Oh Goody!

Political correctness and reality television (unless it's The Apprentice) are two things not at all close to my heart, but this week they have joined forces to give me some encouragement about the way the world is going.

The allegations of racist bullying on Celebrity Big Brother have dominated the headlines recently. I haven't watched more than 30 seconds of the show, and so can't give any kind of opinion on whether or not Jade Goody has a genuinely xenophobic dislike of her fellow house-mate Shilpa Shetty, or whether she's just an ignorant twit. Regardless of motives and prejudice, however, I think that the CONSEQUENCES of the whole affair are really quite pleasing. Jade's eviction last night was not attended by a live audience. The media and the public, in large numbers, have turned against her, and she is quite likely to be a taboo subject for the gossip mags and tabloid papers which have previously helped her milk the celebrity band-wagon.

Call me vitriolic or scathing, but this makes me happy. The likes of Jade Goody, Abi Titmuss and James Hewitt have sullied and cheapened the word 'celebrity' to an unbelievable extent. They have become famous either for who they know, or the extent of their ignorance, or the size of their breasts. They have nothing remotely interesting to say, have achieved very little, and are often not very nice people (it seems certain that Shetty HAS been bullied on the programme, whether for racial reasons or not). Jade Goody's fall from grace, and her banishment from the world of C-list fame, may be the beginning of the end for our fame obsessed culture. Hopefully, people will start to realise that these 'celebrities' really have nothing to contribute, and the word itself will actually become meaningful again. And that would be one less thing that's wrong with the world.