Jade Goody

[bigbadwolf]

Well said Tony. She may be a twat but it's the little ones who bare the brunt of her death. With any luck she'll survive long enough for them to grow old enough as to understand what cancer is and allow her explain to the poor little mites what she's suffering from in order to prepare them for the inevitable.

[BlueOne]

Oh my goodness I agree with TLS! I also recall another woman in the public eye who had a very public battle with cancer, but not sure why Kylie Minogue wasn't villified in the same way.

[bigbadwolf]

Because Kylie Minogue isn't chav scum.

[????]

Of course, she didn't 'know her place'.....dontcha just love the 'liberal' middleclass.....

[giggirl]

BlueOne Wrote:

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> Oh my goodness I agree with TLS! I also recall

> another woman in the public eye who had a very

> public battle with cancer, but not sure why Kylie

> Minogue wasn't villified in the same way.

Let's take the cancer out of the equation just for one moment, so that we can be less excitable.

Some people think celebrity culture is harmless. I?m not one of those people.

Celebrity culture is destructive. Making icons out of people who are famous for nothing, or for very little, will end in tears. It de-values real achievement. It impacts on impressionable young people who deserve to have some actual role models to look up to.

If you had asked me this time last year what my opinion of Jade was I would have told you that, as an icon of celebrity culture, I find her omnipresence unacceptable and worrying. What has happened for me to change that opinion?

[TillieTrotter]

I think she is pretty shite and certainly don't consider her to be a celebrity. However, it's still sad because she is a human being. If I heard that a friend of a friend of a friend was going through the same situation as Jade I would still think it was terribly sad.

[giggirl]

Quite right TT but my point is, how do any of us even know about Jade's current predicament? Because it's everywhere, that's why. And yet she is the very antithesis of news. That's what I question.

I'm making an effort not to be personal. I don't know Jade. She may be a good person; she may be a bad person; she's most likely a mixture of both. But why is she news? Mo Mowlam was news, yes, but why Jade?

[Mikecg]

giggirl wrote,

But why is she news?

Because she is famous for not doing anything, like most Celebritys they don't really do anything except be a Celebrity.

Made famous by a cheap reality TV programme. So she is famous for not doing anything. She is however a houshold name. yuk.

The problem for me with her, is the level of brain power. Sad to her suffer like that, and I feel for the family. But her Marathon attempt is testament to that.

[????]

So a useless middle class Labout politician is ok but a pushy working class girl isn't....yup........why don't we take the cool posturing out of the equation and agree with TLS

[BlueOne]

There are plenty of occupations that are no more edifying than appearing on television despite a marked lack of talent. Is there some sort of league table that we should consult before expressing sympathy for an individual who is suffering from cancer?

For example I for one find the vast sums paid to men for playing football absolutely sickening - football is, after all, only entertainment, but I would be deeply sorry to hear of any young football player who was dying from cancer. And yes, I appreciate that being able to play football at a high level requires talent, but this talent is only valid to those who value this game. It's a game after all.

So we can all judge Jade Goody as having no talent. Fair enough, but I have to say, she's got a bloody better talent than I have for making herself millions - with a much less privileged backkground than I come from.

[Mikecg]

Never heard of a Celebrity Nobel Prize Winner. Celebritys are either a footballers girlfriend or Paris sponge off daddy Hilton. the problem for me is our kids are starting to look upto these kinds of people, evern more worrying is some kids actually aspire to be like them.

[Sharon_H]

You know what? I tend to sort of agree with what everyone has said, but at the same time I do have a lot of, what I don't know, sympathy, compassion?. What I do know is that I wouldn't wish anything like this on anyone,ever.

[annaj]

gigirl, I actually agree with pretty much everything you've said about celebrity culture. Far from being harmless it's an insidiously and sublty destructive influence that attaches value to meaningless things and devalues things that matter.

But Jade Goody isn't the cause of the problem, she just a symptom of it. And she's dying. And whoever she is, I find that sad.

And Jah, you "know for a fact" that she ignored the signs? Really? Did you go with her to the gynaecologist?

And even if she did that doesn't mean she deserves her illness. Many people deny or ignore signs of serious illness, because facing reality is hard and painful and scary. Assigning blame in illness is pointless and meaningless, because many serious illness are caused or worsened, in part, by something we do or don't do.

[????]

Well said Anna, it amazes me that people are so unempathetic that they put their cliched, dinner party posturing above the fact that two young kids are not going to have a mum soon.......

[Sue]

Jah Lush Wrote:

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>I know for sure

> that her cancer spread because she ignored all the

> signs and left it too late before finally being

> diagonosed but if all her publicity seeking helps

> girls check themselves out with smear tests and

> whatnot then that's not a bad thing at all.

>

xxxxxx

I have read this as well, and also that the hospital kept sending her letters to come for treatment and that she kept ignoring them.

The reason for smear tests is precisely to catch this kind of cancer at a very very early stage. My mother died of cervical cancer because she had never had a smear test and by the time it was diagnosed it was too late to prevent it spreading.

I am sorry for Jade Goody's situation, but unlike many other people with cancer, she had the opportunity to prevent it and/or to have it treated at a stage when such treatment could have been successful, and for whatever reason she chose not to take that opportunity.

I agree with Keef that if the publicity persuades young (and older) women to go for smear tests and not to put off having symptoms checked out, then it can only be a good thing.

[postmodern]

Jade Goody is too much for me.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Why so quick to say "vilified" - with one or two exceptions I see support for Jade Goody on here and elsewhere in the media.

That said, if Kylie was treated with more respect overall that might have something to do with the fact that she is famous because of her work and doesn't live here entire life in public. Jade Goody does. It's probably that simple

I wish no ill on JG, and admire much of the way she has made a lot of her life. But equally, that is the currency she has chosen. She exists in the public mind only because she allows so much of it to be public - and the public will judge her accordingly. Kylie knows where the line is and only shows so much. You can say this is a class thing if you like - but only inasmuch as having class - it's nowt to do with what class you are. Plenty of working class people have more class than any number of other people

At least when the character in the Truman Shown realised his life was a sham he tried to escape - JG has pretty much done the opposite

And nor do I agree that her going public helps, on balance, other youngsters deal with similar situations. For every person who does take a lesson from this, several more will instead be taken in by the vapid celeb lifestyle she has lived for so long

[RosieH]

This thread makes me rather sad - Sean I think you're being perhaps over-reasonable when you say one or two exceptions - there have been expletives, she's been called shite and ugly and stupid.

John Diamond chose to die of cancer in the public eye and get paid for it (and he's not alone) - perhaps because he was rather more broadsheet than tabloid we didn't judge him so harshly.

Bemoaning Jade's lack of talent - it's been touched on above, but I think she clearly has a knack for making money and I applaud her for that. If we're stupid enough (and millions of us are) to buy the weekly celebrity mags, then I'd say she's the smart one to cash in on it.

She wasn't born blessed with a genius IQ or supermodel looks or the ability to run marathons in record time. Does anyone seriously think that makes her less worthy??? Of course to become world class in any field you need to practice and practice and practice some more, but a good percentage of success stems from natural ability. If someone isn't gifted, are we suggesting they should aspire to no more than stacking shelves all their lives?

As for "she never went for her smear" - I'm incredulous. What about all the cancer sufferers who never quit smoking? Fuck 'em, idiots, they deserve it.

[Tony.London Suburbs]

RosieH.(tu)

Sue: Sorry, to hear about your Mum.

[Jeremy]

This is not a class war, quids... you're just twisting the situation to suit your own agenda.

[SeanMacGabhann]

There are all manner of public figures which are far from popular - Jade Goody has her detractors, ditto Paul McCartney and/or Heather Mills. then there are the Hamiltons. The list goes on and on. And people say all manner of vile things about them .. but it isn't because they are any particular class.. Middle class and posh gits all get the same treatment

[Cassius]

I think the fact that she could have averted this makes it even MORE tragic, she didn't get treatment through fear and now she might face the ultimate sanction for that very natural fear. How do you think that must make her feel? Not only does she have to cope with the fear that she might die and leave her boys behind she has to bear the guilt that she could have done something about it.

[Keef]

I'm just not sure who quids is talking about. He seems to be on the compassionate side, which is cool, but the people who have been more anti Jade are not the ones that I'd call the more obviously middle class on here... Not that I believe in class you understand. Can we not all agree that it is very sad that a person is dying very young of a horrid illness and leaving her kids without a mum, BUT, in the grand scheme of things, there are plenty of things in the world, be it a war, or your neighbour's cat dying, that people may be more upset about. That's how I see it anyway. I don't know her, and whilst I think it's very sad, I'll not lay awake thinking on it, but I'm sure those close to her are devastated.

[SeanMacGabhann]

spot on sir Keef

[Tony.London Suburbs]

Well SAid Keef.