Dead famous

Here in Hong Kong we have had the hilarious Edison Chen saga, in which we have had to face up to the horrible reality that pop stars have sex with each other.  No, really they do - and apparently some of them take drugs.  This is obviously just too shocking for many in Hong Kong, and poor old Gillian Chung had to quit showbusiness for a year because of the hostile public reaction after the naughty photos of her and Mr Chen appeared in inboxes everywhere, and is only now making a very tentative comeback. 

In the UK, meanwhile, tabloid headlines are dominated by Jade Goody, who discovered that "bad" behaviour (on Big Brother) actually makes you more famous and more wealthy.  Her career (if you can call it that) has certainly had its ups and downs, but since she announced that she has terminal cancer the media has become totally obsessed with her.

For the last week or two (at least) the tabloids have been writing about her final days or hours, and OK! magazine has even published a tribute issue.  Which is ever so slightly premature, what with her still being alive and all that. 

The justification for all this is that the money she is earning will go to her two children, but it's hard to avoid the conclusion that having found fame from living her life on TV, she regards it as normal to end her life in the media spotlight, and newspapers are only happy to go along with the story, utterly banal as it all is.  Even the serious papers can join in by condemning their downmarket rivals. 

What's worse?  In Hong Kong way, management companies create celebrities, pre-packaged with a wholesome image that often bears no relation to the truth.  In the UK, reality shows such as Big Brother make ordinary people famous, and the more ghastly they are and the worse their behaviour the more money they can earn.  No need to hide way after a scandal, just milk it for all it's worth.  

Comments

[David]

I think your analysis of HK peoples' reactions to the Edison Chen thing is a bit simplistic TBH. Although I'm sure some people may have been shocked simply by the sex aspect in fact most HK people were quite supportive the other women involved. The reason Gillian Chung got so much stick was precisely because of the hypocrisy aspect. Shortly before the Edison Chen photos came out she had made a huge fuss because of some very innocuous photos that were published; crying on stage, saying how violated she felt, asking every one to rally round and support her and milking it for all it was worth so they weren't very sympathetic later when the Edison Chen thing came along.

[Chris]

I fear that I will have to admit that my posts on this subject are every bit as shallow as the celebrities themselves.

So, yes, the hysterical reaction to the snatched photos of the two so-called Twins backstage in Malaysia seems even more absurd now than it did at the time, and I probably should have mentioned that - but it's all because Gillian Chung had to promote a wholly artifical image of herself as innocent and chaste. I don't suppose it was her idea, so that's why I feel a bit sorry for her.

What struck me was the contrast with Jade Goody, who managed to become a celebrity (of sorts) in the UK simply by being herself. The media circus over the last few weeks was pretty gruesome, and predictably enough her death was described as a "tragedy" after her "battle" with cancer.