Top Gear Oil vs. Wind

Series 20 Episode 1

It’s the start to a new season of Top Gear.  The trio is back for their 20^th series.  They begin with clip form the upcoming series.  These clips have already been filmed, and the in studio segments have yet to be filmed.  They begin with a segment dedicated to new “hot hatchbacks”. Jeremy says the “hot hatch backs” from the 1980’s are more exciting than those you can buy today.  But with the new cars being introduced they decide to see if any of these new cars live up to the past generations.  Richard is driving four different “hot Hatch backs”.  They are the Renault sport Clio 200, the Peugeot 208 GTi, and the Ford Fiesta ST.  Richard discusses each car in depth and put all of them through their paces on the track.  He also put the three cars against each other in a drag race.  At the end of the segment Richard says all of them are good but the Ford is exquisite.  After he is done James explains the race between him and Jeremy.  The race is between a boat and a car up the coast of New Zealand.  James will be on an Americas cup racing boat called the AC45. 

It’s the fastest production sailing boat ever made reaching speeds of over 30 knots.  The crew consists of all winners of the Americas Cup, the most prestigious trophy in yate racing, and the captain is Sir Ben Ainslie, he is a four time Olympic gold medalist.  Jeremy will be in a Toyota Corolla rent a car. 

The race is not a race between a car and a sailboat, it’s a race between oil and wind power.  As the race begins Jeremy goes all out in the rent a car, while James is off to a rocky start.  The crew has to put up a different sail.  Jeremy is treating the car like he has no care for it at all he side swipes a guard rail, jumps the car, and has complete disregard for its well being. 

James however is not having an easy time on the boat.  The waves are beating him up and the crew is ordering him around. 

They take a break from the race to go back to the studio.  They are introducing a new reasonably priced car.  The new car is a 2013 Vauxhall Astra Tech Line; it includes a lifetime warranty.  For the launch they invite various celebrities to come and do laps at their test track.  The celebrities include Charles Dance, Warwick Davis, Rachel Riley, Joss Stone, David Haye, Jimmy Carr, Mike Rutherford, and Brian Johnson.  As each celebrity set times in the car, Jeremy and Richard entertain other celebrities.  After all the lap times have been set, the race between James and Jeremy continue.  James is winning but miserable and Jeremy is attempting to catch up.  As James continues in agony, Jeremy is on smooth paved roads charging along.  When Jeremy realizes he is far behind he decides to take the back roads.  This soon turns into a big mistake when the road runs out and he has to off road and turn to a gravel road.  While on the gravel road he has an accident, and run into a wall while trying to avoid a tractor.  At the next town Jeremy reports to the rent a car center to trade in his damaged car for a new one.  The new car is the same model but a different color.  When the road Jeremy is driving on becomes curvy he resorts to driving on the beach, which in New Zealand is considered a highway.  As Jeremy gets closer to the finish line he has to drive on gravel roads.  When the road runs out he resorts again to off-roading.  When James is sight of the finish line he is told the boat cannot get to shore, he is told he will have to jump off the boat and swim to ashore.  James reaches the finish line first, his face is beat red, he is soaking wet, and is soar from the beating of the waves.  Jeremy arrives but cannot make it in the car to the finish line and must walk 100 yards to the finish line.  Jeremy says he was going to tell every one that they need to shut down the oil and gas and switch to wind, but then he sees James. And says look at what the wind will do to you; it beats you up and turn you red. 

In the alternative ending to the show Jeremy would have won the race.  He would have made it to the finish line on the beach as James was swimming ashore.  James would have seen Jeremy driving down the beach and said he had gone through all that for nothing.  Jeremy would have then proclaimed that wind power is stupid and all the windmills need to be removed from Britain. He would then put on his "smug" face.  

Top Gear media research

Top Gear has become synonymous around the world.  The three presenters have become icons in the automotive industry and TV world.  They travel the world making rude comments about cutlers, cars, and popular icons.

One article about Top Gear I would like to bring to attention in my research of the show is an article about the branding of the show itself.  Catherine Johnson wrote about this.  She wrote, “The development of content brands threatens to sever the relationship between the programme and the broadcaster. What is branded is the programme itself and not the corporation that broadcast it; Top Gear rather than the BBC.” (Johnson, 2013).  She talks about how Top Gear has made its own brand out side of just being a BBC created brand.  TG is its own brand being known around the world. 

The next article I would like to bring to attention is one written by Kieran Tranter and Damien Martin.  They discuss masculinity of the show and how it has become law of man.  The show appropriates masculinity as being a law men must follow.  They say, “there are cars. Usually, new, expensive, fast cars being driven at speed on racetracks, or objects of desire surrounded by the mostly male audience on the cavernous set (an aircraft hangar at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey).”  They are examining the humor and cultural references that make the show one of the laws of masculinity. 

The third article I would like to examine in relation to the show is one written by Stephen Harrington.  This article examines how the shows presenters can assist with political journalism.  Harrington writes, “The analysis of the show is here framed in the form of three ‘lessons’ for journalists, suggesting that some of the entertaining (and highly engaging) ways in which Top Gear presents information to its viewers could be usefully applied in the coverage of politics” (Harrington, 2010).  The show presenters can show people that something many consider to be irrelevant and even boring can be made into something everyone can watch and enjoy. 

These are just some of the articles I intend to examine and contribute to my own research and opinions about the show and its presenters. 

Harrington S. Top Gear, top journalism: Three lessons for political journalists from the

world's most popular TV show. Continuum: Journal Of Media & Cultural Studies [serial online]. December 2010;24(6):933-942. Available from: Communication & Mass Media Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 10, 2015.

Johnson, C. (2013). From brand congruence to the 'virtuous circle': Branding and the

commercialization of public service broadcasting. Media, Culture & Society, 314-331.

Tranter, K., & Martin, D. (2013). 'The Cutting Edge of Cocking About': Top Gear,

Automobility and Law. Law Humanities Law and Humanities, 1-18.

Top Gear India Special

Series 17 Episode 7

The episode I watched this week was from series 17.  It is episode 7.  The episode starts out with the three talking about England’s diplomacy with India, specifically the trades between England and India.  The three are standing in front of the new prime ministers house.  They say the prime minister told them not to go to India.  They ignore his orders.  When the three arrive in India, James arrives first with a 1976 series 1 silver shadow Roles Royce.  Jeremy arrives next with a 1995 Jaguar XJS.  Richard is the last to arrive in a 2000 Mini Cooper.  All three of the cars have been made in England.  The three are there to cement that Britain is a great country and they make good cars.  James and Jeremy have chosen cars that are typically not considered to be reliable cars.  They have a long journey starting in Bombay India ending at the boarder crossing with Kashmiri.  First they must make their way through the city of Bombay.  Their first challenge is to improve on a lunch delivering system.  They are challenged to beat the lunch delivery system, which is operated by men called dabbawalas.  The accuracy of the system is 99.9996%.  The three think they can improve by using their cars to beat the train used by the system.  The mission fails when Jeremy is in too much of a rush and leaves the lunches he is supposed to deliver behind.  Then James and Richard are left to pick up the slack.  Richard in his small Mini spills most of the lunches all over the roadway.  James gets lost and arrives many hours later.  After the horrible loss they load their cars onto a train to Jaipur.  While on the train the three decide to put banners promoting British good and services.  

The banners are too long to fit on one train car.  As the train passes stations some of the cars depart the train and the banner is ripped creating some inappropriate words.  

At one of the stops James is left behind and meets up with Richard and Jeremy at the final stop.  While in Jaipur the trio hosts a hill climb challenge.  The three are the final competitors of the hill climb; they agree they will not be the fastest because they are being diplomatic.  Jeremy however disregards the agreement and finishes with a first place time.  Therefore failing at the challenge.  The boys decorate their cars in Indian cultural decor.  

Their next stop was Delhi.  On the way they must travel on a dual carriageway, which in India are very dangerous due to the limited police activity or lack of any on the roads.  When they arrive in Delhi they must host a trade show showcasing English made goods.  During the trade show Richard is in charge of parking the guests cars.  He is unable to keep track of all the keys and throws them all in a bucket.  Jeremy tries to put on a fireworks show, which goes wrong when one of the fireworks goes through a building where they are putting on the show.  When the guests try to leave they cant because Richard has confused all the keys.  The trade show is a complete failure.  The next day they were to leave to the boarder.  The journey would be long and full of difficult terrain.  The three outfitted their cars with off-road equipment.  James and Jeremy ruin the ride of their cars by putting too big of tires and messing with the suspension.  While on the road to the boarder the three encounter native v

illages, steep and rugged roads, and dangerous cliffs.  By the end the cars had been beaten up quite a bit.  At the peak of the mountain pass the three cars are put on display for all to see.

During the coarse of the show the tree travel through India.  The images of India are dirty and crowded.  The images of India might be accurate but they are not positive ones.  The images are showing how in disarray the country is considered to be.  The country is considered to be a developing country.  The Indian race is portrayed as a underdeveloped race. 

The content of the show is portraying Indians in a light of negativity.  When images of India are shown on screen the Indian people appear to be dirty, poor, and underdeveloped compared to western culture. 

The textual analysis of the show I think would be that English culture and race are far superior to the Indian culture and race.  The socially constructed images of race are those of prejudice and racism.  The Indian race is not portrayed in a positive light.  They are seen as being lesser social class and lesser people when compared to western cultures.