Tuesday 1 February 2011

COMMENT · Come on Topgear, you can do better than that

Or maybe not.


Eduardo Medina Mora has written to the BBC about "insults" made by Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May.
Discussing a Mexican sports car, Hammond said vehicles reflected national characteristics so "Mexican cars are just going to be lazy".
The BBC did not comment but said it would respond directly to Mr Mora.
Reviewing the Mastretta on Sunday's show, Hammond said: "Mexican cars are just going to be lazy, feckless, flatulent, overweight, leaning against a fence asleep looking at a cactus with a blanket with a hole in the middle on as a coat."
Source 

Yes the new Mexican sports car is probably crap, so why not leave it at that and move on? There are so many ways in which you can be funny without resorting to slaggin off an entire culture. How about suggesting that the honk only plays La Cucaracha or that the car runs on mezcal instead of petrol? No? Not prejudiced and offensive enough?

This went way beyond a stereotype you can laugh off. Hammond wouldn't get away with saying "Imagine waking up everyday and remembering you're  ____________"  Insert: lesbian, black, homosexual, HIV positive, mentally ill, Pakistani, etcetera on the line. So why using the Mexicans as an easy target?

2 comments:

  1. Dahna HeinemanMarch 23, 2011

    Real Mexican food in the UK!!!! YES PLEASE! Love your site and will forward it out to my Texan friends living in the UK and all the American women I know here.
    Have you considered contacting and posting on the UK Expat sites? There are forums for Americans working in the UK and if they are like me, they are starving for PROPER Mexican food.
    Your site is lovely and the recipies are fantastic.
    Thank you for this!

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  2. Many thanks Dahna! =D

    Will look into forums with hordes of peckish Americans, great tip. Hope you have a go at trying the recipes at home and if you have any questions give us a shout!

    ReplyDelete