jade sells her death : V1N4

this is england
banksy's stencil graffiti of jade with a pound sign on her forehead and vultures circling above

one of the oddest things i've been reading about lately is that of jade goody's tale of woe. she's a a 27 year old reality tv star in the uk from the show big brother. she shot to fame there in 2002 and last year she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. this month she was told her illness is terminal and everything which occurs in her life is now being taped for ITV2 in england.

it gets better. her beau jack tweed, a dude of only 21, (and recently released from jail for assault) proposed to her after she was given her prognosis. they're got married in late february near hatfield heath. jade also has two young sons from a previous relationship and has stated that the media circus documenting her illness is for the financial security of her kids.

and she's making bank as a dying woman. TV, writing a column for OK! magazine, books, and a perfume called Shh (no kid!) that outsold beckham in the UK. although the economy is in the tank there as much as it is here, jade's wheelins and dealins seems impervious to it.

it is odd, but at the same time seems relative to living in an age of 'reality' tv where everything is for consumption and scrutiny all the time. people are making a living from being documented; taking a wee, eating, fighting, failing, succeeding, and now...dying? it is morbid, but
is also an extreme form of getting one's hustle on in the modern age - that is the sale of one's own death.

it's become so grotesque it's as though she no longer exists in the mortal realm. she exists in the realm of illusion, but in the context of a human and very nearly ending young life. i asked a friend in london what she thought about it all, since she sees more jade hype 2-4-7 on her side of the pond:

i'm sick and tired of hearing about her. she is trash. i feel so so bad for her children. aside from that i don't care. thousands of women suffer and DIE of cancer every year in this country alone and they are often single mothers or struggling families that have to 'make do' and cant afford proper care or treatment!

she is totally exploiting the media! and what rubbish is this of her even trashier boyfriend asking her to marry him... can anyone smell dinero? in her will! he marries her, he gets half... surprise surprise! they broke up and recently got back together. its sick that he manipulates her like that too! but what really gets me angry is that she was called up by the hospital to come in for a checkup and review of her samples and she ignored it numerous times till it hit the point of no return.

do u know how privileged we are in this country to have the facilities and the resources to cater for this need and i guess she is paying for her own ignorance and selfishness. i just pray for her kids. cancer is an awful disease. i've lost family members to it and for her to turn her nose up at it, well its come back to bite her in the arse. good luck to her.

aya