How to Die a Hero: Become a Celebrity.

Well, this year seems to be pretty bad for the celebrity world. Why you ask? Well, they're all dying!

We've had the deaths of Jade Goody, David Carradine, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson and now, the Boyzone singer Stephen Gately.

Who?

You know, Stephen Gately, the gay one. Ok, that doesn't narrow it down... erm, the openly gay one.
The truth is, the world of the famous has been rocked by many deaths this year. I know this because I went onto Wikipedia and typed 'Celebrity Deaths 2009' and then realised the list was too massive to put up here and I didn't know half of them. Ok, so I'm not up to scratch on celebrities but the reason I mention the people above is because they are the figures the public were most familiar with... well, maybe not Mr. Gately but he gets a special mention as he died in the last few days.

But the thing that annoys me the most about celebrity deaths is the fact that they always die as heroes, as people who should be remembered in a fond light. Their flaws, however serious, are instantly fogotten. I believe that to truly respect and remember a person you have to remember them for their bad side as well as their good. To brush aside their questionable acts and instead focus upon how 'inspirational' they were makes the whole deal farcical.

Ok, you know what I'm getting at here. Michael Jackson. Remembered as the black boy that grew into a white lady and became an 'inspiration' (there's that word again) to a new generation of musicians and a fond public figure. It is now taboo to mention the fact that, in all honesty, he was probably a pedophile. If a man believes himself to be a 'child' it does not make him less of a pedophile in much the same way a man who might believe to be a 'porn star' is no less of a rapist. People can make all these bullshit psycho-examinations of his character to excuse why he acted as he did, but it doesn't change what happened. He won the court case -- in many people's opinion -- due to the amount of money he was giving to the families who accused him of touching their kids. They were greedy and took the money and he got off scot free... and now he dies a hero.

I'm sure Michael Jackson did a lot of good in his life, but we should also remember the bad. It's a lesson celebrities should learn and then maybe, just maybe, they would think twice before acting out of line. Most famous people know that they can do what they want and they will still probably die a hero.

Another prime example is Jade Goody. For those of you who don't know anything about Jade I will explain. She was a plump lady who entered the UK Big Brother house, and lost, but managed to make it in the celebrity world because many of the UK's population could relate to her (that is actually quite depressing). So, she became someone who developed her own brand and worked very hard to make it in the celebrity world and that is commendable. But despite having her own brand and a work out video and a perfume line she actually wasn't in the public eye all that much. I think people actually forgot what she was like as a person and that went in her favour. As long as she didn't do interviews she was safe and sound and people would still love her.

Then she went back into the Big Brother house and we were all reminded what she was like as a person and forgot her brand image. We were reminded that she was in fact a common bully and a fairly big racist. She was hated and was trying desperately to get back into the good books of the public. Then, she developed cancer. And, regrettably she died. Suddenly, all her misdeeds were forgotten and she was a hero; an 'inspiration' to the public.

David Carradine didn't lead an entirely innocent life and his method of death was questionable but at least the media didn't blow his funeral out of proportion like the Michael Jackson and Jade Goody farce. Farrah Fawcett is perhaps the only one of the celebrities I've mentioned who actually deserves praise. Unfortunately the poor lady had the bad fortune of dying the same time as Michael Jackson who appears to have won the popularity contest.

Why, why, do we not give these people modest funerals and remember them for who they were -- warts and all -- instead of pretending they were saviours and heroes? In my opinion, it would be a far more respectful way to remember them.

I wonder: when Gary Glitter dies, will we remember him as the popular singer (even 'inspirational') or as the filthly pedophile? Time will tell.