Sweet Home Alabama
Ever wonder what would happen if you painted something controversial on your car and drove it through a rough neighborhood? Don’t worry; I’ve never wondered that either, but the boys at Top Gear decided that it would be good experiment. So three of the Top Gear hosts headed to good old Alabama to partake in a bizarre test. This test was less about vehicles and more about culture, and the bravery of the drivers however it was entertaining nonetheless.
Starting out with three prime examples of American iron, a Camaro IROC Z, a Cadillac and a Dodge pickup, the Top Gear hosts were issued the challenge to paint messages on each others vehicles, the catch was the messages were supposed to be something that would get them killed. The slogans they chose certainly were potent enough to raise a few eyebrows, but as the video shows there was more than eyebrow raising going down in Alabama that day. I’m not really sure what to make of this episode. It has little to do with actual vehicles (the point of the show) but in a scary way I found it pretty funny. It certainly highlights some cultural insensitivity, and shows how much trouble simple words can get you into. On the one hand these guys are lucky they didn’t get seriously hurt, but on the other hand why are people trying to hurt them over things like NASCAR, Hillary Clinton, “man love” and country music, that seems a little idiotic to me.
Here is the clip, I’m curious to here your thoughts:
-Bill Mertz
Top Gear, gay, homosexual, Alabama, redneck, American, patriotic, freedom, British, NASCAR, country
March 7th, 2007 at 5:06 pm
Ouch, I wonder how many people who read this blog knows that it (as well as mine) is based out of Alabama. Hehe.
Seriously though, this is sadly true that those idiots would get so upset over something dumb like a slogan on a car. Could you imagine what would have happened if the Top Gear guys were black?
March 7th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
Ah, all the arrogance of the British and the close-mindedness of the Americans in a tidy 8-minute segment…
Though I like the Borat-esque use of ourselves to make fun of…ourselves, I think it’s only fair to go to some town in England driving an original Mini Cooper with bad things written about Manchester United on the side….
March 7th, 2007 at 10:32 pm
Yeah, I kept thinking what if you took a car and drove throught East Oakland, or Brooklyn NY with a scraper or low rider that says “I Hate Rap” on the side. Although I still feel there is no excuse for being homophobic or racist even if you are provoked by some slogans or sayings… defending where your from is another story.
-Bill
April 15th, 2007 at 1:00 am
Interesting comments..
April 4th, 2008 at 5:05 am
[...] next stop on our tour of the alternative media world lands us in Birmingham, Alabama. This city is best known for its role in the civil rights movement during the 1950s and 1960s [...]