MISCELLANEA

JADE GOODY: GOOD LOOKS, BAD WORDS

JADE GOODY: GOOD LOOKS, BAD WORDS



Those who think they are too smart
Are too often too dumb.
They tend to give remarks that
Make intelligence numb.

Calling Indians Pakis
Shows lack of intellect.
These are countries different.
It’s such a well known fact.

Yet this is what was the cause
Of the row now famous,
On British Channel Four show,
That is now infamous.

Jade Goody, the foul-mouthed one
Cornered Shilpa Shetty,
Saying she made her skin crawl
Since she was a Paki.

Goody’s mother called Shilpa
Only “an Indian”.
To her, a British subject,
Shilpa was plebian.

These remarks, with racist tones,
Made Shilpa a hero.
And, the rating of Goody
Plummeted to zero.



* Written in abcb, 7-6-7-6 format.

• REQUEST—While reviewing, please copy and paste the following in your review: This is a review for “entry:482923".
[Please take care to place within { } the words in inverted commas above].

If that is too difficult, just type the name of the poem in your review. This is important because, otherwise, I may never know which poem you have reviewed, since the review will be shown against the book in which this entry appears.

* Written for "Invalid Item" , “News Desk: Contest”

• This contest requireS that the poem be built upon a news item in a newspaper. The above poem was inspired by a three column news item in Times of India, dated 22 January 2007, head-lined “After Jade, show itself faces axe”, which reads:

“London: Shilpa Shetty’s arrival on Big Brother in early January may have been the kiss of death for the seven year old reality TV programme format, which has been immensely successful worldwide. On Monday, the board of Channel 4 will meet to discuss axing the show after the present series ends this week”.

• British TV Channel 4 hosts a highly popular show titled as ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ in which Jade Goody, a near illiterate, so-called british beauty, foul mouthed an Indian fim heroine, a co-contestant, calling her a Paki and saying that she made her skin crawl, and also made other offensive remarks against her with racist overtones. This was objected to by many viewers and the ensuing controversy resulted in Jade Goody being dropped from the show. Details can be viewed at http://bsubra.blogspot.com/.

Some excerpts from this site are given below:

“A few of Shilpa's nine housemates that are accused of racism are Jack Tweede, who called the Bollywood actress "a Paki" while Jade Goody said Shilpa "made her skin crawl." Goody's mother, who was also on the show, refused to call Shetty anything but "the Indian." The mother has now been evicted.

The channel's website has viewers writing in their complaints as well. "I have been watching her ordeal over the last few days with increasing discomfort that has now turned to utter disgust at the blatant displays of ignorance and racism by her fellow housemates," remarked a viewer.

Others have referred to Shilpa's tormentors as the 'terrible trio' of Jade, Jo, Danielle and want them evicted. The producers of Channel 4 say they will take racism seriously and are monitoring all the housemates before taking appropriate measures”.


M C Gupta
22 January 2007