The Wretched Jade

I've tried to avoid reading anything to do with the awful Jade Goody, I really have. It's just so difficult to miss unfortunately. The ghastly woman's name or image peers out from a hundred mainstream websites. I caught a brief story - actually not so brief now I come to think of it - on the BBC News site. My first thought was how ugly she is; my second was that such ugliness reflected her inner soul all too well; my third was whether I should be ashamed for my first two thoughts.

For, of course, this mouthy ignorant woman is dying. Dying of cancer, as a dozen magazines, articles and shows inform us. So surely she deserves sympathy now? Actually no. From the time she hit the public consciousness with her epic display of ignorance on Big Brother, she has never been anything other than repellent. She glories in her ignorance for she knows no better. She rapaciously grasped every opportunity offered her by her new found fame and fortune. Her judgment in choosing boyfriends and fathers of her benighted children is no better than any other aspect of her life. Taking part again on Big Brother she now showcased her ignorance through her racism. She cried when people had a go at her and doesn't understand why racism is so terrible. And now she is dying with the full lack of dignity and grace that she has done everything else in her life. The venal producer of the Living TV documentary of her dying days told us that when confronted with the news that her cancer was terminal Jade did "what anyone would do in the circumstances". She screamed, bawled, broke down and howled about how unfair it was. Actually, this is not everyone's reaction to such news. Many people confront it stoically, heroically, with dignity. This was simply Jade's reaction to the news, and it was entirely in character.

To be a pawn in a ruthless media game might engender some sympathy, although Goody has shown no signs of regret over being in such a position. But the mere fact that she is dying, facing what everyone else on this planet must face at some point - that is not a reason for sympathy to suddenly emerge for such an awful character. In this country alone there are millions of human stories which offer evidence of compassion, inspiration, heroism, pluck, courage and the ability to have a positive impact on those around them. Jade Goody's miserable story offers nothing outside the triumph of a massive, ignorant ego. It would be difficult to say what positive impact her life has had. At bottom, we are perfectly within our rights to ask why such a story has been thrust at us so relentlessly by the malevolent practitioners of the media. We are entitled to question the value system of a media that will take this story even to the grave, with all the feeling of an empty bottle of water. But we do not have to show sympathy for an utterly unsympathetic character.