Saturday, April 11, 2009

Jade Goody RIP (please)

You have to give credit to the Sun and the Daily Mail newspapers for keeping the Jade Goody saga going. Even after her death, they still headline trivial stories related to her husband Jack. The other day he was playing golf but couldn't concentrate on his game; today he is at the graveside placing an Easter egg in memory of his wife.

It is always sad when a young mother dies leaving her children behind. One of Pam's close friends died of cancer quite awhile ago leaving a husband and three young children to pick up their lives. It was very hard for them to come to terms with what had happened in such a short space of time.

Goody worked hard to turn herself into a celebrity and was well advised in the process. I do find it difficult to understand though, what real substance there was for her status. Being a contestant on reality TV shows, writing trashy columns for gossip magazines and giving your name to a perfume doesn't exactly confer celebrity status in my book. Nor does bullying and making racist remarks to a fellow contestant.

I understand that Sky News broadcast the whole of Goody's funeral procession live. The newspapers later likened the event to the funeral of the Lady Diana even suggesting that as Diana was the Princess of Wales, Goody was the Princess of Bermondsey - a very dubious comparison in my view.

I understand that Goody wanted to amass as much money as possible to secure her children's future and in that she has been successful. She has also raised the profile of screening for cervical cancer and raised money for a variety of charities including the NSPCC and Macmillan nurses.

In spite of all the good she may have done, I still cannot see Goody as a celebrity worthy of the coverage that these newspapers seem to be giving her. Perhaps when her husband is sent to prison, as is expected later this week, the whole business will calm down and the papers will find someone else to idolise - hopefully someone more befitting.

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