What NOT to Paint on Your Car When Traveling in the Deep South
The International Emmy Award-winning BBC TV series, Top Gear, is a program about cars. Though motor vehicles are not normally a topic of concern for me personally, I could not help but sit with my mouth wide open while watching this clip from a 2008 episode filmed in Alabama.
The hosts are presented with the task of sabotaging one another's cars to see just how much "attention" they can amass. What ensues next is much more than they planned for. As the host says before the project begins, there are three religions in this territory:
- George Bush
- God
- Country & Western
Please note that I in no way, mean to insult Alabamians. I know that stereotyping any one group is dangerous and imprudent; and that of course, few citizens in the state would respond in this manner. However, the handful that they do encounter are rather astounding.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 at 10:45AM
Reader Comments (120)
Haha wow. I love it. I'm just disappointed they gave up so quickly
Im sorry but that is terribly prejudice against southerners. they werent going to kill you! grrl.... racist people.
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You think they had put a Hitler Mustache on Obama or something in liberal Seattle...jeez. People are friggin' crazy.
"Please note that I in no way, mean to insult Alabamians. I know that stereotyping any one group is dangerous and imprudent; and that of course, few citizens in the state would respond in this manner. However, the handful that they do encounter are rather astounding."--- right. Saying this doesn't change the fact that that is exactly what they did and what they meant to do. It's rude to provoke things like this. It goes the other way too though. Imagine someone driving through San Francisco with "gays suck" on the side of their car. I'm not saying the Alabamians reactions were okay, but its better to think twice before doing something really stupid.
I am from Alabama, and I can find humor in this b/c its based on SOME truth.
Regardless of what popular belief seems to say, we do have Democrats in Alabama and even some homosexuals too, and no we don't hang them frequently. I know rednecks yes, but I know more people who aren't. There aren't anymore ignorant people in Alabama as anywhere else in the country and its tiresome always having the finger pointed at you.
I am from southern America. While I don't condone the things the people from Alabama were doing, I am sure that there are some hot button issues that would invite confrontation in the British Isles. It is easy to stand in one place and point the finger at others as being backward. We, in the United States, had a hard time understanding the mentality that would lead to football hooliganism. It all boils down to the fact that you can't judge all people in an area based upon a small example.
This might be my least favorite episode of Top Gear. It makes me sad not only to be an American, but that this is the image of Americans that is broadcast in other countries. Love the show though.
These people came looking for trouble. Everyone has a right to their own beliefs, no matter what those beliefs are. The problem lies in other people trying to force others to see everything through their perspective. Everyone is a racist concerning all kinds of things and the more people try to force all the PC crap the more racist they end up sounding. I have been discriminated against in public, in the work place, and in school. The kick is I'm a middle class young white women, but who wants to talk about that when I'm not a women of color.
so sad this is the first time i am reading and surprised that how car paint creates a problem.anyways thanks.
window tint
im from Wisconsin. There have been times i wished that the south had suceeded so we could go to war with those idiots.
As a young man from the south (Georgia), I must say that I'm disgusted by what I saw on the video clip. I've never witnessed such brutal acts over sexuality or political beliefs like what I saw in that video. I wish that every once in a while a television program would show the open-mindedness of southern cities rather than the stereotypical closed-mindedness of small town, isolated, rural communities... but, I guess stereotypes sell best.
Hey Alabama... NASCAR sucks.
@ Kas Oh no! What terrible insults! They said Nascar Sucks, vote for Hilary and that they're gay! Those things sure merited that response didn't they? What terrible terrible insults. *shakes head*