Last night I finished watching all eight chapters of Clarkson’s Farm, the series broadcast on Amazon Prime, hosted by Jeremy Clarkson; a masterclass on how to make television in the 21st century.
The series works on many levels, as Shrek would say “ogres have capes” and Clarkson’s ogre has them too.
Let’s start with Jeremy Clarkson himself, who rose to fame almost two decades ago for his Top Gear car show (another masterclass).
Accompanied by James May and Richard Hamond, Jeremy Clarkson was known worldwide for his love of internal combustion engines.
In addition to his refusal to believe in global warming and his inability to do any manual work.
And of course, for their racy jokes, which in the current context would be considered xenophobic and racist.
But in this new show we can see that indeed, blood runs through the veins of the ogre he criticizes cars and not oil.
We see a man in his early 60s rejoice at the birth of lambs, or get depressed at the death of the animals he raises.
We see a man who despite not believing in global warming, fights against nature itself, the government, the bureaucracy and their ignorance to repopulate his farm with insects, mammals and birds.
Another layer in which the show works, perhaps the most superficial, is the one in which it shows the vicissitudes of farmers.
Yes, that’s right, Clarkson buys a Lamborghini tractor in the first chapter.
And surely the budget that Amazon put at your disposal allows you to cover the expenses of your crazy things on the farm.
But beyond that, the series allows you to feel the plight of the farmers, every day they will play a toss-up with destiny.
The rainy day they need the sun to rise, the sunny day they need to rain, and when everything seems to fit there is a plague, or the covid, or the English government has already lifted a restriction.
I don’t even want to imagine how difficult it must be for a farmer or peasant in our country.
The genius of Clarkson’s Farm in two chapters
Especially there are two chapters, which in my opinion are highly complex in the content they offer.
The fourth chapter, “Wilding”, in which Clarkson decides to make a sanctuary within his farm to repopulate insects, birds, fish and other species.
Like the protagonist, anyone would think that it is a noble act for the good of the ecosystem, but the bureaucracy, nature and the pocket have another opinion.
Clarkson finds it difficult to even dig a pond on his property, because British law provides for the right time to use heavy machinery.
In this chapter we can see the delicate balance of nature, it is not only about putting more trees or making a pond for the animals to drink, we must consider the impact it will have on each species, even the smallest rodent.
Jeremy Clarkson, one of the men who most oppose global warming, gives us one of the most valuable lessons to conserve the environment.
Unlock laws that prevent the improvement of ecosystems, place money where it is needed and verify the true impact on species.
Clarkson’s genius in two chapters
The second chapter with the most layered content is the seventh, “fluffing”.
Clarkson entrusts one of his assistants, Kaleb, to go to London to sell some wasabi plants that he harvested from a river bed.
Here we must pause to talk about Kaleb, a 21-year-old who knows everything necessary to run the Clarkson Farm, times, techniques, prices, knowledge of agriculture, everything.
A young man who dreams of getting as many haircuts as possible before going bald and who has never left his hometown.
During his adventure in the capital, Kaleb discovers a series of impediments that show a gap between the people of the country and the city.
To start the cylinder capacity of your truck you have restrictions, you must pay a special tax for using it and you cannot park it anywhere.
In addition to paying £ 10 for a parking space, the same price a restaurant would offer for one of its Wasabi plants.
That is the other layer of this chapter, the disadvantage in which peasants negotiate in all parts of the world.
In the meantime Clarkson You must make a report to the English government with exactitude on how many meters you have of cultivation and with what product.
If you don’t do it correctly you risk being fined, and how could the government know that you did not report correctly? Because their crops are monitored with satellites.
How is it possible that a farmer is more closely watched by the government than London’s big corporations and tax havens?
I do not want to continue spoiling, Clarkson’s Farm is successful proof that to produce an exciting series you do not need special effects, or fights with superheroes, you need good stories.
And maybe yes, superhero battles, but real superheroes, like the farmers who grow our food.
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