Minor celebrities do not tend to be high up in the intellect stakes. This cannot be said of Gail Trimble. Captain of the victorious team in the University Challenge final, she is perhaps the most famous of that programme’s contestants (OK, apart from Stephen Fry!). This fame has been largely due to the assumption by some people who clearly did not actually watch the earlier rounds of this series, that anyone who thought that Ms Trimble was an annoying so and so, has some sort of chip on their shoulder about bright people. They may also have asked the question whether the issue was over bright women specifically, but given that this was The Daily Hate-Mail, they didn’t bother with that. Even This Week felt the need (well maybe Andrew Neil in particular) to wheel out an attractive uber-bright violinist to illustrate the point that Britain celebrates the tacky and the low-brow but abhors brilliance. NOO!!, we just don’t like arrogance!! It’s absolutely fine to be clever…..or talented, but just don’t make it bloody obvious that you know you are clever or talented. John Sergeant wasn’t a success because he was slap-stick comedy on the dance floor but because he was so self-deprecating. In the same vein, I don’t believe that the ambivalence towards Andy Murray has anything to do with him being a Scot but everything to do with his uncouth sulkiness and arrogance.
Let me make it clear, Ms Trimble is astonishingly bright. It is quite normal for a team captain to “carry” the team to some extent but I’m sure her colleagues would admit that this was the case throughout the series. And this is precisely the point. Her colleagues and the viewers are free to make that assessment, what launched the internet bitchiness about Trimble was that she so clearly knew it herself. From her cringe-making “oh well done” to a colleague in the second round to the flash of condescending impatience to (I think) the same person as he struggled to bring an answer to mind in the final, she finds it impossible to hide her sense of superiority.
Like most Leeds University alumni I don’t very often shout for our redbrick rival across the Pennines but I was willing the Mancs to win on Monday and was gutted when they faded at the end. I like bright people, but it is reassuring that the British disdain for arrogance and smugness seems as strong as ever. I refuse to see that as a sign of Broken Britain.
Update: I really am too nice for the blogging lark. Can’t help thinking most people would just update this post with a string of hysterical laughter that smug-arse bird had got her comeuppance. I actually feel quite sorry for her, though it is interesting that she has refused to comment since they were disqualified. I think the people who come out of this the best are the Manchester team, particularly their quietly attractive captain, Matt Yeo who is sanguine about the situation but acknowledges that the victory is pretty hollow and that they were soundly beaten on the night.
