(( A Dead Certainty ))

There are two definite things in this life. Being taxed and death. Sadly there is little we can do about either, however much we try to run from it or escape it, there is no way of outrunning it and one day it will catch up with us. Growing up and getting old is supposed to be a thing to be savoured, but there are actually very few benefits from getting older.  I suppose wisdom is the only true reward for waiting around to grow old and grey. Sadly for some, even that eludes them.

My next lesson is all about the subject of death, which may seem like a strange subject to make an English lesson about.  But of course this is just as relevant a subject as friendship, saying sorry, and all the other various topics which have been covered by me in my previous forty seven lessons.

Apparently one of the best ways to be successful and stay famous for a long time is to die young. When we look at all the well-known people who've passed away at a relatively young age such as, Buddy Holly, James Dean, Heath Ledger, John Lennon, Marylin Monroe, and Freddie Mercury, we realise that dying young has much more of an impact than just getting old and wrinkled and eventually falling off the twig. An artist who was pretty much ignored while living, will never know how valuable their work really is because they will have to die for its true worth to be realised. 

If you are really lucky, then you can gain extra fame as you are dying, which is happening right now here in the UK with a young lady called Jade Goody, who became a celebrity overnight after appearing in a 'reality' TV show. Now she is dying of Cancer and the media frenzy surrounding her final days has been tremendous to the point of almost being voyeuristic. Magazines are paying very large sums of money for her last stories and photos and her publicist has obviously been milking every turning point of this tragedy for all it's worth. But the real twist in this story comes about when we consider that the media had virtually written her off as a stupid ignorant slob, after various quotes from her and a famous racist comment she made during another 'reality TV' moment became headline news. How ironic that the very same newspapers journalists that were abusing her and tearing her apart are the very same ones who are now using words such as 'courageous' and 'brave' in their daily front page blurb. Some of them have even set up message boards on their own websites, from where readers can post words of encouragement. 

I want to say that this is the first time I've ever seen a situation like this, but sadly the media and especially the newspapers have a habit of changing their views, normally according to the amount of copies of their rag they can sell from spouting it. I suppose nobody loses here. The readers get their fix of titillation for the day, the newspapers sell lots of copies because of the need for it and the bereaved children are given a relatively secure financial future. Even Jade herself gets what she always wanted; guaranteed celebrity status which will not fade anytime soon for the very soon-to-be-deceased 27 year old.

Lesson 48 - (Death)   

Will be on my channel this weekend.  (21st March)

(Misterduncan)......................................................................................................