The Cult Of Celebrity

Every day, we are privy to new and ever more lurid details of Michael Jackson's strange lifestyle. We always knew he lived in a fairy tale world where he honestly believed that he was white and mainstream and emotionally healthy. Whether his peccadillos were as innocent as he maintains is for the jury to decide but regardless of whether he is guilty as accused, his behavior certainly never even remotely exhibited any level of maturity or the ability to make rational decisions beyond the "I want it now" level of a young child. And yet, daily, his "fans" turn out to support him, even fainting in the courtroom, overwhelmed by the stress of their idol under siege. What is it about fame and celebrity that so grips us? Do we have no real life of our own? We live vicariously through our hero's existence and eradicate our own individuality to become simply a follower/ Would the trial of a no-name alleged child molester pack a courtroom? Of course not. The Jackson trial is important, and constantly reported, because of a famous name. Too many of us confuse the fame that outwardly attached to rock stars, movie stars, royalty stars, sport stars, and political stars, with the inner character of the individual who bears the name. We see the fa