Tim den Besten provided a discussion in Today Inside yesterday evening between Johan Derksen and political reporter Merel Ek. “You felt sorry for Tim? It was embarrassing!”
It has now been over a week since Tim den Besten could be heard crying on the radio for fifteen minutes. Critics had dismissed him as a racist because he sang the song ‘Sinterklaasje come in with your servant’ during the TV broadcast of the Canal Parade in Amsterdam. “They call me a wild beast and anything with ancestors.”
‘Childish Tim’
Johan Derksen thinks the criticism of Tim is unjustified, but at the same time thinks he is behaving unreasonably hysterically. “Tim has to take it into account with his big mouth at all the talk show tables: if you get a twist, you also have to be a big boy and you don’t sniff, you know. Not that childish behavior.”
Political reporter Merel Ek sympathizes with Tim. “I feel sorry for him that it affects him this way. Apparently he is so empathetic that he has to cry because of this.”
Highest word
It is ‘childish behaviour’, says Johan. “That boy has the high word wherever he sits. He invented it. Now he gets a gentle tap for the tickets and…”
Merel: “No, but he doesn’t have the highest word. He doesn’t punch people like you do, but he always tries to think along with people and empathize.”
Wilfred Genee: “But he is woke and he is being tackled by the woke community. That’s pretty crazy actually.”
Embarrassing
Merel agrees: “Yes, that’s what Özcan also wrote in a column. Then you’re going to attack someone who’s kind of your ally.”
Wilfred: “Almost a figurehead.”
Merel: “Yes, that seems strange to me too. I felt really bad for him to see him like that.”
Johan: “I find it rather embarrassing when you are on TV like that.”
Wim Kieft: “Yes, then you will have a hard time if you practice this profession and you are so sensitive to the slightest thing.”
Johan: “Should he come and sit here for an evening?”
generation gap
René van der Gijp to Merel: “You know, dear, look. You are of course from the Tim generation. I think it’s also helpful for you to… You know, it’s a lot too, isn’t it? It’s a lot right now, isn’t it? It’s Twitter, it’s Facebook, it’s podcast and something will come soon. If we have to take everything that happens seriously, then you can hardly leave your house.”
Merel: “That’s what Johan says: everyone deals with it differently, but apparently this affects him very much. I felt very sorry for him.”
Johan: “If Tim starts not to look at all that nonsense and not to read what all those idiots think of you, then you will be a lot happier.”
Merel: “That is really the generation gap.”
Fragment
Finally Johan: “I don’t give a damn about the woke community. Let them scream and roar, I don’t give a damn.”
Merel: “No, that’s your choice.”
The fragment: