UPDATE: If you heard Justine Picardie on our show earlier, you might want to visit her blogsite
“I’ve lived my whole adult life talking about my life,” … “The only difference is that I’m talking about my death now. It’s OK. I’ve lived in front of the cameras. And maybe I’ll die in front of them”
Jade Goody is famous for being famous. She’s a peculiarly 21st century creation ; made by reality tv, disgraced on reality tv , resurrected on reality tv and now she’s dying of cervical cancer.
Jade in this country is loved by many (even the Prime Minister has praised her) and despised by a good few. Some of the e-mails our sister station 5 Live received were shocking in their nastiness.
She’s made the decision to exploit her fame in her dying days to raise money for her boys, starting with her wedding this weekend.
Girls Aloud will sing at the ceremony which could earn Jade a million pounds.
Her decision has sparked a debate in this country which exposes a British discomfort about issues to do with dying and of course, the old class divide.
In the past journalists John Diamond, Ruth Picardie and (an acquaintance of mine ) Oscar Moore charted their dying days in public. They were all rightly praised for their bravery and honesty and they are all much missed.
Jade isn’t being treated like that, not by everyone anyway.
Carol Midgley in the Times scorns the squeamishness of some people when it comes to dealing with Jade’s illness :
“Why should it be tucked away and camouflaged like a toilet roll beneath a crinoline doll? Why, in fact, are we obsessed with the idea of death itself being private? It is the one certainty we all have and yet we live in prissy, Botoxed denial of it. “
She wants to raise awareness of her illness and in doing so, make sure her soon to be motherless kids will have a secure financial future.
This editorial in the Times of India is concerned :
“But there is nothing personal about someone’s dying days being publicly broadcast. For instance, what sort of impact will this have on children? Birth and death are not just events. They shape much of our collective social morality about life, humanity and decency. Has our moral compass failed us so much, have we tossed away even the most basic norms of human dignity, that we are willing to consume someone’s death via television? “
So what’s the problem ? Even Shilpa Shetty is praying for her….is there anything wrong in what Jade is doing in her last days ?
RSS feed
BBC World Have Your Say 
I’m no great fan of Jade Goodie but if she can better provide for her children by exploiting her death, so be it. Death is a natural culmination of life and shouldn’t be a taboo subject. However, I’m not sure how correct it is to compare Ms. Goodie’s efforts with the writing of John Diamond or Ruth Picardie. There’s a difference between writing with quiet dignity and turning one’s death into yet another media circus for cash.
But isn’t that the point Bob ? that people respect the “quiet dignity” of Ruth, John and Oscar (even though they at times were angry about the thought of dying) but not Jade’s brasher “media circus” ?. Righhtly or wrongly, Jade has a much bigger profile with the general public than the other three i mentioned. If they had been as popularly famous maybe their deaths would have turned into a “media circus”.
Mark, I’m critical of the whole “famous for being famous” lifestyle and wouldn’t be a fan whether we were talking about her reality show racism, her redemption from racism, her motherhood, her marriage. The publicity machine surrounding her life…and now her death…doesn’t offer me anything I wish to partake in. It doesn’t inspire…or teach…or even amuse me. However, that’s just me and my take on Jade Goody. In terms of UK popular culture I’m in the minority and accept that…and see no reason why death has to be a special case different from her life. Go for it Ms. Goody…but I have no more desire to watch her death than I did her life.
Sorry for her state. Its general that a dying person is ever confident in life after death especially when they know that there is no other option but to accept the day! This could be the basic reason why Jade is trying to raise money to support her boys in the future with out her. But life is not meaningless and death too is not meaningless – I think its ok for her to broadcast what people should know about her experience, something that would remain secret if she died!
I don’t think there is nothing wrong in broadcasting her death,since she want to raised money for her kids let her go on.
Hello ,
I’m sorry for her..
YET, come and see me i’m dying!!! is unacceptable at all.
I’m against making life or DEATH as a commodity, She wants to ensure a better life to her boys.. well why didn’t she do that when she was in a good health. we all know that sooner or later we will die, so one must think of his/her childern. It’s unreasonable to think of them on dying.
Hey bob,
It looks like you don’t have sympathy for human being.The way you say your word “so be it”is not the right way to put it.Incase similar thing happen to you and people treated you like that,how would you feel?hope not good.Let try to have love and sympathy for oneanother.If we can’t help let stay cool.
Why shouldn’t Jade Goody make money out of her death, apart from the fact she is apparently doing it to provide well for her children who will lose a mother, she will not be around to benefit from it as celebrities do nowadays whether it be flogging their stories about bikini lines to weight loss?
Let’s not forget that Heath Ledger and his entourage are using his death to grab an Academy Award! Let’s face it, had he not died so spectacularly, he really would not be in the running for an Oscar.
Plenty of people have used their deaths to make things important to them. Some made their illness more talked about, as with AIDS in the eighties. Some have used their deaths to gain political awareness, such as any bomber today. So why can’t she use her death for what she has dedicated her life to, to make people realize that she’s there and be paid for it. Thats what comes from knowing that you are going to die, you can make plans and arangments. I dont know who she is like you guys do, but I dont see that it matters much. I’m sure before she dies I will, today is case in point.
i support you she must make money out of her death
She needs help and comfort not ridicule
@sahidsankoh
If I came across as harsh and unsympathetic, I apologise. I don’t wish a painful, early death from cancer on anyone. I feel bad for her and, even more so, the young family she leaves behind. That she is trying to provide for them is admirable.
However, when I lived in the UK, I was not a fan of Jade Goody’s attitudes or lifestyle…or the well-oiled publicity machine that kept her and her lifestyle on the front pages.
Death, as I said earlier, is a natural result of life and I would be a hypocrite if I suddenly said “Awww…bless. You’re dying so everything…your racism and your celebration of ignorant and crass behaviour is okay now”.
She chose her life and she has many fans and admirers. She’s choosing her death to be in the same style and that’s fine. I don’t believe death has to be a hidden, forbidden subject. However, for the same reason I didn’t admire her life, I won’t be admiring her death.
I heard about the reality TV row over Jade Goody, but did not know that she is now dying, and is doing so in public. I don’t buy tabloids or watch reality TV in any language.
And that’s my answer to your question about dying in public: no one is forcing anyone to buy a newspaper or magazine, nor forcing anyone to read about the public end of Ms Goody’s life. If a person thinks it’s wrong for her story to be broadcast in the media, all they have to do is switch the TV or radio or computer off.
As we become more and more interconnected with mobile phones, cameras and computers, this sort of thing is inevitable. I personally have no objections, even though I am not interested in following the story. We all have to die. If someone wishes to do so in public, and the public is interested, why not? And if she’s doing it to raise money for her soon-to-be-motherless children, I saw “Good for her.”
Donnamarie in Switzerland
Personally i think everyone is free to try and do anything they want as long as it is not physically harming to others. So if there happens to be someone who comes up with the idea of exploiting her death, with the honorable excuse of providing for her children, then she is free to pursue this goal.
For me the weird part starts when someone like this tries to sell this idea and there actually is some tv company that wants to do something with it. So they start producing a show. And then it gets even weirder. Because when the show is launched it turns out to be a huge success, so this means people are actually watching the program on TV and thus making the wishes of, in this case, miss Goody a reality.
So in short it is the public who makes these kind of situations possible! Personally I don’t live in the UK so i don’t know the show but if it would be broadcast in Holland I would simply not watch the show, as not to contribute to it’s success. So it comes down to the question if you personally believe the actions of miss Goody to be immoral and if so not to contribute to the hype
Then there is another pressing remark about death i need to make. Death used to be an embedded institution in society with certain rituals attached to it. People knew how to deal with it and how to act. Nowadays it seems that death has become more and more an taboo. This could be because of the post-modern of high modernity society we live in, in which traditions are dis embedded and people are seeking for new ways of dealing with the phenomenon of death, miss Goody’s way being one of them.
Great and courageous is the person who for joy or in sorrow controls oneself. The hymnist says”What joy shall it be that even on my death bed, I shall shout the praise of the Almighty God” As a courageous woman and mother, Jade Goody wants to accopmplish her tour of this world making sure that the comfort of her kids is not truncated by her mere passing away from this world. Remember what Jesus Christ said to Mother Mary and John? “Woman, this your son; Son, this your mother” Jade is telling us ( those of us living) that we should care. That’s all.
I always fantasies about dying doing a heroic act in front of a camera (don’t mind a CCTV) and the whole world mourn for me. Great huh? Don’t care what you say but even if I know I’m dying today , I still want to win a lottery. Trying to gain as much mileage as possible. An enterprising man to the end.
If the publicity of her death will generate enough funds to support her kids, then i dont see anything wrong with that. Knowing her kids will not be in need after her death wil make her die a much happier person.
Hi Ros,
She is not dead yet, is she? She is obviously still alive and a celebrity. Therefore having the right to work and make money (work here could be defined as doing what you love doing, and getting someone to pay you for it). I won’t ask, but if my Mum put in an extra day of work to leave some money behind for me, I will be greatful.
But again, if there is any fault here, it is ours, we just love reading and hearing about triffle issues: those thousands of people wrote because they know someone out there will love to read it. Google carried all those articles because they know that someone (like you) would eventually search her name. Afterall the media has a duty to inform us, and they could only tell us what we want to know.
Those who are alive can live in ‘public’ but to find out the right or wrong of dying in public, gues we need to speak to a dead person. But what is ‘public’ we could chose to ignore it even if it is in our papers, that will make her dying a private matter. Have a great day.
Nengak Daniel
Abuja, Nigeria.
I have never understood this idea that death is a private, and personal thing. If that were the case, most people would die alone rather than in hospitals or their homes, surrounded by medical staff and family members. I think what we lose in discussions like these is the sadness so many of us feel about the state of our culture. In the States, we have all these new reality shows about celebrity rehab and “Intervention.” So many of us thrive on watching the suffering of others, and now it’s evolving to death as entertainment. Perhaps Ms. Goody is doing what she thinks is best for her children, or perhaps she just wants the attention. But shouldn’t we all be ashamed that so many are desperate to watch?
as in the famous book “tuesdays with morrie’by mitch alabom about the proffessor morrie who taught mitch and was dying of incurable disease sought the last few days to talk about his illness and all facets of life for his student mitch to write that famous book .i recoomend hope goody read that book as early as possible so that she will feel even more confident than now ..let goody have her own way as she all her years was making carreer under public gaze so her last moments too if she feels no exception then so be it ..lets enjoy the goody show till her last ..(with sadness i am telling with a prayer that god cures her miraculously )..
devadas.v
jyothinivas
kannur
kerala
Making provisions for your children start from the moment they’re born, not when your about to die. I wonder what impact this exposure is having on those children? Are they going to be guilt riden that their mother had to endure this crude exposure of her struggles with cancer in order to provide for them?
My problem with this is that everybody is going to know that it isn’t your natural hair color. I mean the point is to make people think you don’t have grey hair, or that you are naturally a bubbly blond and not a prude brunet, then you go off dying in public, I have to wonder what the point is?
As Yoda once stated, “death is a natural part of life”. But in my opinion, death should not be broadcast like some cheap reality show. When Freddie Mercury passed away in 1991, he had revealed he had AIDS like what..2, 3 days before he passed away? (if my memory is wrong here, my apologies..lol!) He felt he didn’t need to detail his every last dying moment. And that was his right to do so. But remember, this was LONG before the days of reality TV for this subject or that. WOULD he have, in fact, taken that same route? Possibly..but he was such a beloved person that I believe that, had he lived until this century and announced his situation, he would have used his last days as an educational, rather than exploitational tool, ya know?
Good for her, she’ll give her kids something concrete, plus better, allow them to understand death & come to terms with hers. For centuries the western religions have created & cultivated a fear of death to bind the ignorant & scared to them. Its just part of life nothing more public or private, sometimes better public. Its, for me a natural part of the journey. Of course its scary but sometimes so is life. So good on yer jade, it takes courage or stupidity, in your case i think the latter, unless you want the ultimate 15 minutes (andy warhol). Simon florence italy
I can assure you that I will not be watching Jade Goody’s death on the television. I can’t imagine wanting to to watch a young woman die.
Their is something desperately wrong here that people want to see this DEATH as if it were just one more reality show.
If the program is called WORLD have your say, then why are we covering a woman who is a celebrity ONLY in the UK? It seems as though the show’s producers have lost focus on the aim of this program. Yawn.
If she so chooses to publicize her death than so be it. Its her life her choice, and frankly if she can make money from publicizing her death the only reason is because there are people out there giving her the power to do so. She’s not exploiting her own death for money, she’s exploiting the people that allow her to make money from it.
It is strange how we hide form sex and death in our personal lives, yet in the movies and on TV it is exactly the opposite. It is this phenomenon that allows for something like this to happen (the exploitation of a persons death)
I applaud her decision and hope that this does provide for her children, and I hope that the controversy shows the world that when we subject ourselves to hiding and disguising aspects of life, there will be those that exploit that for financial profit.
People everyday are dying from cervical and a number of cancers, this is a rare case that we have had the chance to hear about.
My mother died of cancer in 2004 and I cared for her in her final days.
Of course, because she was my mother, it was a life changing experience
for me. There was a great deal of anguish and fear in watching
her die with no ability to help her. However, I learned a valuable lesson
about the precious nature of life. We live and then we die and we must face this inevitability.
It would have been extremely difficult to grieve and accept the gravity of that experience
if our family was being broadcast to the world.
That being said, if people live their lives in the spotlight, why should they not
have the option to die that way? If one finds this offensive, then don’t watch
it. I think a lot of this morality discussion is actually veiled fear of what will befall
all of us someday.
First of all, we will not be watching her death but her suffering. Why would we be interested in watching someone suffering? To me, having seen people dying from cancer I am not sure I want to watch it on TV. But I am sure there are some who would.
Second, the fact that she is doing it for her children and their financial security seems very narrow minded to me. Then again, the western world has shown us how to make to most horrible stories a money making machine.
I simply hope that people will stop seen their life, the feelings of their loved ones as a money making opportunity. If the current crisis teach us anything it is that money is simply not everything…it is just a tool
I think it’s tremendous. Our species has such a primitive, superstitious view of death. We attempt to make it separate from our existence rather than embracing it as a natural part of life’s progression. Perhaps by exposing ourselves more to the process of death we can lessen our fear and learn to live fuller lives.
Jason in Portland, OR
It is no wonder that religious fanatics of all faiths have taken offence at “Western decadence”! It has absolutely NOTHING to do with someone’s “comfort” of possibly being a voyeur into someone else’s death! It has to do with RESPECTING the sanctity of someone’s death. BTW: I’d say that most people have experienced a fatal illness and death within their own family! This travesty ultimately says more about our society , and where it has gone than about Jade Goody!!!
Your guest said that no one in India would want to watch a celebrity during her last days. But wasn’t Jade Goody’s cancer diagnosed on India’s version of Big Brother? Can you really say that no one in India was interested in hearing her diagnosis and wanted to follow the story?
Ross my only surprise is that it is worth One million. She cannot be regarded as having any talent…..With all the other news in the world Its almost a non news story.
I support her in providing for her children in the future….My view do what ever you want as long as it does not interfere with anyone else….
I don’t know who Jade Goody is. I don’t watch reality shows because I don’t contribute to the success of pointless television. That’s what people can do that don’t agree with the broadcast of Jade Goody. Turn off the TV.
As far as dying in public goes I have no issue. Death is a natural part of life. Those that feel it is a private matter are not forced to pay attention. Let’s face it, as long as someone can make money it will be exploited.
Ordinarily I would be opposed to what she is doing. However, as a father of small kids, I would do whatever is necessary to make sure my kids are taken care of, after my death. As long as she is not doing something illegal, she has the right to take care of her family.
The viewers can decide whether or not to watch it.
For me it is each to their own. If you want privacy, fine, but why force it on those who don’t want or need it?
Honestly, my own experience of death were my mother’s cancer and my grandmother’s alzheimer’s, I was there for both and they were private, BUT If I could have prepared myself beforehand by vicariously experiencing the gift of someone else’s experience, I would done both differently and handled some things better.
British hypocrisy at its best. No problems with voraciously consuming Princess Diana to her grave because she had no say in the issue (and threw flowers all the way to mourn their obsession). But when an adult makes a decision to destigmatize dying there is uproar.
It’s her decision and the rest is hand wringing by loss of oontrol.
I don’t watch reality TV or intend to watch her death but salute Jade Goody.
I think what she is doing is great; it opens up the dialogue on dying and the emotions behind same. And why in a developed country is she dying from this disease? Opening up with death from cervical remove stigmas! It is sad to lose someone so young to this disease in a developed nation.
Whats the big deal? Death is natural part of life. the idea that death should be private only comfirms the perception that it is a tragic,shameful,unatural event which is absolutely not true. Jade Goodie just reminded me about Death which has made me think on how to do good and perfect the reason of why i am here on earth and if she makes money on that GUD FOR HER she has already given me much more. TO JADE GOODIE MAY U DIE IN PEACE.BYE.
Reality TV is popular because it cracks the shield of personal privacy of the performers not the public. It has been proven that there is enough demand that drove filming her last months or weeks. Most of the public including those who watch reality TV would not accept to be on the stage and expose their privacy let alone being filmed dying! But this does not apply to an already Reality TV star who has a chance to secure the future of her kids and in the same time do something that can be considered the Ultimate Reality TV.
I had never heard of this woman before this program. Perhaps it is becuase I don’t watch much tv nor do I watch reality programs. But, there are several issues here. First, I feel a person has their choice on how they want to live and die. If she really feels she wants to die in the public eye (which according the her publisist does not seem to be the case- she only wants to share some of the experiences leading up to it) that is her choice. If the media wants to pay for it , well she is doing what she can for her children.
Having been with both my parents through their deaths I would not watch her death as it is hard enough to go through with someone you love. I don’t need to see it for someone else. I am however opposed to some of the video tapes of death that come through u-tube and similar media.
There is a value however to a public figure sharing her experience. Often public figures are afraid to share their stories and experience and make death and illness taboo issues. Some people grow and change by hearing someones story publicly. The part she is sharing so far sounds like it is positive. I don’t see any problem with people watching her wedding even with the sad ending in view. If people have been following her life on TV – it is all a part of it.
I wish her and her family the best.
A questioned that was asked by one of the listeners “How about when someone tells her sons I watched your mom dying on TV!”
Excuse me! So what! Is dying a shame or something! Death is just the other side of the coin of life.
What’s wrong with the displaying of dying in public? How is that different from being stoned in public in some cultures, from harakiri, from Sati, from political hunger strike, from self-suicide in public in protest to certain ideologies, or even from the funerary pagaentry of the monarchs of many countries? They are all the self-believed acts of displaying death for common public consumption. After all, it is purely the matter of personal last wish of each individual how one wants to leave the world. We are coward creatures so scared of the idea of death in general to the point that it is such a taboo topic to discuss, debate, make known to public about the process of dying. By telling the world of this particular act is a healthy way of one to admit that death is just one part of the life process. It is hugely courageous and honorable thing for someone to have such guts to come out and make it seem so natural and ordinary event in our short ordinary life.
Hello, again!
This is the cancer patient checking in.
In a world in which most people get their information visually, what is the difference between writing about the process of one’s death and talking about it on TV?
There are so many reasons that following this young woman’s progress through cancer diagnosis and treatment is a good idea — and we can’t change the human need for gossip, which is what underlies the fascination with reality tv. Evolutionarily, gossip is essential for human social bonding.
The most important point is that there is so little compassion for people who suffer serious diseases.
The second most serious point is the epidemic of HPV infection in young women and the absolute necessity for young women to get tests, find out if they are HPV positive, and take the necessary diagnostic steps to care for themselves.
If Ms. Goody’s journey toward the end of her life saves the live of even one other young mother, she has done a very good thing. (And people who are complaining about the money are mostly envious because they don’t have it.)
Thanks for reading. And thanks for covering cancer. It’s important.
Best wishes,
Sarah Hoffman
How about if she decided to write a book instead of being filmed? Would it be then more accepted and with more dignity! So is it the act? or the media? that makes the difference.
Chuck,
It could be worse. They could be talking abut Alfie, the 13 year old father, who is another hot topic there.
There was a suicide yesterday in the Crystal Cathedral, the home base of televangelist Robert H. Schuller. There were tourists there at the time, so it wasn’t private. This is what came to mind when I read dying in public. Why he did what he did, I refuse to speculate. It was just as public as Ms. Goody just more violent.
I really hate reality TV, I get enough reality from reality, thank you very much. As far as dying on a reality TV show, or dying publicly, I think people should be able to die any way they want, it’s the last thing we get to do afterall, but I wouldn’t choose to watch it.
I think people are so curious about death because that’s the only thing not one of us know about after it happens and that’s why so many people are interested…
If you don’t feel comfortable with someone’s own choice for public exhibition then you don’t need to look at it and you have the choice to keep your own death private.
Also, “dignity” is relative to an individual’s perception. Who made up the rule that watching someone die shouldn’t happen?
its her choice she is dying, and she wants to go with some security. i dont know what the difference is between her and the executive who tries to go into the office and work until the last day. when she is gone will all of her viewers take care of her children? she is a survivor i would do the same for my children in any profession that gave me the opportunity to work until my death, what else do you want her to do , crawl into a corner and whither away,. i didn’t know J. Goody until today , at any rate have a good day, do what you need to do before you go . i dont judge a person until their life is over only then can checks and balances be applied to their existence to say who they were.
Death comes to us all & Everyone knows it.
Around the globe death happens every seconds & people not know about it.
Sure Jade is not happy about her death so is nobody in her shoes.
But this broadcast of Jade should really make people realize how much ones life is worth..
There is absolutely nothing wrong in Jade Goody’s decision to go before the camera, knowing well she is likely to die shortly. If we know we are going to die in a few weeks and we are able to put something in place for our love ones before death should we do it?
Many of the persons on the programme are behaving as if Jade Goody is being killed before the camera. No! She is still alive.
Perhaps going public will send the message to women and men that we should take our health seriously.
I’m sorry to hear about Jade Goody.
I understand that she wants to increase awareness on her illness, however I believe that there are better ways of doing this.
I think that what she is doing is very brave , she is showing people that death is a part of life and not something that should be feared and if it’s going to leave her children with a better future after she is gone, even better, however, doing it on Big Brother simply isn’t appropriate for such a serious and sensitive issue.
While it is ok for us to be sympathetic to one another as humans when we suffer, it is quite another thing to exploit our miseries and sufferings for profit.
You are focusing on the death of this actress but that is how it is framed. Why not reframe this and focus on the other side of this story – which is this actress’ LIFE. Yes, it may be the end of her life but she has weeks/months/maybe even years to live and that is what will be filmed – her LIFE (her marriage, her celebration, her family) that is the important thing to focus on.
Separately, every person in this world is touched by Cancer. If this woman’s life is indeed being filmed through the end, then this is an opportunity to educate the world about the reality of what living with Cancer is like for the person but also for those who love and care for that person. What a gift she is offering to the world.
The reason it’s important that death be public is that we in the US are not allowing “death with dignity” laws because they don’t know enough about the needless suffering that happens with many deaths. If more people knew how horrible it can be, they would be more reasonable about the laws governing how we die.
It is her choice. Much like abortion, she gets to choose. By the diagnosis her death is inevitably premature. I as a parent have only the resposibility to care for my children and if I were approached with such an offer, under similar circumstances, I’d take it in a heartbeat. How one would suffer by watching it, it’s purely egotistical and selfish. You are not dealing with such dilemma. Her children will remember her no matter what and will suffer the loss, too.
There should be no discussion of the roung lady’s desire to make her death public. Why do we not discuss how people die during wars? How much more public can that death be? And yet do we do not hear any discussion on that. If the young lady has decided to make her death public, nobody has any right to prevent her from doing so.
I was diagnosed with cancer in August. Luckily mine is cureable.
I think the lady is very very brave, I know how difficult it is to talk about it.
Morning, kate from australia on nightshift here.
there are both cultural and personal views on this topic.
In my instance, I reside in a westernised country where our views on death are perhaps not as conservative as possibly presumed. I agree with an earlier caller from india in relation to media morality and ethics, though I also agree that just because something is shown on TV does not mean it must be tuned into.. making our own moral choices is important, and Miss goodie obviously feels that her morals on supporting her children take precedence over her public showing of illness.
It’s only a matter of time for someone to film their death. Reality TV already dives too deep in another one’s life. I think filming one’s death is creepy and uncalled for.
Death comes to us all & Everyone knows it.
Around the globe death happens every seconds & people do not think about it.
Sure Jade is not happy about her death so will nobody in her shoes.
But such broadcast of Jade should really make people realize how much ones life is worth.
It’s not the dying in public that is problematic. That happens all the time. It’s the making of money from it. Yet, don’t people make money from death all the time? reporters do. Photographers do. Suicide murderers’ families sometimes do. Soldiers in battle do. Why is it different for one to make money from one’s own death?
Shall we go the extra mile and say it is inappropriate for anyone to profit from any death? Or else admit there’s nothing wrong with it even if it offends our finer sensibilities?
i really don’t think it’s a good idea, well because it’s something personal/ a private matter that only family and freinds should share. It’s really sad that she has cancer when she is a mother of two, not knowning how her children will grown up and become. she wants to share her wedding day, i think it’s great that the world will be able to see it meaning that she able to overcome her weakness and fight for her special day (but that’s it, she shouldn’t film her last breath for the whole world to see)
Her action is teaching those that are living with cancer that they can live a fulfiled life. It should be seen as doing charity for her children. In Africa, people would promise the children of the deceased every good things of life, but the children would be left on their own thereafter.
In my country we’ve had this trange phenomenon for the past year or two where blogs written by terminally ill people have become extremely popular.
And the closer those bloggers are to dying, the more they suffer and the harder their battle with their disease (usually cancer) the more popular their blogs become.
I’m sure it can be therapeutic and comforting for those dying bloggers to both put their thoughts and feelings into words and recieve support and even admiration from their readers/strangers. I’d imagine it might even give some people an idea of a “purpose” if their death makes the public more aware of a disease, its effect, cure or prevention.
It doesnt bother me that people choose to “die publicly” -people can do whatever they want.
What bothers me is the strange fascination the public has had with these blogs.
It strikes me as if many of those reading the death-blogs are getting a strange kick out of it. Somehow makes me think of the gladiatorial shows of ancient Rome: that people are [perhaps without even realizing it] getting pleasure/relief from seeing someone else die “live”.
And these Icelandic death-blogs usually all end in this strange communal orgasm of emotions and pity, when a relative of the blogger brings the readers the bad news and the readers start “commenting” their condolences ..I find there’s something strangely perverted about it all.
This is the usual celeb culture gone mad. When disease, hunger and war are rife worldwide with no cures for the first two being funded seriously and the last being let rip, the media devotion to one individual’s suffering is warped.
I wonder if Jade would be “dying in public” if she wasn’t getting paid for it. She has a great capacity for job inventing jobs, so much so that I think the government should take her on (while they still have the chance) to create some jobs for the rest of us.
I think this is completely vile and this ‘death parade’ in front of the cameras just sums up how low we have sunk in the West. The media will not hesitate to scrape the bottom of the barrel for a cheap story, and this really is low. The media have used and exploited her in life – now they will pick over her bones in death. It is so disgusting. I hope her death will close this tawdry chapter and that the media will use their powers for something other than cheap titillation.
Hypocrisy! How many of you don’t even know your neighbor or won’t even look down to people sleeping rough. But TV presents a reality with somebody’s misery and suddenly we get a little tear rolling down the cheek. Our world has no values! It wouldn’t surprise me if it was all a fake, or exaggerated to cash in. If you people want to care about something start changing things within your own community where you will find real lifes. And if this woman loved her children so much she shouldn’t have abandoned them in order to become famous in a reality show. It’s all rubbish!
It is a pity that such a young lady like Jade is sensing her death but for me i believe that she can still live and also free from her sickness.
No matter how cruicate it may be but i want to use this column to let her contact me so that i will tell her what to do since there is no way of direct contact to her.
Tell her that she can be cured.