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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Jeremy Clarkson and special needs

88 replies

Serennos · 02/08/2010 15:27

AIBU to think that there is something very wrong with Jeremy Clarkson thinking it is okay to say that a Ferrari's smiling face makes it look as though it is a 'simpleton', and say it should have been called 'Speciali Needs'?

Fuming on behalf of my ASD brother - luckily his obsessiond do not extend to Top Gear!

OP posts:
BarmyArmy · 02/08/2010 15:29

Life is too short - stop choosing to be offended.

BrightLightBrightLight · 02/08/2010 15:30

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TheButterflyEffect · 02/08/2010 15:32

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ArseyMum · 02/08/2010 15:32

Agreed with Barmy and Bright, don't be over sensitive.

sue52 · 02/08/2010 15:35

The man makes his living by being offensive. Don't watch him if you are easily offended.

pagwatch · 02/08/2010 15:39

I have a son with ASD. I think Jeremy Clarkson is quite good really - I can listen to his self obsessed,ignorant ramblings, compare it to the way my DS2 see the world and think 'it really could be so much worse'....
Can you imagine having to tell people you are Jeremy Clarksons mother?

treedelivery · 02/08/2010 15:41

I don't think it's ok.

I don't think he could say 'looks like black man with a fat nose' or something along those lines. He couldn't/shouldn't say it's a 'simpleton' therefore it should be painted green, it must be Irish [like the bad old days]

If I had a sn child, I'd be upset at SN and the term 'simpleton' being used together. As if they are the same thing. They are not.

Yeah it's fine to think people are oversensitive, get over it, and so on. But if your child has special needs and facing this stuff is daily life, you know what? It hurts. You shouldn't have to see if on the telly.

overmydeadbody · 02/08/2010 15:41

agree with barmy and bright

Don't let him get to you, life's too short.

StarlightMcKenzie · 02/08/2010 15:42

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treedelivery · 02/08/2010 15:43

I think he's entertainng btw, I also think he is way too bright to be making these stupid errors of judegment. He needs to get an education to match his intellect.

sarah293 · 02/08/2010 15:43

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overmydeadbody · 02/08/2010 15:45

Jeremy Clarkson is a bumbling idiot.

Intelligent people like the OP shouldn't let the comments of bumbling idiots upset them.

pagwatch · 02/08/2010 15:46

tree
I agree with you actually.
But people like JK saying such things ( along with that monstrous wanker Frankie Boyle) do at least make the connect between deeply unpleasant people and 'jokes' about SN.
It is good that these people , the Bernard mannings of their generation, are the ones who still want to do it. It does at least emphasise that it isn't challenging or anti-PC. It is just mysoginistic old wankers trying to raise a laugh with stuff is actually just nastiness dressed up as humour

sarah293 · 02/08/2010 15:46

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overmydeadbody · 02/08/2010 15:48

It is not ok to be offensive about special needs Riven, but getting upset about the comments of a silly little man like JC is not going to stop him being the way he is is it?

By all means write to Top Gear or the BBC (or whoever hosts the programme) and complain, but don't let it make you angry or 'fuming', that is negative energy that will only make the person feeling it suffer.

pagwatch · 02/08/2010 15:49

I am clearly a bit annoyed too JC not JK. I must be thinking of Jeremy Klaxon - the one that just endlessly emits a revolting noise..... [still not sure]

overmydeadbody · 02/08/2010 15:50

he didn't actually make fun of people with special needs though did he?

overmydeadbody · 02/08/2010 15:53

I heard my neighbor repeatedly call her 3 yr old son a "fucking idiot spastic" that was really really sad. It shocked me that some members of society still use that word, and to use it as an insult to her own child

ColdComfortFarm · 02/08/2010 15:54

I bitterly resent the idea that 'special needs' is some hilarious insult. And yes, it makes me angry.

treedelivery · 02/08/2010 15:55

I agree Pagwatch, in the scheme of things, we know him to be a silly man on a good programme.

But I have ishooos. Issues about just how bright people are, will they get that he is showing himself up? Or will they think 'yeah, funny, dude'. About how it normalises this low-ish level intolerance.

But then I have a lot of ishooos with quite a lot of the earthlings

I'd still quite like to be in the audience though.

Fibilou · 02/08/2010 15:56

How would taking the piss have been any better by using "special needs" rather than "simpleton" ? I am bemused - it's the sentiment, not the word that offends.

pagwatch · 02/08/2010 15:58

at earthlings

smallwhitecat · 02/08/2010 15:58

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ColdComfortFarm · 02/08/2010 15:58

Filibou, I think you are confused. JC used the words simpleton AND special needs, and implied they meant the same thing, and that both are hilarious insults.

Fibilou · 02/08/2010 16:00

Smallwhitecat, I agree with your point about making fun of people with MH and learning difficulties being the last bastion of some crappy "humour" - but surely it's the sentiments that are offensive, not the semantics ?
Unless I have completely misunderstood the OP, how does it make it any more acceptable to use the words "special needs" when taking the piss ?