ABSTRACT
This chapter provides some reflection on the thorny issue in trying to extrapolate a phenomenon that is perhaps best described as co-created by numerous forces of interconnectivity, only some of them describable in psychoanalytic terms. It explores voting themes from a number of psychoanalytic, group-analytic, and socio-analytic perspectives. The chapter explains the symbolic aspect of these dimensions of living in order to see what they might represent unconsciously. It describes the meaning and use of the terms "celebrity" and "celebrating" and argues that these are opposite extremes of ordinary self-esteem are dramatized across the dividing boundary of shame. In relation to the group of fans who worship a celebrity, the body of the celebrity represents the embodiment of the group, held together by their skin. The positive role of celebrities and stars supporting humane social movements is traced and explored in Stephen Huddart's paper from Canada.
