TV Shows So Clarkson has shot himself in the foot again

I’m probably replying far too early in the thread and no doubt it’ll upset somebody but my thoughts are as follows…

Although many tend to agree with this sentiment, I don’t think you can say it out loud if you plan on keeping the peace (that’s another discussion for another time, appeasement and the quashing of one’s opinions).

There’s just as many people on the other side of the fence to take offence unfortunately and that is where Clarkson has found himself of late, (something I too have on occasion although notably less so) on a fence with two fields of equal measure on either side.

I guess on the one hand it helps filter out “bad eggs” but on the other hand it also opens the flood gates to being offended for the sake of being offended be it yourself or for someone else.

My issue with all of this is that Amazon are aware that he writes, they are aware that he has caused significant offence in the past and they are aware that he would likely do it again. So why are they acting all surprised? I find that quite disappointing. Edit, although I do agree with amazons stance.

I personally find what he did rather amusing because I think that they’re both idiots that rocked the boat and have been punished for it and this book and series is the metaphorical “dummies out of the pram” adage although I also feel that Clarkson took it considerably further than it should and referencing a series that many haven’t watched in the blind hope they would understand and not take it literally wasn’t just short sighted but frankly quite stupid. However that in its self will garner the attention of those who agree and those who don’t so there are no winners here, only opportunity for those who wish to segregate.

 

Serious question: how do you (i.e. you personally) identify if someone is offended for the sake of being offended versus being offended for reasons that you either don't know or don't understand?

 

There in lies the problem. It isn’t something that is easily identifiable. You make the best you can out of what you already know. If you know the person pretty well then you are likely to have a good idea but if it’s someone you have never met, how could you? I think with the internet and social media, people are forgetting how to interact with each other and the lack of social queues only seen when physically in location interacting are a large contributing factor.

I gave up social media’s bar the odd tech forum that I frequent from time to time and I noticed that my view on everything around me became much clearer and far more simple. It also highlighted that all those “mates” you have just aren’t and that you really only have a hand full of actual friends with a few more handfuls of friendly acquaintances. The rest is just fluff that you justify to make you feel better. Maybe there’s something in that which is fuelling how we are with people these days? Society’s change, tolerances meander, life’s about moving goal posts and a lot of people myself included in cases struggle to keep up.

 

That's precisely the problem we're facing in society at the moment - everybody has a different conviction about where the line ought to be drawn, so one group (whether a minority or a majority) is always going to feel cheated.

And physical harm will of course always be considered more serious, because it is by nature more disabling than other harms. But there are people who would disagree even with that statement on the basis that speech can cause psychological trauma which can lead to suicide, which is the rationale behind equating speech with violence... but that's a bit of a stretch, because the cause-effect relationship is simply not the same as with physical harm. Furthermore, this touches on the point reiterated above by @andrew8200m, which brings into question the legitimacy of a certain "fragility" in certain circles: i.e. are people offended because they are sincerely harmed by what was said, or is it part of a hive mentality? It's too complex to satisfactorily unpack, but we all have our opinions.

 

TBH I am getting fed up with all this. Words are words. If you find yourself (and I am not referring to you dude) getting angry over something someone said then tbh? you need to have a word with yourself. Not you, again I want to point that out.

There is a big difference between a real mental illness and one that has been put on someone because they have narrow shoulders. IE, people are committing suicide more now than ever. Why is this? could it be they lack mental conditioning and or the ability to take things on the chin mentally? are they no longer head strong?

All of this is very important. You can go through life with no one saying anything AT ALL that could possibly offend you AND THEN you will, inevitably, come into a situation where life will be really total **** and there is nothing you can do about it. You know? like having a health condition, loved ones and family members dying (as they will because it is inevitable) financial strain, do I need to continue?

If we teach people that if someone says something offensive to them they should react with the same type of response what the hell are they going to do when faced with a real situation? one that could indeed hurt them and hurt them properly?

I've said it before and I will say it again. I would prefer someone to physically whack me one than to attempt to ruin my life with passive aggression because they have sand in their vagina. Why? because like I pointed out earlier people should be taught to spot an asshole when they see one, and learn to ignore and avoid them. If someone smashed me in the face? believe you me, I would not forget it and I would avoid them at all costs because I would know full well that they are a shitbag. And that is what I was taught.

When I said that words can't hurt you? I meant it. They can't. At all. They are not cancerous, and they don't come around the corner wielding a bloody bat. If words hurt? I would be dead a thousand times over. Like I said, I was bullied horribly when I was a kid. I was smaller than every one else, had big ears, buck teeth and my dad died when I was 7. If what was said to me for most of my childhood was dangerous? I would have no legs or arms or anything else left.

As I said, life IS NOT easy. It never was, and it never will be. The first thing we find out growing up is that we are going to die. Lovely. Turning people into walking vaginas does not help. At some point people need to toughen up, mentally and or physically because it is a tough world out there. TBH had I known how life would be? I wouldn't have even wanted to be here. And I have real problems, not just some fanny on the net calling me names.

 

I agree that it's hard to tell - but I think it would be very cynical indeed to routinely put it down to the latter.

The more people I have met in my life the more I realise my personal experience is not necessarily a good guide to interpret how they feel about theirs!

 

I seem to remember Caroline Flack being a tragic loss to the world who really should have spoken up sooner about her mental health struggles and the effect it was having on her. Meghan Markle seems to need to grow up and stop whining.

I wonder what the difference between those two women is?

This is about Jeremy yes, and I really don't care about what happens to him. That's not a free speech comment, that's just me not really being bothered about him or what he does. However this is also very much about the victim that he chose.