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)
Like decorating a church with pentagrams and satanic messages. ;) (ie. something which is NOT a good idea)
Are you guys kidding me? Of course someone is going to react like that! You are going to a place with the express intention to make fun of the stereotype of the people that live there. It's like going to Little Italy with insulting slogans about the mafia, the pope, and fat mothers. In honor-based cultures like Little Italy or the South, that's going to happen. I find nothing admirable about provoking people.
How can any of you condone the violence? I don't care that it was provoked, but getting out shotguns, throwing stones at the cars, attacking the people physically is not justified in ANY way. What's worse is that you're insulting the producers? and obviously labeling the southerners the way they did is justified considering the way they acted.
This coming from a state where you would be attacked if you were anything other than a white republican with missing teeth.
that's exactly how people are in the area i live in.
God
Country
Nascar.. or just Dale Earnhardt/Dale Jr
Hunting
"the race track is really close by and thousands flock to it."
it makes me sad that there is so much racism as well.
well really they were not attacking anyone specifically at all. nascar sucks is just a belief, its not saying the people who like nascar sucks....hillary for president obviously not attacking anyone, and neither does gay people rock (or something along the lines of that) so these guys were attacked solely on thier beleifs. So yeah if you went through the gay town of chicago specifically saying that the gay people are evil than they totally have a right to be mad, but these southerners attacked them because they did not have the same views as them
The Southerners weren't pissed off about the slogans themselves, they were pissed off at the utterly transparent intention of provocation. Does it justify the reaction? No. But there's a reason that, in a court setting, proof of provocation can downgrade murder to manslaughter-- these people are only human, after all. The Top Gear crew were literally and admittedly asking for trouble, and they got it. A shameful fact of human nature? Perhaps. But also a realistic one.
I wonder what would happen if I rode through a small english town with 'Football is for poofs' painted on the side of my car.
People are stupid on both sides of every border.
I dont understand why your undermining these great Americans....its just disrespectful to go into a state like that just looking for trouble..sug my dig euro trash USA 4 ever...IF you dont like it...You Can GEEEEEEEET OUT.
You could go anywhere in the world and get that sort of reaction if you pushed the right buttons. Anywhere....
Sometimes I hate my own country. I'll never, never, NEVER, live in the south. I wouldn't make it. Hey Brittain, got any room for a disenchanted American intellectual? Cause I can't take this sh!t anymore.
Actually, I am seriously thinking about moving to Japan with my Japanese wife specifically because of this kind of thing. Now Oklahoma wants to ban Richard Dawkins from speaking at the University of Oklahoma.
Urghhh. That's it, I give up. I'm not defending this country any more. I'm sick of appologizing. If any of you want to claim that this really is a country of backwoods redneck cowboys waving their flags, drinking their piss water beer, and clutching their crosses, meanwhile firing their beloved guns in the air and burning their science books... I will only agree. Fukc my country. It is lost and has no hope to recover the prestige that it once could claim.
I have lived in Alabama my entire life and I am sorry if you disagree, but that is exactly how I would have reacted if I were them. Some of you don't seem to get it, it is not necessarily what the slogans said. Its the fact you went there with stuff written on your car that was chosen specifically to piss them off. I don't care if you hate Nascar or Country music, cause so do I, but I wouldn't intentionally try to piss off the people who do. They came down here with the intention of pissing people off as much as possible, and you people blame us for how we reacted.
And so you know, not all of the South would have reacted like that anyway, they intentional picked a small "hick" town. Where I live you would have probably gotten nothing but laughs and an occasional bad look
I wonder how much of this was over sensationalized?
I mean I'm sure it was bad and scary. I'm from Alabama, and managed not to be too offended. :)
I can't help but think they might have egged the "hick town" folks a little bit.
Running for the border wouldn't have helped in any case, the part of the state I think they were in borders Mississippi, or possibly Florida. Florida would have been OK, but the other options are Georgia and Tennessee.
NASCAR racers come from all over the country.
I think most of us would hate Hillary Clinton, and we're still a bit touchy about Homosexuality. It's a shame though; all I can say is some people just like to live their lives without too much encroaching on their beliefs.
Jesus Christ I hate this country.........
Then again there is that whole most powerful military on earth thing.....
I guess that isn't enough to make up for our mullet infestation.
How easy is it to move to England?
Also Brain while Japan would be awesome I wouldn't. They can pretty much go up to you and say, you robbed a bank and now your going to jail for the rest of your life.
The one thing America does have over most other countries is that we are exceptionally free, and it would be hard for our government to take that away. Though not impossible.
I'm from a hick town in western pa that is just like that, only not as dangerous because we have a university in our town. My high school was filled with redneck wannabes who would walk around all day with spitters and cowboy hats, driving pick up trucks with git r dun stickers and confederate flags duct taped to them. I go to the university now, and we just make fun of how incredibly dumb and narrow minded they are.
i think the video is funny and awful it shows that americans treat others that way especially in small towns it is true that it doesnt matter where it is north south east or west someone will start something because hey believe only in their beliefs and are closeminded or ignorant or both
That's what you get for intentionally antagonizing people. I wouldn't dare go to a UK football game with a rival jersey on, or anywhere in Europe for that matter. That's just asking for trouble.
This is hilarious. Being from Alabama, I can totally relate. I don't belong here with all this bigots. *sigh* Alas, it's where I reside until I can do better. That day can't come soon enough!!!! Thanks for posting...gave me a great laugh! :D
This video was funny yet quite saddening. I live in northern Florida and have seen my fair share retarded rednecks, but the way those people behaved was simply appalling. It made me realize Florida is probably the only semi-decent place to live in the Deep South.
The thing is, those people were not angry because of what was written on the vehicles. They were angry because what was written on the vehicles, combined with the camera crew, and the out-of-place brits that were driving them, made it obvious that they were being made fun of. Yes, those people are morons. I live in the south and am familiar with the type. But no one likes to be made the butt of a joke.
Still funny, but let's be careful of what conclusions we draw.
This really just proves that the English don't understand Americans. I'm from a town in the South just like that one and there are openly gay people, atheists, and democrats. What pissed those folks off was that the Top Gear guys were clearly making fun of them. If you saw foreigners mocking you and filming it, you would be pretty angry too. Still a great show, though.
I knew the deep south was bad but not that bad.
Most of alabama isn't that bad...you must have been in deep southern alabama. Go to northern alabama its a totally different lifestyle.
What a SHAM! Let's see if they would take it in the other direction and drive with the same paintings in Detroit?
What's even more disturbing is that these are the people that these idiots pretend to care about. Uneducated, living in poverty, lack of access to resources.
contrary to what you all might believe not all southerners lynch homosexuals, atheist, antinascar fans, im from alabama and some of my closest friends are homosexuals.