Actually jacqui, one need not be an artist to garner the level of attention of a Britney Spears. A good example is Paris Hilton, who of course bought her way into celebrity with the family fortune. JFK Jr. is another example. Other former presidents kids didn't rise to the level of celebrity that he did--even his sister didn't. And look at the way the American public became obsessed with his death.

Now, there wasn't any public funeral (just that abomination of a "public memorial service" that was done in NY without the approval or participation of the family) for JFK Jr that can be equated to the Princess Di debacle. But the fascination was there nonetheless.

If you look back up to the top of the thread (maybe I should cut and paste it down here again, so people actually know what I'm talking about) I am referring to an actual psychological profile of people who get involved in celebrity worship to varying degrees.

I don't really register on the scale at all, though I have a sister that registers on the "entertainment/social" level, except she doesn't really have family or friends who she visits around with about it the way many people do. She has something this psychological profile doesn't have on it, which is a natural curiousity about certain famous people.

For instance, after she retired, her & her husband were travelling the south & southeast in their motorhome, and she started hitting all the presidential libraries, the Vanderbilt place in NC, that sort of thing. They also went to a launch at the Cape in Fla. She likes to be part of historic things. The celebrity stuff, for her, is really just a time waster/relaxation thing more than anything else.

She is also a very outgoing, people oriented person. She likes to find people she admires, not has prurient interests in if that makes any sense. In other words, stuff like the Britney/Anna Nicole Smith stuff doesn't really interest her. But she loves to read about the actors and musicians she likes.

That stuff isn't really celebrity worship, IMO. So perhaps that is the reason it isn't included in the profile in the opening post to the thread? I dunno.

We do have certain fascinations with famous people that is perfectly legitimate, hence the popularity of biographies on TV, in books, in magazines, etc. We need to learn what makes one another tick.

But that isn't the phenomenon people are observing with Obama. This is like monster religious revival stuff--this is crowds like the evangelizers like Billy Graham get.

And that deeply disturbs many of us who have had very serious issues with the "Christian Evangelical White House" of the Bush years.