h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1152008/Your-starter-Why-people-hate-girl-simply-clever.html

"Gail Trimble operates the buzzer on University Challenge like the trigger on a sniper's rifle.
The student captain of Corpus Christi, Oxford, has wiped the floor with college after college.
Before reaching the grand final - to be screened tonight - her team trounced Exeter University 350-15, a victory described by host Jeremy Paxman as 'less like a general knowledge quiz and more like a cull'."

Excellent! one thinks someone intelligent and doing what she should be on the quiz but...

"rather than celebrating Miss Trimble's success, many viewers have subjected her to vicious abuse. Some experts say this behaviour exposes the sinister hostility to brainpower in our dumbed-down, celebrity-obsessed age.

While some have praised the 26-year-old as 'very sexy with a gorgeous smile', others call her 'a hateful know-it-all' and an ' annoying bitch'.

One said she was a 'horse-toothed snob' who 'ruins University Challenge every time she is on it with her "better than thou" attitude'. "

This is why we will remain in the doldrums of world economics with more people only being able to flip burgers & why we a rubbish at sports...people hate intelligence and seems to love underachievers.

Today, we have Jade Goody on the front pages for getting married to her boyfriend who is on licence...why is she so 'famous'? Because she showed herself to be as thick as *&^& in some dumb reality programme.

Of course, it is a shame she has cancer but that is incidental to the money she has earn't etc.




And on the same day in the same paper:-

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1152466/One-armed-presenter-scaring-children-parents-tell-BBC.html

"A disabled CBeebies presenter has been the victim of a disturbing campaign after parents complained that she was scaring toddlers."

Welcome to Thick Britain.

I'm shocked. This really is disturbing.

Tells me more about the Daily Mail than anything else...

... as published where? On blogger sites, that's where.

None of this stuff has made it into the published media (except for the Daily Mail, of course)

I think its more the parents making a fuss than the children. Surely its a good thing having a storyteller who is disabled. Next it will be people with blue eyes can't be presenters!!

Icy North

<Tells me more about the Daily Mail than anything else...

... as published where? ******On blogger sites, that's where.******

None of this stuff has made it into the published media (except for the Daily Mail, of course) >

But that's the point really; the criticism is from the general pleblic on blogging sites and is what people are thinking. For once the Daily Mail are right!

I thought it was funny that the Sun gave her some 'pub quiz' question to answer which she got wrong but they were 'current affairs' type of questions...personally I am more proud of not knowing some of the celeb/dumb-ass culture references than I would knowing them.

>personally I am more proud of not knowing some of the celeb/dumb-ass culture references than I would knowing them.<


it's not just me then.

I love Uni Challenge. Its my fave quiz programme and I shall be watching tonight.

I love it too. Although I was thoroughly shocked a couple of weeks ago when Jeremy Paxman asked who wrote the books featuring literary detective Thursday Last. Next! It's Thursday Next!

Deb

Well, she came storming through at the end to clinch it for Corpus Christi. A good final, both teams very strong.

What will I watch on Mondays now that UC is finished?

RF

And I thought the opposition captain answered more than she did, but being a man, hasn't had any flak this week. I thought we'd got over dissing bright women

I really thought they were going to lose. It looked like they were aware of what people thought and their confidence was shaken. But what a finish!

Deb

To counter the Daily Hatemail article:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/4788601/University-Challenge-final-Gail-Trimble-leads-Corpus-Christi-College-to-victory.html

RF

Getting back to the CBBC stuff...

Well...I imagine the parents are of (loosely) 'our' generation. But I think that disability rights is an area where we've made genuine social progress. When I was growing up, the disabled were segregated in 'Special Schools'. Disability was scary! Thanks to the efforts of liberal do-gooders, that wouldn't even occur to my children.

35 years ago, my primary school had a special needs class. They had a different curriculum, but they mixed with the rest of us at breaks, in sports and other school activities. Was that unusual for the time?

(Or was I too Special Needs, but nobody told me?)

I haven't watched university challenge much, and not recently. I'm not familiar with the person in question.

I don't agree with the broad sentiments expressed by the original post of this thread: 'Welcome to Thick Britain', and 'Why Britain isn't great anymore'. Personally I would consider that sort of short-sighted nationalism pretty thick.

However, I do think there is a value to competitiveness, to striving towards a goal and finding something you want to do with your life. I also think that the UK is probably more hostile to intellectuals (geek-unfriendly?) than some other countries are. Not sure why, I suspect the original poster would suggest complacency and if they did I might partially agree with them. Or maybe Stephen Fry is right and we could all do with a lot less sneering.

Well done to her and her team.

Seems odd to ues university challenge as example of Britain being interested in knowing stuff anymore. As far as I am aware Britain is only one of a few countries where that type of show is still going. True quiz shows are popular everywhere but "academic" quiz shows?

Exactly! The final of UC was great - I feared that Trimble's "intellectual blitskreig" might have made it a walkover, but Manchester played very very well. And all of the team members inspire that jealous admiration for being such clever-clogs.

Attitudes towards people with disabilities have changed, and very much for the better. The handful of "scary" comments from bloggers show that there is still have some way to go, but the progress is momentous.

I think it's great to live where battles of intelligence are still given prominent air-time and attracting huge audiences, and where moves towards greater inclusivity continue to be made.

"I don't agree with the broad sentiments expressed by the original post of this thread: 'Welcome to Thick Britain', and. Personally I would consider that sort of short-sighted nationalism pretty thick."

I'm curious how you got from 'Why Britain isn't great anymore' to 'short-sighted nationalism'? Seems a bit of a non sequitur to me.

Before this goes too far down the line, you do all know that the 'Great' in Great Britain refers to the use of the word as in 'Greater' (ie. bigger than), not as in 'we are fantastic' don't you?

Any rise of separatism in Ireland, Wales and Scotland would therefore be a better example of why is Britain isn't 'Great' anymore rather than the way the British ridicule those who are 'too smart', a British trait that we've had for many years, hardly a new thing.

Now that is an example of short-sighted nationalism!