I think there are several reasons why people are so interested in celebrities. Sure some part of it may be jealous--celebrities are rich, usually quite attractive, and often talented, though sometimes the talent is medicre but the will to be famous and the luck are strong. It's not strange that many people covet that. But it's not all jealousy.

We feel like we know them.

I'm not hugely star-struck. I just tend to think of people as people--the president isn't particularly higher in my esteem than a hard working nurse, famous actors get insane amounts of money, but they're people doing a job, more entertaining but less important than, say, garbage men. But even I have my favorites. As a kid, I watched Remington Steele religiously until they moved it from Fridays nights (when I could stay up a little later) to Sunday nights (then it was on past my bed time). I had a crush on Pierce Brosnan before I knew what men and women did with each other. I still, 20 something years later, remember the episode with his then wife, Cassie. And when she died, I mourned "with" him. I felt like I knew them somehow.

Most people love a good story.

There was a behavioural show on recently--I watch so many that I'm not sure which it was...some version of Dateline or 20/20. So they sent actors into restaurants to have loud cell phone conversations. While show was not at all about gossip, it was interesting how everyone, young and old, male and female, got deeply caught up with the female actress's drama. Sure, at the start they wished she would pipe down and let them have their meals in peace, but very quickly, they all got caught up with watching the situation unfold.

It's that much more interesting when the stories are about people we see all the time on TV or in movies. It has the thrill of being about someone familiar, but it doesn't seem mean because it's not like they're friends and you're talking behind their backs.

People can't help to stare at a bad accident.

At *least* half of the time, it's not the car wreck that fouls up traffic for miles, it's the rubbernecking. We know we should move quickly along, maybe offer up a quick prayer that everyone's okay if we hold such beliefs. But we look, too. And Hollywood divorces? They're a wreck. Hollywood substance abuse? A wreck with a few spill. "Young Hollywood's" ability to be priveleged and yet insist on living their lives like they're empty and can only be filled with alcohol and stupid behavior? A ten car pile-up with a massive fuel spill and someone chain smoking nearby. You hope everything will be OK, but you don't want to miss the explosion that's going to happen if someone doesn't do something.

I think that those things are most of it, but I also think that there's a little bit of entitlement. Some actors, musicians, and athletes do all they can to avoid the spotlight. But many, or even most of them didn't get into their chosen field just to display their talent. They wanted to be rich and famous. We gave that to them with our fandom. We bought the tickets, we attracted the advertisers, that amassed the millions and made them public figures. So maybe we feel a little entitled to whatever tidbits the media leaches--er, I mean entertainment reporters--bring us.