Jeremy Clarkson and the Mexican Scandal

Why is it still big news when Jeremy Clarkson offends somebody?

He's an antiquated magniloquent who lumbers through his rants like some sort of scavanging dinosaur; he probably doesn't fully understand everything that's going on, but it seems like a good idea at the time. And the Top Gear audience give him a laugh.

We tolerate his stupid opinions because he is brave enough to say them out loud.

So when Jeremy Clarkson suggested that Mexican people were lazy, flatulent and fat, it can't have come as a big surprise.

Now, my point becomes a little invalidated when I say that I am a big Top Gear fan. Guilty. It's silly and it's over-the-top and it's childish, but it's still good entertainment. But I have to admit, that when Richard Hammond set up the "cars take on a national identity" line leading into Clarkson's monologue, I could already see what was coming.

And the thing is, I don't specifically object to national stereotypes being portrayed, everyone does it in comedy, and I think the whole concept about cars and national identity is an interesting one. However, the problem I think I really had with it was that it just wasn't funny.

The "Mexicans are lazy" stereotype is one that doesn't really ring true in England. It is completely an American stereotype which the Top Gear writers have decided to borrow and attribute to Jeremy. I don't know about you, but I don't see very many Mexicans in England, and certainly the concept of Mexicans being lazy is something that has only been perpetuated by American TV shows.

No, but it's true, we don't see many Mexicans in this country. They are probably all too full up on their refried beans to make the trip over... Ahaaaa you see, I was in on it all along!

Seriously, though.
In this sense, I am not so much annoyed at Jeremy Clarkson for expressing this daft "opinion" (as Stewart Lee has said "the opinions he has for money"), but rather that for some reason the writers have felt the need to talentlessly jump of the American bandwagon of stereotyping Mexicans in this way.

What can we expect next? Jeremy makes a sexist comment about all the "soccer moms" in the audience? Seriously Top Gear writers, if you are going to make crass generalisations at least have the decency to be funny.