Jade Goody.. a Saint...?(!)

I should just start by saying that I have (or rather, had) nothing in particular against Jade Goody/Tweed.

Her relatively short and in some respects tragic life has now drawn to a close. That she faced her final days in the full beam of the media glare in many respects showed a great deal of courage - that she endured her suffering in full public view for the future benefit of her two young sons is nothing but commendable.

However, the suggestion of Archbishop Jonathan Blake on the Channel 4 news this evening that her contribution to society in the latter days of her life was of 'biblical proportions' was stupendously ill-judged. Further, the Archbishop went on to claim that in the last month or so of her life she 'saved thousands of lives' and that she can be considered worthy of 'saint' status(!)

That a (presumably) intelligent man could make such bold (yet loopy) statements left me momentarily aghast and shortly thereafter prompted me to direct some hot air of my own in the direction of the television..!

I simply do not see, that however tragic her demise, anything Jade managed to do in the last few months of her life could have in any way served to elevate her to 'saint' status, or that she achieved anything of 'biblical proportions' - unless we were talking about the amount of cash she generated (supposedly and I very much hope it is the case) for the future benefit of her sons.

Doubtless there will follow a week or so of 'mourning' in magazines of the 'OK' variety - which will sell issues and help to sustain their circulation. What annoys me is that the OK-buying public either do not see how trite and entirely superficial this perpetuation of the Goody phenomenon is - or that they do realise, yet continue to buy the vacuous drivel regardless.

It is worth remembering that the media created Jade and made her its play-thing. It pulled its macabre strings from the outset, poking fun and sneering - then it attempted to annihilate her following the 'Shilpa Poppadom' episode. The media mocked and derided her more often than it didn't - and through it all money was generated for the publications and the PR representatives concerned. To the very end (and indeed beyond) the media and the PR people have cashed in at every step - they created her, they profited from her - and doubtless they are now indeed filled with remorse - remorse, that is, that her life is over so soon.

In many ways it seems the best tribute anyone could make to Jade would be to not purchase the forthcoming series of clichés and crashingly awful metaphors that is inevitably to be served up by the 'coffee-table-glossies' (yuck). I would say that 'in every way' this would be the most appropriate tribute, if it were not for the suggestion that it is her two sons who will benefit from the royalties/publication fees generated.

It is monumentally irritating that the hackneyed, clichéd, flea-ridden carcass of the cheapest, lowest, most shameless form of journalism continues to profit from Jade's life and demise.

Mind you, this would be just a fraction as irritating as it would be if Tweed were to somehow now morph into a media spectacle in his own right.............. heaven forbid!

Over and out...