wondered if it was similar in the UK.

I'm not sure I buy the notion that a team of demonstrably well-educated guys, one of whom is particularly famed for causing controversy (especially in the run-up to, and in promotion of, a new series) simply didn't twig.

That, and (again) the show's history regarding this sort of thing, is why I'm still cynical. Years ago I probably would have brushed this off and believe them, but nowadays I'm having a very fucking hard time. And if you don't like the fact that I'm headstrong about this, kiss my ass.
 
The US has 500 or so years of history. The UK has over 3000. And the kids in the UK have the same time span to learn about things than American kids. It's not even comparable.
That said, the Falklands war is recent history, they know about it, everyone knows about it. That's not in question.
 
Meanwhile: don't British kids study UK/British history in school? Surely the twenty- and thirty-somethings who work at TG would have studied the Falklands War. So I don't know if I buy the idea that no one in the office spotted the plate.

I'm not British, but I watched the Falklands Conflict live on the news every day and have studied it a fair bit and I didn't make the connection with the plate until it was pointed out - and even then, I find it to be a tenuous connection.

As such, I find it plausible that nobody on the production staff or the BBC "made the connection".
 
I couldn't care less if TG did it on purpose or not.
The rock throwing simpletons are the only ones to blame no matter what.
I've never understood why people get upset over someone making fun of the country they were born in, makes no sense to me.
 
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I couldn't care less if TG did it on purpose or not.
The rock throwing simpletons are the only ones to blame no matter what.
I've never understood why people get upset over something making fun of the country they were born in, makes no sense to me.

There's no excuse for throwing rocks and you have to stretch your imagination to find the plate offensive. However, there's a big difference between people getting upset over their country being made fun of and being hurt or insulted about a perceived reference to war and loss of life. I enjoy how politically incorrect the show is and how they poke fun at all sorts of people. I like making fun of everybody and that includes laughing at jokes made at my expense or those of my ancestry. Regardless of that fact, I don't think even they would find that kind of humor acceptable; and if they did, I certainly don't think they would publicly admit so. This is a very recent wound and there are probably a lot of people still alive who lost loved ones during that conflict.

Personally, I couldn't care less if the TG team had ill intentions. I don't think we'll ever get an answer to that. I do care about anybody making fun of loss of life during war; regardless of the country involved. Even if there was never an intent to do harm, people who lost loved ones have every right to feel outraged. They have absolutely no right to violently act on those feelings, but they have a right to their feelings.

It seems to me that almost everybody can agree on a few basics here, maybe. The plate was unfortunate and it touched a nerve. Everyone who was upset by that had a right to their opinions. The few assholes that turned that into violence were wrong. Period.

A LOT of people have hijacked this event to further their own agendas. Some have done so to crucify Top Gear, some to heat up political embers between two countries and yet others to demean an entire nation. This topic has had way too much attention. For some, there will never be enough.

Top Gear is an entertainment show; and one that most of those on this forum enjoy, myself included. Political debates are regrettably, an exercise in futility. There is plenty of room for TG as a show, for Britons and Argentinians to be proud of their respective nations and for idiots to roam the wild. Perhaps we should live and let live.
 
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It's too bad that recent Christmas specials have been released without the commentary - this one would have really interesting. *G*
 
I couldn't care less if TG did it on purpose or not.
The rock throwing simpletons are the only ones to blame no matter what.
I've never understood why people get upset over someone making fun of the country they were born in, makes no sense to me.

Makes as much sense to say a whole country is full of backward idiots because of a few bad apples, yet it's happened in this thread more than once. So who's really to say they're better than the rock throwers, here?
 
I really understand how the argentinian people feels about this, they still feel the Fawklands or "Malvinas" (how they call it) are argentinian, when you enter to argentina in every border pass there's a big sign wich says "Las Malvinas son argentinas" and they always says they will be back.
malvinas-argentinas2.jpg

In Argentina there is a deep anti-england feel, still 32 years after. In fact they blame Chile for help UK with intel information during the conflict.

Probably the number plate is the original and wasn't bad intention in that but I think BBC people are clever enough to see the problem before going there, specially to the southern part of the country. I really dont believe they wasn't notice.

I'm chilean with england and german roots and I'm married with an argentinian living in Chile, now I will have to hide to watch TG...

PS: People from US: what you think about a "911haha" number plate? how you feel about that? throwing rocks will be the least you will do, probably invade some other country or so
 
I feel like a big reason why people can claim nonsense that the BBC staff didn't realize this is because of something called hindsight bias.

http://www.psychologicalscience.org...ong-didnt-i-understanding-hindsight-bias.html

I'm willing to give Top Gear the benefit of the doubt on this one.

P.S. Now that I've said that, some rogue crew member is going to give an interview to the Daily Mail stating that this was all planned.
 
Well, I have a hunch that British kids learn history in school about two things: A) The British Empire and B) How they won WWII :p It probably is like here: Contemporary history (and the 80's are still contemporary) are being ignored most of the time - as if history has stopped after 1945.

Literally not a thing about the British empire.

80% of it was WWII, and the conditions that led up to it. Not "How we won it", but how the Nazi party rose to power, what was done wrong in the aftermath of WWI to create the conditions that allowed it, the desperate economic conditions and resentment in Germany at the time etc. British military incompetence that cost more lives than it had to during the campaign, life at home under the threat of bombings and extreme rationing etc. These things covered most of my ~4 years in high school history class.
5% was communism in Russia.
15% was the industrial revolution in the UK.

Maybe there was a day or two on the Falklands war, certainly not enough for me to remember or know anything about it, so you're right about that.
 
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The reason I asked is because I know in schools here, US History is a requirement. So I wondered if it was similar in the UK.
So? Are you suggesting your history classes didn't gloss over the warts and embarrassments in your country's military history? Like when you declared war on the remaining British North American colony (re:Canada) in 1812, which only resulted in your White House being burned to the ground and actually losing the war?

I'm sure the Brits study their own history, just like we do here in Canada. Doesn't mean it's all inclusive.
 
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