Top Gear and Steve Coogan

On this one you’ll note that my timing has been rather stunted by the desire to wait a week, observe what transpired, and then assess. When Richard Hammond sat in the converted, leather-upholstered seat on the Top Gear set two weeks ago and remarked, after some preliminary banter of the usual sort, “I’m sorry, but just imagine waking up and remembering you’re Mexican: ‘aww, no!’”, it did cross my mind that a scandal may yet come of this.

Scandal cometh it did. I’m not going to respond to the bed-wettingly weak apology issued by the BBC, because apologies do not particularly interest me, and nor should they you in this case. A certain Steve Coogan, however, requires our attention.

On Saturday, Coogan published an article in The Guardian that ran with the following tagline: “Top Gear's offensive stereotyping has gone too far”. As though the controversy hadn’t ballooned enough after the blissfully ironic news that came of the Mexican ambassador reacting without the merriment that perhaps Clarkson and friends may have expected, a longstanding friend of the show, Coogan weighed in and declared, “I’ve had enough”.

As Coogan’s largely reasoned and eloquent article continues, however, we read this paragraph:

OK, guys, I've got some great ideas for your next show. Jeremy, why not have James describe some kosher food as looking like "sick with cheese on it"? No? Thought not. Even better, why not describe some Islamic fundamentalists as lazy and feckless?

As anyone who has ever partaken in an argument will no doubt be aware, sarcasm is the last resort of a losing antagonist. And yet, ignore the sarcasm, and direct your attention to the allusions to organized religion. Here, replace the word “kosher” with, say, “French”, and the sentiment suddenly becomes somewhat meaningless. The French, you may well claim, require no special dispensation, or immunity from criticism. Why not so, then, with Judaism or Islam? Or, indeed, Mexicans?

Soon after, Coogan references the BBC’s “mealy-mouthed apology”, and argues that it “neatly sidestepped one hugely important fact – ethnicity”, thus invoking the accusation of racism. Such claims are to be taken very seriously, and it is a debate worth having on any occasion. In this instance, however, by drawing attention to the notion of ethnicity, Coogan actually highlights his own, albeit unconscious racism. By implying that Mexicans require special treatment, contrary to his intentions, Coogan demonstrates a commonly unobserved facet of the liberal left.

If one were to maintain that the Top Gear presenters’ comments were offensive, crudely articulated, and indicative of an inherent racism, one must also chart this vein of reasoning to its conclusion. Deductively, it follows that, if one grants Mexicans immunity from conceivably offensive humour, one must also grant the French immunity. In turn, one must also grant Jews, Christians, and Muslims immunity. Who would desire such a scenario? And so, without falling to the fallacy of the slippery slope, given such a demand, everyone, it could be argued, should remain immune from potentially offensive humour.

Further, Coogan, nor anyone else, can appeal to the notion of the BBC as uniquely distinct in its output from other media outlets. One should never overlook the fact that, as with all cases involving television, it is always an option to reach for the remote.