I suppose you couldn't find two women that were poles apart more than Natasha Richardson and Jade Goody. One, was a talented, upper middle class, intelligent actress hailing from a dynasty of extraordinary artists, the other, a battling guttersnipe of a girl who despite her dreadful family actually made something out of herself.
Two women, two mothers and two premature deaths, the only thing that people should be feeling now, is how sad this double tragedy actually is and for once I think that Fleet Street and the media has realised that this is the way to go.
Celebrating the life of Natasha Richardson is easy, being more balanced about Jade is a harder task to complete, especially as the tabloid press is totally responsible for her "car crash" relationship with celebrity.
I have seen too many people die prematurely at my place of work, the sadness of losing someone that is loved and cherished is terrible to witness, it was obvious that Jade was loved by her family and friends just as much as Natasha was. Perhaps the realisation of this fact, may mean that some of Fleet Street may hang their heads in a brief show of shame as they may reflect upon how a bright girl from the wrong side of the tracks was given too much press
Guttersnipe is a fascinating word, and you would be pleased (I think) to read that its origins are actually in the US - New York city to be precise. Earliest reference in the OED appears to be from 1857, although I did a little further research elsewhere and found the original reference to be from a year earlier, in a book entitled The History and Records of the Elephant Club (Thomson and Underhill, 1856), wherein the “gutter-snipe” is introduced as:
ReplyDelete...lank, lean, and sallow. His clothes were quite dilapidated, his beard and hair long. A. Smile on his face seemed to indicate his entire satisfaction with himself. He was a marked character..."He belongs to a class of beings in New York, a few specimens of which are familiar to those who frequent the principal thorough-fares, and are known by the ornithological appellation of 'gutter-snipes' "
The word appears to have made the transatlantic jump back to Britain around the turn of the century.
Fascinating stuff.
I just knew you would drop me a post about this one!!!
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