In the wake of the catty reality TV starlet's death, People painstakingly ponders "The Jade Goody Effect." The gratuitous use of the word "effect" aside, the gossip bible is actually onto something. In the course of the last several weeks, the staggering amount of attention Goody's highly publicized death not only brought awareness to cancer, but also brought to the forefront the struggles of motherhood and made us actually regard reality TV as a useful device for the first time since Kelly Clarkson won American Idol. Essentially, America's sudden fascination has nothing do with her foibles as a reality TV star, but her victories as an impossibly posthumous survivalist.

It's the rare narcissist whose demise can invoke the involuntary grief -- or at the least, fascination -- among complete strangers the world over. But before you go around despondently musing, "Oh that Jade Goody! Shilling her last gasps to put her boys through college, what a dear," it makes more sense to consider her rise to fame -- which more or less centers on her spats with Bollywood demi-goddess Shilpa Shetty during their time together under the roof of the British Big Brother. Their tiffs over banal things like bouillon cubes concluded with the slinging of a few casually cruel racist slurs. And although Goody's tart-tongued outbursts were reprehensible at the time, they smacked of pragmatism. It stands to reason that the harder she bullied contestants who emerged as fan favorites, the more likely they'd be to leave. Moreover, the twosome became something of a national sensation, even inspiring this this dance remix of their greatest lambastes. The 27-year-old was hardly demure -- and this is probably why it's easiest to like her when she's unable to mouth off to the media.

Ultimately, Shetty won the gold while Goody went on to eat her words and then trade places by starring in the Indian version of the same show. You know, to show recourse for her bigotry. But also because as reviled as she was, even Goody had a solid awareness that she had to be at least a smidgen relatable if people were to remain interested in her. And then she was diagnosed with cervical cancer and had to drop out. Terminal illness softened her. What the world had in a malicious enemy-turned-unlikable protagonist became an international sweetheart. And when she started exploiting her status as "international sweetheart" to no avail, that's when we knew, impending death or no, Goody was still -- thank Big Brother -- malicious as ever.

Then came what we rarely get to enjoy in the vast Hills-ian cultural wasteland of overshares: redemption. Having long ago made amends with Goody, Shetty flew to the UK to offer her final goodbyes. Also helpful in securing her iconic status as eternal cancer vixen: a tribute by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

And now, here we are. Having now set the bar for every attention whore from Spencer Pratt to Julia Allison extraordinarily high, Goody has become something of an unexpected international icon on a scale she probably wouldn't have achieved in life. And the fact that she'll continue to secure her sons' fates long after she's gone while inspiring us to repeat her name in passing for years to come, assures her a high-five from Charles Darwin when they meet at that great big dive in the sky.