The Exploitation Of Jade Goody

When it was obvious that Jade Goody didn't have long to live I wrote about how, "I would like to see her have a dignified end with her family. For this reason we will not be mentioning her again unless there should be any important news."

At the time I felt that many so called tabloid papers in the UK were exploiting her for circulation purposes and this didn't feel right. Now Michael Parkinson has written in the Radio Times of how he believed that Jade had been, "...manipulated and exploited till the day she died."

Michael said:

"When we clear the media smokescreen from around her death, what we're left with is a woman who came to represent all that's paltry and wretched about Britain today.

She was brought up on a sink estate, as a child came to know both drugs and crime, was barely educated, ignorant and puerile.

Then she was projected to celebrity by Big Brother and, from that point on, became a media chattel to be manipulated and exploited till the day she died."

It's really hard to disagree with this. Though she was almost revered at the end for her definite bravery in the face of cancer, and became almost a cult hero, only a short while previously most of us were criticising her with headlines such as Jade Goody Fight Turns Ugly and Jade Goody Worse For Wear - Again.

Michael concluded by saying, "All that is to be wished of such a troubled soul is: rest in peace."

Let us hope that this is the case and that she won't continue to be exploited in death by the media in general or her 'friends' and relatives.