Mal Fletcher comments

Recent reports suggest, for example, that Michael Jackson may pull out of more concerts in his forthcoming O2 London commitment, because of his frail physical condition - which is surely a by-product of his bizarre lifestyle.

Michael has chosen his often erratic lifestyle, but it has been encouraged by sections of a gossip-obsessed public because it feeds brilliantly into the come-watch-the-freak-show escapism of celebrity news.

Two years ago, the mysterious death of Anna Nicole Smith and the appearance of a new look Britney Spears, minus her golden locks, offered timely reminders of the vacuous and destructive nature of modern celebrity.

Though authorities ruled out foul play in the death of Ms Smith, it's hard not to see parallels with the untimely end of another blond sex-symbol, Marilyn Monroe.

For her part, it seems that Ms Spears has come through the worst of her own self-destructive phase, but one still can't help feeling she may not have totally dealt with the inner demons that afflict her.

As a society, we should think long and hard about where the culture of celebrity is leading us.

Celebrity is built on novelty. When celebrities see their star beginning to wane, they often turn to shock value to rescue them from obscurity. But when something loses its shock value, something even more alarming has to take its place - and the downward spiral begins.

What may start out as a ploy to gain publicity can all too quickly become a life-threatening bondage.

Celebrity is largely about image, and image can be a dangerous thing.

Julian Lennon, son of John, reportedly said: 'The only thing I ever learned from my dad was how not to be a father.' Image can ruin families. It also warps our sense of who we are. Marilyn Monroe once said, 'I seem to be a whole superstructure without a foundation.'

Celebrity also turns a person's work into their entire meaning for existence - creating a dangerous bias away from inherent self-worth, toward performance-based value.

Unless they're deliberately acting up in some way, all we people know about celebrities is what we see of them when they're functioning in the area of their greatest gift.

We all have special gifts, activities in which we excel. Imagine other people only ever saw you when you were doing that one special thing. They would only see you at your very best.

That may sound attractive, but before long you would begin to feel guilty about the other areas of your life, where you're not so strong. In the areas where we are weak we need the support and understanding of others.