14 DAY TRIAL // There is no denying that humans love to be shocked. Our modern society thrives on scandals, be they real or made up, on shocking developments or startling discoveries. So much so that, when we don't get any, we tend to make up our own.
This is exactly what happened last week to veteran TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson, the jolly man who has been bringing Top Gear into your home for the past two decades and made you laugh many times with his outrageous comments. Remember that word, “outrageous,” because it plays a big role in the coming paragraphs.
Well, jolly old Jeremy saw himself getting into a heap of trouble last week, as outtakes from the show Top Gear that never made it into the final version somehow got into the hands of the press, that blasted him relentlessly for using the N-word as part of a segment where he was reciting an old nursery rhyme.
The scene in question called for Jeremy to compare two very similar cars. The presenter chose to settle the matter playground-style, with an old-fashioned nursery rhyme from the `50s, that just happened to contain the N-word in it.
Fueled by the media that had a field day roasting Clarkson, the public immediately pulled its ranks to berate the presenter and ask for his prompt sacking from his position with the BBC. Many felt insulted that Clarkson made use of the N-word, so that a deeply remorseful Jeremy was strong-armed by the BBC to issue a video apology, something which he'd never done before, despite being involved in his fair share of scandals.
Few people could read between the lines and asked that we all keep a level head in the matter, but their voices were feeble and easily ignored. So now, Jeremy has been told by the BBC that “If I make one more offensive remark, anywhere, at any time, I will be sacked.”
This then should mean the imminent end of Clarkson's TV career, since it's known that most of his TV rants are based on funny exaggerations and witty comparisons that often offend people with little taste for political, economic and social humor.
People tend to forget that Jeremy Clarkson remains an entertainer par excellence, and that means that he's supposed to say things that would get you out of your comfort zone, he's supposed to be “outrageous,” otherwise people wouldn't be watching the show.
So people calling him a racist are in the wrong. Saying the N-word does not make a person racist in the same way that wearing a white collar does not make you a priest. He hasn't manifested hatred towards a particular race of people at any time in his long TV career, nor has he been proven to take any steps to act on those alleged racial streaks of his.
In fact, he has made a point out of making fun of all and any race that would happen to cross his path, without any discrimination whatsoever. What people fail to understand is that Clarkson has built himself as an immature, rude and funny middle-aged man on screen, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's the same man in his private life.
The issue here then is political correctness in our modern society, taken yet again too far by extremists who get so easily offended at words and forget actions most of the time. It's the same reason why you can't use certain words anymore, for fear of angering certain categories of people.
It's then time to stop picking at the small things and get a firm grasp on reality, which is far more complex than mumbling an offensive word under your chin, that is part of a rhyme you learned as a child when that word in question was deemed perfectly adequate and no one bated an eyelid.