Jade goody lived and died the life of a Reality TV star, from the first moment she graced our television screens on Big Brother three she has been in the media spotlight.
With no real talent to speak of, she wrote biographies, launched a perfume and a fitness DVD to keep her fame going. She appeared on celebrity Big Brother leading to a fall from grace when she was accused of being a racist and a bully towards Indian actress Shilpa Shetty.
She then appeared on the Indian Big Brother to apologise for her behaviour and thousands of people witnessed the moment when Jade was told she had cervical cancer. The devastating moments that followed were laid bare for the world to see.This is an ugly twist of celebrity culture towards to the insane and macabre. Is life really so unexciting that we have to watch the personal and private moments of a dying woman?
I watched one of the multiple re-runs of "jade’s wedding" whilst channel hopping and I found it extremely distressing and painful to watch. I wondered how anyone could sit through the whole thing; there is enough suffering in the world without watching it on television and this, supposedly, is entertainment?
It’s not hard to see how Jade was popular; she was a crusader for real women, showing how ordinary women can become rich and famous no matter what background they come from. She was a bit ditsy and she made mistakes just like any other person. She was someone women could relate to and on the other end of the scale from the extremely unattainable glamour of models and A-list actresses.
People no longer need to be talented to be glorified by the public and the media, they just need to be married to the right person or appear on the right reality TV show.
We want a celebrity to be our best friend, we want to know everything about them and we want to be in their lives so we read about their every move in Heat or Now magazine. So what affect will giving fame more of a priority than talent and real qualities that deserve celebrating have on our culture?
Perhaps this adulation will come at a price, or maybe the next generation already want to be the next Jade Goody or Paris Hilton and see being a celebrity as a credible career move.
