Monday, March 23, 2009

R.I.P Jade Goody

Photo by Chris Joseph / Landmark / JPI

Another week has gone by, and now another week to get through. Yes, everyone is still talking about the economic downturn alongside the sudden turn-of-luck (perhaps?) between Manchester United and Liverpool, sudden passing of Natasha Richardson and the not-so-sudden passing of Jade Goody. Who would've thought she'd be mentioned in the same breath as Prez Obama, Meredith Kercher and Steven Gerrard, let alone be described as "a kind of Princess Di from the wrong side of tracks"! Shocking isn't it?

I mean what was she famous for in the first place? Sure I'd heard of her way back when I was still slogging my way through bar school but even then she was relegated to the tabloids and weekly gossip magazines. And just when I thought I'd hear the last of her, out came the whole hoo-ha on Celebrity Big Brother for her racist remarks towards her then housemate and fellow E-list celebrity Shilpa Shetty. And when all that passed by, her celebrity radar hit the jackpot upon discovering that she was battling cervical cancer, and that the cancer had spread, thus paving the way for the never-ending coverage of her day-to-day life as the cancer spreads and her death imminent.

So again I ask what is the legacy of Jade Goody's life, battle with cancer and sad passing (no, I am not that cold-hearted) on popular culture?

"Perhaps this is because Jade Goody filled the role of
reality TV star to the extreme: she was "famous for nothing," she once said, a woman who went from obscurity to a national sensation due to the public's desire to create heroines and villains out of their neighbors, their peers, people who look and act quite like they do. Her short life was defined by public opinion; she was loved, then fiercely hated, and then pitied, but all of these things came through a lens, a distanced view; she was simply another character for the public to follow, and she knew and seemingly accepted this, giving her blessing to the tabloids to follow her until the very end. As Jeffries notes, "Like a working-class Princess Diana, Goody became the object of strangers' intense feelings, and she became a sacrifice, a woman whose suffering and death made it possible for people to ritually cry for someone they scarcely knew."

Goody hoped that her public struggle would raise awareness about cervical cancer and inspire young women to be more proactive about their health. But Goody's legacy may be her ability to use the reality tv/tabloid media to her advantage, even in dark times: for example, she recently held an elaborate wedding to her prisoner boyfriend, Jack Tweed, in order to sell the media rights and leave her sons with a substantial amount of money, knowing she'd be leaving them soon. Jade Goody was able to make a living out of living; as long as there was a camera present, and a photographer ready to chase her every move, she was able to capture the minds of millions, for better or worse. She forced the public, however unwittingly, to discuss racism, the challenges of cancer, and ultimately, the boundaries of fame."

Do you agree?

p/s: That comparison between Jade and Princess Di was observed by Stephen Fry, who knew!

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