:P

[kateorman]

On a quest for Top Gear bloopers, I watched some stuff cut out of the News earlier this year. There are lots of silly lols, as you might expect, and then this really nasty little bit where they slag off a woman for being ugly

Comments

[infinitarian]

That biog sounds familiar -- I'm certainly not going to watch any of Top Gear to find out, but would that be Julia King, the Vice-Chancellor at Aston University?

I've met her. She's really nice. And I didn't notice her being ugly.

[kateorman]

Indeed. I haven't included her name in my posting, just in case she somehow comes across it, and wasn't aware of TG's limp little joke.

[infinitarian]

Ah, fair enough. Sorry.

What a bunch of wankers, though. She's a capable, intelligent and pleasant woman for whom I have an awful lot more respect than I have for Jeremy Clarkson.

[kateorman]

One does not respect Clarkson; one allows oneself to be amused by him. When he's funny. Which this clip suggests may be less of the time than one imagined.

(I'm pretty sure any mention of the lady's name is safe from search engines here in the comments.)

[qthewetsprocket]

this is one big reason why i loathe the 'comedy mother' stereotype in films, tv and books; especially in childrens' stories (where it seems to be most prevalent, for some reason) - it promotes the whole 'har har, middle-aged women are mockable unattractive cyphers with no soul or sexuality whatsoever' idea.

also, alas, i cannot see the vid - it tells me it's unavailable and to check back later. it has been telling me that for the last few hours. :( *is on tenterhooks wondering what jeremy's answer to richard's helpful offer was*

[kateorman]

It's something I appreciate about RTD's DW: there are plenty of ladiez my age and up, many of them sexeh and spirited

[qthewetsprocket]

It's something I appreciate about RTD's DW: there are plenty of ladiez my age and up, many of them sexeh and spirited.

0_ô

agree to really disagree on that one...in my book, the only bigger (modern) offender in the 'comedy mother stereotype' category is jk rowling.

and re: the top gear clip - you know, i think i've actually seen that one! was the fly pantomime bit in the actual show? the 'funny? rich?' bit sounds familiar too, though...*thinks uncomfortable thoughts about early senility, and wonders if the outtakes on the tg site used to actually work for me, once upon a time*

[kateorman]

Well, as you know, I dislike the "mother in law" stereotype we get with Rose, Martha, and Donna's mums. However, neither Jackie nor Francine are sexless, and while Jackie is often played for laughs, Francine and Sylvia aren't. And none of those mothers are soulless - Sarah Jane certainly isn't! Moreover, "woman of a certain age" is not synonymous with "mother" - Yvonne Hartmann, Harriet Jones, Blon Slitheen, Captain Magambo, heck, Sky Silvestry and the Hostess. I honestly wouldn't expect to see such a variety of female characters my age and up in any other show.

[kateorman]

They're usually cheeky and forgiveable rather than mean.

[the_ladylark]

Top Gear have a reputation for saying things that are Just Not On. In fact this week they made a joke about it, mentioning a long list of groups that had complained about comments in the previous week, and then proclaiming that they would never offend [single most contraversial group listed].

I'd say that calling a particular woman 'not good looking' is fairly mild for what they get up to! I suspect that none of them are particularly sexist, just as none of them actually believe that lorry drivers all murder prostitutes.

[kateorman]

I usually don't mind their naughty boys act, but then usually it's funnier! They undercut a lot of stuff which would be painful by being silly or OTT or self-deprecatory. In fact, one remark about how unattractive the boys themselves were that week, between Jeremy's artificial saliva, James' eye infection, and Rich's heavily made-up zit, would've taken much of the venom out of it!

[edorm]

... aaaand this is why I've missed the whole Top Gear boat - the first time I ever watched it, they were interviewing people in the crowd, and Jeremy decided it would be funny to make fun of how one of the people looked. I just changed the channel and never went back.