I don’t know if it’s just me being too sensitive or whether I really do have a point with what I’m about to talk about. That’s why I kind of wanted to put this out there to see what other people think.
I’m a bit of a sucker when it comes to the soaps on TV. Not all of them, I don’t have time for all of them, but I’m not afraid to admit that both Eastenders and Coronation Street are on series link on the Sky box. Judge me all you want. I love them.
Anyone who is anyone will know that Corrie (we’ll call it Corrie because yes I’m lazy and it’s easier to keep typing!) has been in the news big time this week due to the character, Hayley Cropper’s storyline. I’ve been watching this storyline since it began, and each week as it progressed I could feel the lump in my throat getting bigger and bigger.
For those who really have been living with their heads in the clouds, or aren’t as sucked in by these things as me, Hayley was diagnosed with terminal cancer and was given months and then later in the storyline, just weeks to live. Hayley decided she didn’t want to wait to waste away and wanted to die with dignity and to make the choice herself as to when that time would be. The story focused on Hayley and Roy her partner as a couple and how he too would handle her decisions and the choices she made.
Well last night was the episode I have been dreading. Last night Hayley had said her goodbyes and took a concoction of drugs that helped her slip away peacefully with her beloved Roy by her side. Oh my days was it emotional. I have no shame in admitting that I was in floods of tears watching and was very much affected by the storyline. I couldn’t stop thinking about it even after it had finished. Hats off to the writers of the show as I’m pretty sure that is what they set out to do when they come up with the story.
There’s been a great deal of discussion in the press and on the television following this, about whether this storyline will encourage people with a terminal illness in ‘real life’ to want to do the same. I’m not here to discuss that, but I will make one point, if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness, I’m sure a great deal of things go through your mind as you come to term with the news, and I’m sure that of ending your life in the way you want to will be one of those things. I don’t think a soap opera will make the slightest bit of difference.
Anyway, the point behind this blog actually has nothing to do with the storyline as such. Or the reasons behind it. The point of this blog was for me to work out whether I’m being too sensitive or if I am in fact, in the world of social media, surrounding myself with some cruel, sick and insensitive individuals.
The majority of people that I am friends with on Facebook and follow on Twitter, all felt as I did last night. Emotionally involved in the storyline and feeling quite sad at the end. There were however, and I’ll admit it was the minority, but even so, quite a few people who found it necessary to make jokes, actually, lets change that to SICK jokes, about what they had viewed. I was totally and utterly sickened by what I saw and read and it just left me dumbfounded and speechless.
Now there will be people out there who will accuse me of having no sense of humour and tell me I should probably lighten up. But I can assure you that I really DO have a sense of humour and I am very laid back. I just don’t find death very funny or amusing. Because, it’s not, is it?
Death, whether it’s on the TV in a soap opera or in ‘real life’, is very much that. Real. And it happens every single day. There are people out there right now as I write this and as you read it that have just had devastating news that they have lost someone and they will never ever see them again. Their lives have changed forever and the grief that they will feel will be beyond painful.
How can anyone joke about such a thing? Please, tell me.
“Oh but it’s a soap we’re joking about, not real life!” I’ve no doubt that that is the answer I will get to that question. But my point is this. TV has the ability to get us right in the heart. To take us back to the moment. To bring back all kinds of memories. So chances are if you have ever lost anyone, watching something like this will be painful and upsetting and it will take you back there in a second.
So, no. I don’t want to read a joke about it thank you. Why would I?
Maybe it’s me. I don’t know. But I do think there are people out there who need to sit back and have a think before they publish their ‘jokes’ for all to read. It might be funny for you but it may be utterly heartbreaking for some.