So Top Gear Presenters have revealed that Mexicans are slow, lazy and wear sombreros. Stepehen Fry has commended the Japanese for still running trains after the Atom bomb dropped and two Sky Sports presenters have landed in hot water for voicing an opinion on women in football.
None of the statements made, either on or off air, reveal a great deal about anything or anyone. The only fact it does shine any form of light upon is that we harbour opinions about the world around us and not everyone agrees with those opinions. The Political Correctness lobby (which would appear not to exist in reality - but if it does it is almost bound to be empowered by the Daily Mail editorial committee) takes great delight in seizing on such remarks and employing them to indicate rampant prejudice alive and well in society.
Prejudice is of course alive and well and is part and parcel of the human psyche. It shapes us as individuals and is based on our experiences to date. It is the basis of how we determine our likes and dislikes whether it refers to ice cream, tomatoes, Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Oliver or the Liberal Democrats - to pick a few at random. If I were to offer any of those up to you for discussion, you would have an opinion as to whether you liked or disliked them - and as a result a prejudice over recommendation or involvement. We decide whether to tolerate people or opinions, very often with no knowledge on which to base our views - and so we judge things without thought or reason - or with prejudice. And thank goodness we do, otherwise the phone-in airwaves would be decidedly silent. The person who is ambivalent on all subjects is decidedly dull - not to mention extremely poor company. If all you get in return to your questions is "I don't mind" then you might as well go home.
But what about the offence given by remarks about women linesmen? Richard Keys and Andy Gray were out of touch at best and mysogynystic at worst. Any broadcaster will tell you that you should always be careful when you are in the presence of live microphones as you never know who's listening. Gordon Brown found this out to his cost in his electioneering in May 2010. But as Paul Sinha so beautifully observed on Radio 4's News Quiz, the comments about the involvement of women being the downfall of football are pitiful if one looks seriously at a game that is run by corrupt male administrators, pandering to male multi-billionaires who have sold the spirit of the game, so that it now consists of cheating male divers performing for 94 minutes. Women are so far from being the problem with football you might as well blame the grass on the pitch or the colour of the goalposts. What Keys and Gray are most guilty of, is expressing private views where others can hear them. I doubt there is a person reading this who can honestly place their hand vaguely where they think their heart is, and state that they have never thought about someone, or something unfvaourably, knowing that they could never state their views in public without being pilloried for thinking that way.
We talk a great deal about "Freedom of Speech" in the West, but there are times when society is as censorious as the Russian Secret Service. I can clearly remember the period surrounding the death of Diana Princess of Wales. The outpouring of grief from people who had never met her, let alone were related to her, was far more shocking than her death itself. Working for LBC at the time, I can remember being mesmerised by the media schedules being scrapped for this wringing of hands to take place in public. I had to be very careful to keep my mouth shut. It was a tragic and pointless death, and unbelieveably awful for her two sons and immediate family - but it was no more and no less than an object lesson in road safety. There were 4 people in that car - and one of them, Trevor Rees-Jones, Diana's bodyguard is still alive today. He was the one wearing a seatbelt. Such was the pressure of public grief at that time - I feared I would be lynched for voicing such an opinion.
The requirement to be "PC" affects us all - because it hides the truth of what people really think. However unacceptable it is to voice strong opinions, the fact that others may disapprove does not prevent those views from being held and people acting on them. When I sit behind any microphone - I know that I shoulder a significant responsibility to represent the views that are being discussed fairly and without adding my own prejudice. However, I cannot state, that I wouldn't say one thing and think another. Especially when it comes to being politically correct which in itself is the most hypocritical ethos you can hold. For while I may tutt at others for irreligious or blasphemous views, I fear underneath I believe that "Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a dellusional, illogical majority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."
Sadly, I didn't write that, but I wish I had - almost as much as Richard and Andy wish they had never heard of Sian Massey.
