Top Gear Expresses Regret for 'Slope Remark in Burma Special

[RedMoon11]

Top Gear Expresses Regret for 'Slope' Remark in Burma Special


The show saw Clarkson (l) and his co-hosts face a series of challenges in Myanmar and Thailand

The executive producer of Top Gear has expressed regret for a "light-hearted" remark on its Burma special that led to the BBC show being accused of racism.

Broadcast in March, the show saw Jeremy Clarkson use the word "slope" as an Asian man crossed a newly built bridge over the River Kwai in Thailand.

Executive producer Andy Wilman said it had been a "joke referencing both the build quality of the bridge and the local Asian man who was crossing it".

"[We] regret any offence caused."

The use of the word - which is a derogatory term for people of Asian descent - led to complaints and the threat of legal action from Equal Justice, a law firm specialising in discrimination cases.

Acting on behalf of actress Somi Guha, the firm accused Clarkson of "clear gross misconduct" and said his comments made the BBC appear "institutionally racist".

"We were not aware at the time, and it has subsequently been brought to our attention, that the word 'slope' is considered by some to be offensive," Wilman said in a statement.

"Although it might not be widely recognised in the UK, we appreciate that it can be considered offensive to some here and overseas, for example in Australia and the USA.

"If we had known that at the time we would not have broadcast the word in this context."

The incident follows previous episodes of the BBC motoring show that landed its presenters in hot water.

In 2011 the BBC apologised for remarks on the programme that characterised Mexicans as lazy and feckless.

Comments likening the design of a camper van to people with facial disfigurements the following year, meanwhile, were later found to be "not editorially justified" by the BBC Trust.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-27123434

[Vivienne]

In all my years in Asia I have never heard the word slope used to describe a person. Many other words, yes and I'm in the States. I guess I missed the camper van incident. It seems there are people that only have time to criticize Top Gear.

[jmsquared]

"Slope" is a deeply offensive word (here in Oz at least) to people of Asian origin. I was amazed when I heard that comment on the show, and I quickly surmised that they had no idea of its meaning in other parts of the world. Glad Andy has clarified this...honest mistake.

[Wyvern]

This is the double-edged nature of global fame, and the internet culture that fuelled it. Without the Internet, Top Gear would simply not have reached the huge global audience that it has, and this issue would probably never have arisen because the furore wouldn't have occurred - the remark would have gone unnoticed by pretty much all of the domestic audience, because it's not a word in use here to mean anything except in the sense of something being slanted or inclined. However, it's precisely because the show has become so globally popular that it can make adventures like this. I'm absolutely sure there was no intention to cause genuine hurt, but sometimes I think I wish they were slightly more aware, just so they don't end up dropping a major clanger and saying something that, whilst totally innocent here, caused serious widespread offence with people who were unwilling to accept an apology.

Even when Top Gear has gone too far (the Mexican incident comes to mind), a lot of the subsequent outrage on the internet came, not from Mexicans, but from Americans who applied their own cultural interpretation of Mexican as an offensive word (i.e. in that 'Mexican' is used disparagingly as a term for any Hispanic person, and that the stereotypes being played on were extremely offensive to people who often do the hard but necessary - and often poorly paid - jobs that a lot of people don't want to do), rather than the British interpretation (i.e. that Mexican people come from Mexico, and all we usually see are the gross stereotypes in Speedy Gonzales cartoons). Considering that TV shows are checked for compliance with appropriate broadcast standards, the BBC as a whole needs to be more aware of the impact their output can have, because shows acting in good faith for their core audience - and that will always be the domestic one - do not deserve to be overly criticised for crossing cultural lines that are not their own. At the same time, global audiences need to be aware of British culture in relation to their own.

Let me turn it on its head for a moment - American shows sometimes use the word 'spaz' in reference to someone doing something stupid or being a bit hyperactive or clumsy, although I understand that this is now being discouraged. To hear a sweet character like Willow using it on an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer absolutely shocked me, because in the UK, 'spaz' is extremely offensive ableist word, and indeed, the cerebral palsy charity Scope changed its name from The Spastics Society because of the negative connotations. But I realised that the word use was different in the US, and in the context of the show, it was something I could accept. I don't have to like hearing it, but I can appreciate that the intention was not to insult people with a disability, because culturally it simply does not have that meaning elsewhere.

[Vivienne]

Wyvern I agree with most of what you said. Living here in New Mexico we have several derogatory words for the Mexicans that cross the border illegally. Working in the schools here I would ask if they were from Mexico because many come from Chihuahua where it can be dangerous. I think we generalize using Hispanic for all people that speak Spanish because we don't know where they are from. As for spaz, I haven't heard that in at least 20 years but it was used widely as another word for moron.

[RedMoon11]

Clarkson: That is a proud moment. But, there's a slope on it.
 Hammond: You're right, it's definitely higher on that side.

Considering how much international traveling Jeremy and company have done over their long careers they had idea of the double meaning of the word "slope", "Executive producer Andy Wilman said it had been a "joke referencing both the build quality of the bridge and the local Asian man who was crossing it",

but I think they didn't realise the intensity of the word. The offending bit had been clipped out of the episode on BBC America when it aired a week after it was shown in the UK.
I've heard it used once by someone calling into The Howard Stern, a "shock jock", radio show years ago. I think it one of those old time slurs that thankfully for the most part has fallen out of use in the U.S.  
The worst bit, I think, is the woman trying to cash in on the whole ordeal with a lawsuit and get publicity for herself.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2591500/BBC-sued-1-MILLION-Jeremy-Clarkson-racism-allegations-presenter-makes-slope-remark-Top-Gear-Burma-special.html

It wasn't the word "Mexican" that people found offensive, it was the the stereotypical descriptions used to describe the car:
 
"Jeremy Clarkson had said he was confident he would not receive any complaints about their comments because the Mexican ambassador would be asleep.

The Top Gear team's comments about Mexicans were made when they were discussing a Mexican sports car.

Richard Hammond said vehicles reflected national characteristics so "Mexican cars are just going to be lazy".

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."

The presenters, known for their edgy jibes, then described Mexican food as "refried sick"
 www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12361790

Of course the digs at the ambassador and the food didn't help either.  Even though saying someone fell asleep in front of the TV at night is hardly offensive and one must admit refried beans, frijoles refritos, isn't the most pleasant looking food, delicious as it is topped with salsa and cheese.
I'm not sure if it the whole episode, Series 16, episode 2, has been shown on BBC America since the segment was part of the news which if often cut out to fit in the hour long time slot.The episode available uncut on Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime streaming services.

The Prius camper van comments was in series 18 episode 2 during the news
www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19785998

Spaz was popular in the 1980s and 90s as in "I like totally spazzed out" also meaning to freak or flip out.

It's not just English words having different meanings and being offensive slang in various English speaking parts of the world. I remember a Latina talk show host talking about accidentally causing offence, how they had to be careful  because her show was aired across North, South and Central America and in different parts of the Spanish speaking world words and phrases they were unaware of ended up being dirty and or offensive in some countries and regions.

Frankly I'm convinced one of the the TG three could say "Hello and good evening" on the show and someone watching would be highly offended.  

[Wyvern]

I actually saw a group of American fans go off on a protracted rant about the whole Mexican thing on the basis of the arguments I mentioned (no concerns about the food or the ambassador or the car, just 'how dare they hurl insults at hard-working Hispanic people) - I wasn't necessarily going into detail on that, because the issue is dealt with, but the fact remains that if you say 'Mexican' in the UK, the picture we get is of a bloke in a poncho and a sombrero asleep under a cactus while his donkey wanders off - it doesn't have any of the other connotations. I honestly think they're going to reach a point where the only people they're allowed to insult are middle-aged, middle-class white British men. And they do that regularly anyway.

I'm not at all surprised that it happens with speakers of other languages too - Spanish is so widely spoken, I'm sure there are plenty of expressions that whilst causing no offence at all in, say, Madrid, could cause ructions in Buenos Aires.

[RedMoon11]

Top Gear Burma Episode Breached Ofcom Rules

28 July 2014


The show saw Jeremy Clarkson and his co-hosts face a series of challenges

Top Gear's Burma Special in which Jeremy Clarkson used a racial slur broke broadcasting rules, Ofcom has said.

The show featured a segment showing the hosts looking at a bridge they had built on the River Kwai as a local man walked across it.

Clarkson remarked: "That is a proud moment. But there's a slope on it."

Ofcom, who investigated after TWO viewers complained, said the use of the word "slope" was offensive.

After receiving complaints, Top Gear producer Andy Wilman said * it was "a light-hearted wordplay joke referencing both the build quality of the bridge and the local Asian man who was crossing it".

Following Clarkson's remark, co-star Richard Hammond replied: "You're right. It's definitely higher on that side."

'Not justified'

Wilman said: "We were not aware at the time, and it has subsequently been brought to our attention, that the word 'slope' is considered by some to be offensive and although it might not be widely recognised in the UK, we appreciate that it can be considered offensive to some here and overseas, for example in Australia and the USA.

"If we had known that at the time we would not have broadcast the word in this context and regret any offence caused."

An Ofcom spokesperson said: "After a thorough investigation, Ofcom has found the BBC breached broadcasting rules by including an offensive racial term in Top Gear, which was not justified by context.

"Jeremy Clarkson used the word 'slope' to refer both to an Asian man crossing a bridge, and the incline of the bridge.

"This was scripted in advance. The BBC failed to take the opportunity, either during filming or post-production, to check whether the word had the potential to offend viewers."


The Burma Special saw hosts Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May film on the border of Myanmar (also known as Burma) and Thailand

In its representations to Ofcom, the BBC said programme makers were aware the word was "used to refer to people of Asian origin" but they considered "such use was mere slang".

It added they were not aware it had the potential to cause offence "outside the UK" and had they been aware of this offence it would not have been used.

But Ofcom ruled there was "clearly an opportunity both during filming and post-production to research the word and reach a more considered view on whether it was 'mere slang'".

Following the Ofcom ruling the BBC said: "We dealt with this matter some time ago, the programme apologised at the time and explained the context, and we are now focussing on delivering another series of one of Britain's best loved shows."

The motoring show has faced a number of controversies over the years.

In 2011 the BBC apologised after an episode in which Hammond called Mexicans "feckless [and] flatulent" and Clarkson joked they would not receive complaints because the Mexican ambassador would be asleep.

In May the corporation faced calls to fire Clarkson after he mumbled an offensive version of the nursery rhyme Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe in a clip that was not broadcast.

Clarkson revealed he had been given a final warning and would be sacked if he made "one more offensive remark, anywhere, at any time".

www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-28522450

*Statement regarding Top Gear Burma Special

Date: 22.04.2014 Last updated: 22.04.2014 at 17.08
Category: Corporate

Statement from BBC Top Gear Executive Producer, Andy Wilman, in response to complaints following the broadcast of Top Gear Burma Special, BBC Two, 16 March.

"When we used the word ‘slope’ in the recent Top Gear Burma Special it was a light-hearted word play joke referencing both the build quality of the bridge and the local Asian man who was crossing it.

"We were not aware at the time, and it has subsequently been brought to our attention, that the word ‘slope’ is considered by some to be offensive and although it might not be widely recognised in the UK, we appreciate that it can be considered offensive to some here and overseas, for example in Australia and the USA.

"If we had known that at the time we would not have broadcast the word in this context and regret any offence caused."

www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/statements/top-gear-burma