The tragic death from cancer of the Scottish comedian Janey Godley at the age of 63 brings to an end to one of the most gruesome periods I have ever witnessed on social media. I have followed Godley for some time, having been an admirer of her work, not least her very funny welcome to Donald Trump when he visited Scotland. The gruesome aspect of the story is the astonishing levels of abuse she attracted, especially following her terminal diagnosis. How can people be so cruel?
“Ah”, I hear you say. “Almost all the abuse came from anonymous trolls. It wasn’t from real people.” And if I switch my brain off, I might say that you have a point. But you don’t.
If the vicious attacks – hoping that her cancer would get worse, that hopefully she would die soon; that kind of thing – were posted by anonymous trolls, think about this. The anonymous trolls are real people and the real people are literally wishing illness and death on someone they don’t know and never will. It is hate on a new level.
Godley’s twitter posts have been exceptionally brave. She has always known how this would end and she has shared her journey in public. In so many ways, it has been a vital public service, sharing her slow death with all of us. And she shared it all the way to the hospice where she died earlier today.
What makes someone behave so unkindly? What pleasure does someone get by baiting a person who is terminally ill? To my knowledge, Janey Godley never hurt any of the people who have been abusing her. What kind of mind thinks this behaviour is normal? A gutless, witless coward, I would imagine. Someone with a sick mind.
Godley engaged with some of these people. On at least occasion, I tweeted that she should ignore these idiots, that they spoke for no one except themselves, that most of us were far more sympathetic and wished her only love. But it must have worked for her, answering back, often with lacerating humour, puncturing the sad, pathetic egos of her haters. We cannot know if she upset her detractors, and maybe they have no feelings at all to upset, but I can imagine a few toys being thrown out of a few prams. How dare she answer me back like that?
Twitter – Elon Musk calls it X, I don’t – has been trashed since it was taken over and is now bulging with hate, of which this is just a small example. Your Donald Trumps, your Stephen Yaxley-Lennons are back to spew their poison and Musk has given the green light to the trolls who tried to upset Janey Godley. The trolls walk among us, ten stone weaklings, virginity intact, NHS spectacles pointed at their laptops, probably becoming sexually aroused by their actions. Pathetic little people. They can’t be happy people if that’s how they get their kicks. Try not to get angry with them. Just feel pity. Imagine just how much they would hate that?
RIP Janey. You made me laugh. And you were right about Trump.
