Jade Goody was a public buffoon - someone who was made us all feel smart by comparison with her, with a small, grudging admiration only for her lack of illusion and her clear-headed determination to make a career as a "celebrity", until early cancer changed her tale from comedy to tragedy.
Looking at the much-exposed wedding photo of her - in black, her hair lost to chemotherapy - kissing her partner Jack Tweedy, I am struck by the simplicity and dignity of her appearance. Astonishingly, she is beautiful.
Is this unexpected beauty any more valid than her earlier public image of buffoonery? After all the dress was doubtless chosen with the help of Max Clifford's finest image consultant, the bold baldness is subtly softened by some perhaps artificial eyelashes and, above all, we cannot look at the picture without knowing the story.
Perhaps I'm stating the obvious, but I'm starting to think that both images are equally superficial and equally valid. I fear we're all ridiculous at some time in our lives, I hope we're all beautiful at others.
Goodbye, Jade.
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