So, if you’ve been taking a break from Twitter, you may have missed the backlash of #myozobituary.
Colleen McCullough, a celebrated doctor in addition to being one of Australia’s most respected authors, passed away recently. Her book, The Thorn Birds was turned into a TV mini-series that was popular in the early 1980’s.
I’ve always felt that obituaries should be held sacred, and since they are, for obvious reasons, a person’s last hurrah, newspapers should be careful to get them right, and make an effort to be as respectful as possible.
Alas, here’s what Australia’s major newspaper, The Australian had to say:
““Plain of feature, and certainly overweight, she was, nevertheless a woman of wit and warmth. In one interview, she said: ‘I’ve never been into clothes or figure and the interesting thing is I never had any trouble attracting men.’”
– The Australian
Hmmm. Well, I mean, had the woman never even written a word, she still would have had a lot to be congratulated on when it came to her contributions to the Australian medical community. But on top of that, she was a writer, and her work was enjoyed by many.
So, it is pretty sad that a newspaper would start an obituary with a line that, if you break it down, basically reads, “It’s amazing that this fat ugly woman found a way to be happy. Because, you know, she was fat and ugly, and fat ugly people shouldn’t be happy.”
I can’t remember who it was, but one twitter user it put it best, by saying something like, “At least it was better than the paper’s rough draft, “Fattyfatfat book lady dies.”
Sigh. The world is becoming a sad, looks-obsessed world, isn’t it? To paraphrase another twitterer, “Thank God Abraham Lincoln was born before television.”
Bookshelf Battle 
It is shameful. Thank you for bringing attention to the quote and the particularly fascinating Twitter comments
Thanks. I wasn’t sure what to make of the Twitter comments. I was a little worried maybe they just make a joke about her death, but ultimately, they’re meant to point out the stupidity of the paper.
Exactly. I understood what you meant. I believe others will to
I don’t know what the hell the writer was thinking. I would NEVER in my wildest dreams think of phrasing an obituary like that. Like, “Oh, this fat ugly woman was still able to attract men and THAT WAS HER MOST NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT, TO FIND LOVE AS A FAT WOMAN.” The writer should be fired (if that was his/her job) and feel very bad.
I read somewhere the paper is claiming that the obituary was written years ago by a writer who has since passed. Not sure if I buy that, and even so, they had a duty to check it over anyway.
The sad part is, after the “plain of feature” comment by the paper, they do give a quote from McCullough about her looks, which I assume means at one point in her life, she must have given an interview where she discussed looks, persevering despite society’s unfair perceptions of what a successful person looks like, etc. And good for her for doing that, people get put down and cast aside all the time because they aren’t quote unquote “good looking.” But her obituary wasn’t the place to be talking about her looks. Lead off with her being a doctor, or a novelist, or how she had two great careers while many people never have one. Obits are suppose to paint the deceased in the best possible light, and looks shouldn’t enter into it.