Right, Wrong and All Points In Between

You know, I always thought that as I got older, everything would become clearer. I naively believed that as I became more experienced and worldly wise, all those grey areas would recede and difficult moral dilemmas would become easier to deal with as I developed a clearer-cut sense of right and wrong. Of course, it hasn't turned out that way at all. If anything, everything seems far less clear to me than it did ten years ago. Things I used to think I was certain about I now have severe doubts over. As for my moral compass - it's obviously spent too long sitting next to a magnet. I haven't a clue which way is true North any more. Take the most recently posted story over at The Sleaze - Celebrity Death Watch - for instance. Now, you might think that I could feel smug about the fact that I'd written a satire inspired by Jade Goody's terminal illness which took the moral high ground, in that it avoided mocking her, instead focusing upon the exploitation for profit and circulation by the media of her plight. But then I got to thinking - wasn't I just as guilty of exploiting her death as the mass media? After all, I was reaping the benefit of lots of extra traffic thanks to her demise, which had made my story instantly topical?

My obvious defence would be that as The Sleaze is a non-commercial site and carries no advertising, I'm not actually gaining any financial benefit from this. But doesn't that make it worse, in a way? Doesn't that make me guilty of using another human being's death merely as a means of stroking my ego? What a bastard! But at least I had the decency to wait until she was dead before I published my Jade Goody-related story (unlike certain other self-styled 'satire' sites), some might point out. At least that shows some degree of respect and sensitivity, doesn't it? Not really, no. The fact is that the story was going to be published yesterday regardless. It was pure coincidence that she died on the Sunday morning and I was only able to complete and post the story by the evening. During the intervening period the story was edited, but nothing was altered as a result of Jade Goody's death. Once again, nothing is quite as clear cut as it might appear at first glance.