As a descriptive term the word “dinosaur” seems to be bandied about a lot these days.
Especially for many a white male of a certain age group who, through no fault of their own, were brought (or dragged up) during the ’60s and ’70s.
They only had three TV channels to flick through at a time when popular shows like Till Death Do Us Part, On The Buses and It Ain’t Half Hot Mum had millions of us glued to the box, imitating the shows’ characters and laughing at their language and antics.
Those shows, if broadcast today, would have the broadcaster and producers in deep water for being so blatantly racist, homophobic, misogynistic and sexist.
The scripts and content were, at the time, deemed acceptable, and the language and terms used were seen as the norm.
To be a child in those very non-PC days, and an adult by-product of that time now, life can be full of unintentional slip-ups and pitfalls.
You really have to mind your language and think about what you say before opening your big gob or you will be labelled an embarrassing dinosaur, belonging to a different age or worse.
Well, enter the King of the Dinosaurs, the T Rex of TV, the man who deliberately uses offensive words and outrageous statements to bait and poke fun at our po-faced establishment…
Some may say that Jeremy Clarkson is a racist, sexist, homophobe oaf, others that he is a belligerent right wing, Tory-loving lizard who eats carbon for breakfast and politically correct non-smoking lefties for dinner.
They may all be right, but…
All I know is that Clarkson is probably the most watched, most loved, most hated and most offensive TV presenter on the box. The facts speak for themselves.
Since he was suspended by the PC BBC for an alleged assault sorry, “fracas” heading for a million people have signed an online petition to have him re-instated.
Top Gear is broadcast in more than 200 countries, is watched by an estimated 350 million worldwide and is holder of a Guinness World Record for the world’s most watched factual TV programme.
It has made Clarkson a multi-millionaire and earned the BBC nearly £350 million in overseas sales. The man has made them an absolute mint. But where’s the thanks? Where’s the pat on the back?
Instead, another stupid wee charge is levelled at him by his namby-pamby bosses at the Beeb.
People there are determined, it seems, to have him brought to account before he can inflict any more pain on their PC souls.
Laughable, really, when it was this very organisation who used to make some of those old offensive shows and whose lack of financial transparency and waste of taxpayers’ cash is an almost daily source of embarrassment.
The other fact worth noting here, which the BBC don’t get, is that given the amount of support he has received from both sexes, different persuasions and racial backgrounds, he is anything but a liability.
He’s an asset to a company beset with financial and political problems.
Top Gear, because of his unique and close to the bone presenting style, is not only extremely entertaining and hugely popular but also a highly lucrative global phenomenon which will be snapped up by other broadcasters desperate to overtake the Beeb in the ratings and leave them languishing in the pits.
Which is no more than they deserve if they do pull the plug.
A dinosaur Clarkson may be, but he’s evolved, has razor sharp teeth and a very clever brain.
Something which is sadly lacking in those humourless, faceless frauds currently running or rather ruining the BBC.
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