Mourning Jade Goody

Letters From A Tory on Jade Goody's death:

Personally, I won’t miss Jade Goody in the slightest and I see no reason why I should. What happened to her over the past year has been awful and must have been extremely traumatic for her and her family, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten the fact that she ultimately became famous for being incredibly ignorant and stupid and that I always switched channels or closed the newspaper I was reading if I ever came across a story about her because I found her incredibly annoying. Please do not fall into the sycophantic trap that no doubt many journalists will today and over the coming days. If you liked her, fine, if you didn’t like her, fine - just don’t pretend that your opinions of her formed over many, many years have suddenly changed just because she passed away.

I can't really disagree with any of the above, and I think that it is important to keep her death in perspective. Her death is a tragedy - just like any premature death is a tragedy. She was brave in the same way that every other cancer sufferer is brave - they fight for their lives against a terrible illness. And her celebrity status was simply a result of her willingness to leave behind any notions of dignity in her search for fame. She wasn't, as some people claim, talentless - but her talent was simply being able to seek and achieve fame through any means necessary. Even if that meant she was as famous for negative reasons as she was for positive reasons.

Jade Goody's death will be mourned, and quite rightly so. However her passing should be mourned by her family and friends, not by the whole nation.