America’s Jade Goody
As you may recall, earlier this year I followed the decline and death of British reality star Jade Goody religiously, fascinated at her emotional exhibitionism at allowing the most vulnerable and painful time of her life to be captured by the cameras. When the cancer eventually extinguished her life, I was sad but also disappointed that I couldn’t take part in her journey any longer.
Enter Farrah Fawcett. I have never really held much opinion one way or the other for Farrah, except I thought she was a bit of a wack-job based on that Letterman interview from a few years back. However, when I heard that she had been having a friend film her battle with terminal cancer and that the documentary was set to be shown, I was immediately captivated. The documentary ran the other night and if you missed it, as I did, you can watch it online (link below). I can say that, having watched it, I now have a very high opinion of her and I also am genuinely saddened at her plight. The documentary shows her undergoing unanesthetized procedures that I only hope I never have to endure, and handling them with strength. She keeps fighting long after I would have tossed in the towel, and she seems incredibly well-grounded for a celebrity.
There is something so moving and fascinating about joining along in someone else’s journey from life to death, and wondering how you would cope if the same situation were to happen to you. Far from being exploitative, I think taking part in such journeys make us better people by reminding us of the short flicker of time that we have here on earth, and prodding us to make better use of it while we’re here. I am always grateful for people like Jade and Farrah for allowing us to join them on that very difficult journey. Since yesterday would have been my mother’s 80th birthday, had cancer that metastasized to her liver not claimed her life 5 1/2 years ago, there was a special sting in watching Farrah’s liver scans provide grim news about her survival prospects. Cancer is, indeed, a formidable foe.
If you haven’t watched the documentary, you can view it online here:
Farrah’s Story
You should DEFINITELY try and get ahold of a copy of the PBS documentary “A Lion in the House”. It follows several children and their families as they struggle with cancer, treatment, and ultimatley for some, death. It is compassionate, engaging, beautiful, and heart wrenching. Its one of the most amazing things I have ever watched and it made me value life in ways I never thought possible. Please watch it!