ABSTRACT
H ere's a story of a real person! who -once upon a time - believed this mythand, as a result, did not live very happily ever after. [Marthal 19-year-old female student]
Here's a different true story:
Although you might not confuse actors and actresses with their roles, many men and women are less than satisfied with their real-life romantic partners who aren't like their idealized images of celebrities they think they know personally. For example, after the 2001 Academy Awards®, I was amazed to hear a Julia Roberts fan inanely gush about how "real" Julia was in her somewhat unorthodox acceptance speech - as if this fan knew the "real" Julia. Of course, "fan" is short for "fanatic" - but it's still ridiculous that millions of people who have never met their celebrity icons nevertheless
irrationally believe that they are intimately acquainted. McLuhan predicted that as the world became a smaller and smaller global vil-
lage, we'd be more and more interested in the personal lives of our "neighbors" - even though it was none of our business. And today the tabloids and fanzines and "E"-type channels and talk shows literally extend our eyes and ears (and noses!) into the private lives of the only too human men and women - and now even children who become national idols, like Britney Spears and Leonardo di Caprio - whom we've elevated to the status of modern-day heroes and heroines to lead our culture like the half-god characters of ancient myth.
