Top Gear, a racist Program

If you ask me, the program “Top Gear” shows how ignorant British people are (the ones on TV). Firstable they have a false image of Mexican people because they criticize us without facts that support it. And secondly they just talk and make up things to make people laugh and increase the rating of their program.

With respect to the comment about the car called “Tortilla”, they are showing how egocentric and limited their minds are. We are capable to be better than British people in new developments, on the one hand we have one of the best Universities of the world called UNAM, and on the other hand I know some people from the UNAM working in big companies in Europe in a high company position. In my opinion, we are more intelligent because we do not waste our time being racist in a TV show. We have the value of respect.

Frankly, if we generalize that all British are racist people, as they think all Mexicans are lazy. It will begin a war between races, even though it is just a TV show, it will generate a great problem between countries for long years.

Opinion about Top Gears

With respect to the video Top Gear in which the men are talking about Mexico, I think their comments are very poor because they didn´t make an exhaustive research about the traditions even the features of Mexico and its people. They didn´t have to express in that way because they only wanted to offend people, in fact they did it, that´s why most of people in Mexico got upset.

But I also think that maybe their intentions were not to offend people but only to have a “fun moment” because that´s the main purpose of the program. However even in this kind of situation they had to be well informed and had real information in order to have a better criticism. So that´s why I didn´t feel very offended watching the video. So, if you ask me, this is not the way to talk about anything, you need first to be informed and then you can give an opinion that can be supported with information or facts.

In the other hand the video No Reservations has better opinions. Why? Just because Anthony Bourdain was in Mexico City and he lived and knew the things as they are. He did a tour in which he could know the kind of places and Mexican food. So I think that you can give an opinion or valid opinion when you know the topic you are going to talk about.  As we can see in the video here, in Mexico there are different kinds of food ant it´s a traditional and delicious food. Our food represent us around the world because it´s unique. There is a phrase in the video that refer to the tortilla which explain that  we can´t find even a similar tortilla in the world, just because the flavor and how it looks is not as it is here in Mexico. Frankly, I think that´s the way to make a criticism about a group of people, places or whatever, knowing the place or the people we are going to talk about, if we don´t do this we are always going to think in the stereotypes and talking without any support idea.

My opinion about the Top Gear comments

Commentary

When I heard first this comments I was a little offended I must admitt, one of the comments that got to me the most was: "Imagine waking up one day and remebering you're Mexican" as if it was something terrible, that made me feel bad, but then I taught to myself why would I be ashamed or feel bad in any way about being Mexican in fact I´m quite proud of belonging to a culture that is so rich and has such an interesting past, I wouldn´t want to have any other nationality, there are so many things we can take pride in: Our pre-hispanic cultures, our art, our architecture, oh! And i forgot our food, which they dissed in their comments by the way, but can you really blame them, I mean most of the fast food chains that sell Mexican food abroad sell this mixture between norhern Mexican food and southern American food known as Tex-Mex, this crazy hybrid is all they know, and actually this food is in fact all about chese and tortillas, shamefully our great diverse cuisine has been reduced to this dishes that aren´t even Mexican; If a foreigner saw a Chile en Nogada he would not recognize it as Mexican food, when in fact this is one of our most traditional dishes, the same with Mole, a very complex sauce to cook that is a challengeto make, even for traditionally French trained cooks.

So I believe we shouldn´t be appalled by this rude remarks, we as Mexicans should just remember the culture we belong to, distinguish between facts and fiction, and not wear the shoe if it doesn´t fit. As I see it, the only way to stop this is to know before we talk, If you were to ask in the streets about American food, for example, people would immediately tell you: American food is all fast food and junk, the only things they know how to make are Hamburgers and Hot-Dogs, they have no traditional food whatsoever, when actually that´s a lie, they have different regional cuisines, like Créole Louisiana food which has a wide variety of dishes such as Gumbo, a preparation that consist in a thick spicy sauce with shrimp and other shelfish, or Crawfish Étouffée, a dish that shows the main characteristics of créole food; But we don´t really know much about these dishes because that´s not what´s commonly labeled as American food, I say this because I think is important that we avoid falling into this stereotypes ourselves and really get to know other cultures before we jump to comment about them, so we don´t take part in this type of ignorant rants, and if we ever hear comments with no base in reality we should just turn a deaf ear because comments like those at the end of the day, end up saying more about the people that tell them rather than what they´re talking about.

Top Gear and their stupid comments of Mexican People

Most of Mexican people have not watched this program, but if they turn on the TV and watch it for the first time, it may result an annoying experience because of the mock of the Mexican food and other particular things done by TV presenters. First of all, either they don’t know anything about Mexican food or just invented disgusting and unacceptable comments about it when said Mexicans don’t have food or their food looks like a vomit with cheese. They should measure or stop these kind of comments and have documented by Internet or watch other videos about Mexican cooking. In Mexico we have a great variety of traditional food that has been awarded as “Patrimonio Inmaterial de la Humanidad” by the UNESCO in November 2010.

On the other hand, when Richard Hammond commented about a particular brand of car reflects the national characteristics, it is clear he doesn´t know about Mexican people. I think people in large cities in Mexico don´t have the stereotype known outside the country for other people around the world (a fat man sit sleeping next to a cactus wearing his big hat). In this point, I disagree with this guy because, according to technical specifications and some pictures I have seen of the Mastretta, it is an sport, beautiful and well done car made in Mexico.

The question then is, how dare one person say or have an opinion about people or things if he/she doesn´t know the real life in that particular place or country?

My oppinion on To

Movies - you decide

Well as I talked about with you in class, I'm sending you the links to the two movie trailers so that you can take your pick and give your vote. Feel free to also read about the movies on Wikipedia if you want to know more information. After watching both trailers, make a comment on this post and vote for the one you want to watch; it doesn't have to be long. You can just say "The Castle" or "Mary and Max" if you wish. :)

The Castle (1997)
Oops - there is no movie trailer for The Castle. (How can this be??!) So this video gives you a very small idea of the beginning of the movie, although it's not like this throughout the entire movie. Just to remind you, it deals with family, relationships, loyalty and fighting for what you know to be right.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM-GVRvsZrA&feature=related

Mary and Max (2009)
This is not the official trailer of Mary and Max, but personally I liked it better than the official one. If you laugh during the trailer, don't be fooled ... it's not a funny movie the way The Castle is. As I said, it deals with topics of suicide, alcoholism, mental illness, depression, loneliness and friendship.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkUI3SZyKCs

Don't forget to vote!!

Make your opinion known!!

Hello everyone,

Your next task is to write your opinion about what the hosts of Top Gear said about Mexico and Mexican food. If you wish, you may compare their comments on Mexico to the way they dealt with the three Australians, or with what Anthony Bourdain on his show No Reservations said about Mexico and Mexican food. Both of these shows can currently be seen on YouTube if you would like to watch them again and refresh your memory. (Bourdain's episode is available in three parts, starting at  http://www.youtube.com/v/ppPiObBYbtE&fs=1&source=uds&autoplay=1 )

Write 1-2 paragraphs and post your opinion as an entry here on the blog. Express a clear opinion: make sure you know what you want to say and say it clearly! Don't try to "sit on the fence" and not express any opinion at all. Knowing how to express what you think or believe is very helpful when you can give clear reasons as to why you think that way. In your blog entry, you need to use at least 3 opinion expressions and at least 2 facts to support your opinion.

Don't post your opinion until you feel you are completely ready. You will need to "Acceder/Sign in" in order to post on the blog, and create a "Nueva Entrada/New Entry". Once others have posted their opinions, feel free to comment on what they wrote, especially if you strongly agree or disagree with what they said.

This task is due before 23:59 on Monday 19th September. You will have some time to work on it in class before then.

Now go and have something to eat - and enjoy it! :)