Hey, I watched Joe Millionaire, I'm no reality TV snob, but crushing medical diagnoses? Is this entertainment? Millions of viewers will get to decide that for themselves when they watch British reality star Jade Goody find out she has cancer on the Indian version of the show Big Brother (called Bigg Boss.)
The 27-year-old star received the diagnosis that she had cervical cancer from her doctor and broke the news to her housemates, in tears of course, all on camera. Goody immediately quit the show but the event had already been caught on tape. She's since given her consent to have the footage shown, but is there a line?
While we certainly follow the health concerns of celebrities, at least with stories like Christina Applegate, she carefully chose how to break the news and certainly wasn't filmed at the time of finding out. Should reality TV be a free-for-all, as long as the participant agrees — or should we start policing what we deem entertainment with the long arm of the remote?
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