Is Jeremy CLARKSON a tool

I really enjoy watching top gear(especially the challenges) but for me clarkson seems to ruin it by being a complete tool and i find him rude at times whats your views?

Blitzkrieger

To a large extent that's a persona he puts on for the show, to sell the show and his yearly book/dvd. It can be funny but at times he does go too far. You can be sure he's not like that in real life - even when he's on other shows (Qi, HIGNFY, etc) he's completely different.

LK_Dave

Yes...but a funny one.

Myrddin

It's a character he plays into, watch the Senna short, you'll see the other side to him. He has quite a powerful narrative impact sometimes, when he wants to.

Sonics2k

Yes, yes he is. And it's why we love him ^^

But it is mostly an act he puts on for the show, in real life and other shows he's much more relaxed, less of a jerk and so on.

toxicity234

i have to say i do find him a bit of a ass. but some of the things are very funny.

Sgt.Peppers

i agree ..love the show .. love the challanges ,love how he rips captain slow but he is a bit of a dildo

cnocbui

tnynll wrote: »

I really enjoy watching top gear(especially the challenges) but for me clarkson seems to ruin it by being a complete tool and i find him rude at times whats your views?

Perhaps if you tried reading some of the columns he writes you might get a broader picture of his skills and true nature.

On Topgear, he is acting a part, and he does it very convincingly, it is part of the shows formula.

In his writing, I find him to be both hilarious and bitingly insightful.

One mans rudeness is anothers plain speaking and refusal to kow tow to political correctness.

Im Only 71Kg

he's a nob alright. not funny. show would be better without him to be honest.

Oh_Noes

How would the show be better without him, it's his show.

mike65

Silly thread to be honest, everyone on TG is a "character", only Guardianista halfwits actually think thats the real man.

Hammond is annoying though! (but thats another thread)

padraig_f

Not sure how you can like the show and not like Clarkson, it's very much his show.

Im Only 71Kg wrote: »

show would be better without him to be honest.

The show would be nothing without him, it would be Hammond smashing stuff up (which pretty much all his stupid segments end up as). James May is ok but doesn't have the flair of Clarkson, it would be a very different show if it was James May's show.

I find him funny and intelligent, and yeah he acts the tool sometimes, well ok a lot, but there's always an intelligence behind it. Even when he's doing some crazy stuff, you nearly always learn something about the cars.

May, or Hammond especially, could never have done a segment like this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR9So0NylD8

The Black Oil

EnterNow wrote: »

It's a character he plays into, watch the Senna short, you'll see the other side to him. He has quite a powerful narrative impact sometimes, when he wants to.

Indeed. It's a pity the BBC won't give him more work such as his Greatest Raid of All Time - has he done anything similar since? They've given May plenty of work, rightfully so, but more from Jeremy could be very good.

Please Kill Me

Clarkson MAKES Top Gear what it is!!! He's sarcastic and witty. I find his views very harsh sometimes, but he IS good. May is a panic though!!

blah

tnynll wrote: »

I really enjoy watching top gear(especially the challenges) but for me clarkson seems to ruin it by being a complete tool and i find him rude at times whats your views?

He's one of my favourite cartoon characters.

gonedrinking

I find Clarkson entertaining but anyone see his interview with John Prescott? Pure cringefest, Clarkson was being a total arse but Prescott got the better of him and won the audience over in the end.

Iwannahurl

TG is the BBC2 programme I love to hate. Clarkson is the professional oaf among the three, the overgrown smartarse schoolboy who complements the cheeky Hamster (who's there for the laydeez, IMO) and James "Captain Slow" May (who's there for the nerds).

I do think Clarkson is a tool, and he often makes me laugh, despite myself. I remember that nice segment he did on the V12 Aston Martin, and I remember being annoyed (surprise surprise) at his begrudging, embittered reference to "the relentless war on speed" (c. 01:55 on the YouTube clip).

Corsendonk

Any man that can punch Piers Morgan(tabloid smut editor before he turned orange) on two separate occasions can never be a tool, a hero perhaps!

opinion guy

To be honest my thinking on all this is that the casual racism has gone beyond a joke and they should drop it, but other ways I enojy the show including Clarkson.

I actually think you occasionally see Clarkson's intellect coming out on issues like the environment. NOT his 'ecomentalism stuff'. But actualyl when they get into it and they talk about stuff like running an old guzzler for years versus buying a prius - he makes some really good points!

Myrddin

opinion guy wrote: »

To be honest my thinking on all this is that the casual racism has gone beyond a joke and they should drop it

It's light humour, I hear far far worse from stand up comedians & there's no hullabaloo over it. It's one thing to be politically correct, but its very easily overdone & you get dumbed down junk.

I for one enjoy it, whether the Irish are slagged off, or the Mexicans, or the Brits as they so often are on it...its all just light hearted humour.

old hippy

I'd like to think he's not as annoying as he comes across in real life. I was at a HIGNFY some years ago - he was hosting - and he seemed ok.

It's Hammond who gets on my wick, more than anyone else.

Paparazzo

I think he's great! Read one of his books, the one that's a collection of car reviews. I literally laughed out loud on so many occasions!

One thing that annoys me is the way he keeps saying a Porsche Boxster is saying to people that you haven't made it because you cant afford a 911.
He's said it a few times, but it makes absolute zero sense!
Unless everyone drives a 458 or a veyron we're not driving the best cars we want.

rich.d.berry

I think Clarkson's great! Hammond and Captain Slow too!

The alternative is available in the politically correct, boring US Top Gear currently being broadcast on BBC some evening. I've watched two of them in the hope that there'd be some spark of the original, but was sorely disappointed.