Are You Guilty of Consuming ‘Death Porn’?

The tragic stories of Natasha Richardson and Jade Goody have been big news on Babble, as well as the rest of the world’s media this week. Trying to keep on top of the latest updates on the womens’ conditions (Richardson has passed away, Goody is still clinging to life) has proved emotionally exhausting for me this week, although I don’t even know them.

This thirst for detail on the grim lives and deaths of virtual strangers has been dubbed ‘death porn‘ by opinion columnist Michelle Cazzulino at The Daily Telegraph. She writes:

In recent times, death porn seems to have become something of an obsession – from fatal falls to final farewells, our thirst for detail is such that we’re permanently verging on dehydration.

Richardson’s demise is a case in point. Before this week, most would have been hard-pressed to cite three of the films she had appeared in but her last 48 hours were documented in dramatic detail.

Cazzulino calls this obsession with tragedy and sadness ‘titillating’ but I’m not sure I agree. Yes, the onslaught of stories can be overwhelming – and here at Babble Australia we don’t even publish everything our U.S counterparts do when it comes to grim ‘updates’.

But as parents and parents-to-be, I feel that the Babble community reads and comments on these stories because they mean something to us. How do you say goodbye to your children when you know your end is near? How can we protect ourselves and our kids from accident and injury? How do parents and children move on after the loss of a loved one? These are not subjects easily discussed in real life. Death is a taboo.

I think, by following these stories, we are trying to come to grips with the big giant mess of life, and celebrity lives serve as parables.

We will continue to follow celebrity stories like these as compassionately as possible, and would love to hear your feedback when and if we ever overstep the mark.