Essays & General Comments JADE - LOVE OR HATE (March 24, 2009)
So - Jade Goody died. She died on Mother's day, which is kind of appropriate considering she is said to be raising the money for her kids. The media are in a frenzy - everywhere you turn, radio, magazines, TV, news, newspapers, chat shows, and on, and on. They are calling it the new 'Diana' moment. I am sure that Jade's death won't reverberate around the world quite as much ad Diana's did, but it is getting as much press coverage, if not more: even The Times did a full page obit.
There is a small section of the public saying that now she is actually dead, Jade's family should be left in peace to mourn her and establish a new pattern of life for her boy's sake. I am not entirely sure I agree with them.
I have never been a fan of Jade - yeah, yeah, OK, so, I admit it, I voted for her to leave the house (more that once!). She revelled in her ignorance, she flaunted her vacancy, she really seemed to think that 'being thick' was a skill that should be cultivated and added to your CV, an ambition that would be respected and rewarded: hell, that's what I, and other educated women, have been fighting against for the last 30 years.
On the surface, she was a very poor role model for our younger women trying to survive school, collage and the work place. Should we study hard and crawl up the ladder of life?? Hell, no, let's sleep with a footballer, or show ourselves up on 'reality' television shows. It's quicker, you get more money and you get more noticed: for a while, anyway.
Let's just look below the surface and turn that theory on it's head for a moment.
The Big Brother show that made Jade so famous was only a few years ago - we are talking single figures here. Until she walked into that house she was totally unknown - non-existent - a real no-person. I would argue that she has worked really hard to carve out a money spinning career out of - of - of - - - well - - - out of absolutely nothing at all really. Jade has no talent that makes her stand out; she is not a high achiever, she was not the only one to be in Big Brother House that year (she did not even win), and there have been loads of series before and after - with loads of other nameless non-entities shouting for their share of fame; she is not glamorous or chic; she is not beautiful to look at; she is not even pretty - despite all that money could buy. There is absolutely nothing to keep her in the public eye and in the celeb magazines. And yet, she stayed there.
The publicist Max Clifford must have cringed when he put her on his books: at the start of her 'career' even he could not have imagined that she would stay in the limelight so successfully for so long. Jade must have listened to his advice and learnt very quickly how to play the game his way. There have been one or two slips. Most tellingly when he has not been available to direct her. The famous 'race row' with Shilpa Shetty is still high in everyone's mind. I honestly believe that she was not being a racist - as in picking on a different race/colour/culture, she was being her normal ignorant, hateful personality - as in the growing laddette culture that is so prevalent now-a-days. The world turned against her as a result of that unguarded action and Jade was a figure of hate and derision. Once she was back in the hands of her publicist however, she did what she was told and eventually turned it around to the point that she 'dropped in' to the Indian big Brother House, and everybody loved her again.
These past few months have seen Jade grow in confidence and stature. She know she had her audience back and revelled in it. Hats off to her (sorry no pun intended), she never covered her hair loss, her treatment, the pain of her life - she let the world see every excruciating little detail, and loved it all. It is interesting to note that in her last days she turned to conformity, being christened and marrying. Some would say that these acts were a manipulation of the press to gain more money. Well, so what - she was honest about it: she did it because she wanted every penny for her boys, but she still made the most commitments she had ever made.
The celeb mags are rushing out commemorative editions (before she had died), her life story, books and her diary are being published, republished and published at lightning speed, all of the commentators are writing articles, posting comments, and talking about her life, death and memory. Her husband and family are being asked to dig over her live again and again.
And so we come back to where we started - all the publicity about her: right or wrong. Just remember how carefully her life in the past 6 years has been stages managed. Do you honestly believe it's become a steam train rolling out of control
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