Reality TV

My heart goes out to Reality TV celebrity Jade Goody. I am not a great fan of reality Tv shows but her plight which is being played out in public as she battles terminal cancer is very moving.
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She had a dream she craved for. When chance gave her that opportunity to live the life she had longed for, her world seemed perfect. Being a celebrity had become an obsession. She was not the brightest button in the tin. She achieved her wished for dream & her life style seemed perfect to her. She was still the same person inside but in a different place. She was loved by the press & the public. Her star burned bright but as that star began to wane & her limited talents became exposed, the very people who had built her up set her up to fail. Through her own innocence, life experiences & insecurities, some perhaps cruelly described as short sited ignorance she never saw the fall coming. There is no excuse for prejudice but in my humble opinion the race row that caused her dreams to be shattered was possibly due more to simple class envy than a deep routed racist outlook. How many of us really know the truth about her or even cared. We if we were interested at all could only go by media coverage, the very same media coverage that made & broke her. After the race row it appeared open season on her in the media, as crude cruel remarks rained down on her. The dream career/life she had built on paper thin foundations evaporated over night. She had probably felt like her world had ended. She appeared to have only lived for a life of celebrity on TV. Her previous employers/puppet masters had used & abused her. Finally condemning her to what she thought was oblivion.
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As fate cruelly gave her the hardest lesson of all when she was struck down with cancer, her fickle friend celebrity returned, with all the trimmings. I cannot imagine what the poor love has been through. Suddenly all those disgusting jokes at her expense left a very nasty taste. She had been a very easy target. Now she will always be remembered, her life as a celebrity assured but not for the reasons she had dreamed for. Her every anguish is recorded by the hungry media pack for society to dissect, as if they actually care. She is understandably scared like we all would be when faced with our impending mortality. For one so young it is a tragedy. She has no choice but to face up to the news her cancer is now terminal. She is a simple human being like any one of us, who now has to become courageous. A Mum with children, who feels her best way to provide for her loved ones is to allow the camera’s to intrude on the most private & personal aspects of her remaining days on earth. I was very moved by recent television footage but at the same time I felt very uncomfortable. The frustration & grief at their plight etched upon their faces was both haunting & humbling. The scenes as her mother tried to comfort her as her hair fell out, the tears they must have shared & the poignancy of a door being closed on the prying eyes of the camera. No one deserves this fate.
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In many ways perhaps you only find out how strong you are when you are at your weakest. It would be insensitive & totally wrong of me to compare my condition. My use of the word "tragic" in the title of my last blog post now seems totally inappropriate & full of self pity. There is no real comparison with her situation but with recent events in my life I cannot help but think of the saying “Be careful what you wish for!”
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My dear friend who has MS has had to wait until yesterday morning to find out if her breast cancer has been caught in time. Her news today was wonderful. They have caught her in time before the cancer spread. She was out walking her doggy again this morning along the freezing river bank. She really is a star, a truly inspirational friend ,with her determination in such adversity & an amazing positive outlook on life. My thoughts & prayers are with any person & family trying to come to terms with cancer.

Love
Debbie