Celebrity Worship and Mental Illness

American culture tends to worship celebrities, as seen in the OJ documentary. OJ becomes god-like to all Americans, transcending even his own race. But how does he do this? I would argue though his own mental illness he is able to be successful at this. He has been referred to as a narcissist and a sociopath by several news articles, although there is unlikely any actual diagnosis to this fact. Even if we do not know for sure if he actually has them, the characteristics which he has of these illnesses are what allowed him to thrive and become such a big celebrity. His charisma and manipulation allowed for people to adore him. His willingness to use people in order to gain power, as the throws black people under the bus by isolating himself from them. He doesn't want to share the power with other black people, he can be the only one with it. This is why he made no attempt to help the black community. This is what white America wants at this time though, so it allows him to thrive. Based on all of this, being a narcissistic sociopath appears to give an advantage to becoming famous and thus worshiped by the American public. America wants these traits in someone they want to idolize, so it allows people like OJ Simpson to become these massive cultural icons.
American culture also seems to support the unhealthy idolization of celebrities, until it becomes a mental illness. People obsess over celebrities until it causes them to have an unhealthy body image. Additionally, there have been associations found "between celebrity worship and narcissism, addiction, stalking behavior, compulsive buying, depression, and anxiety, among other things" (all psych). Clearly, there is a large connection between celebrity culture and mental illness.

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/o-j-simpson-called-narcissistic-sociopath-exactly-164117223.html
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-disorders/narcissistic-personality-disorder.htm
https://www.verywellmind.com/understanding-the-narcissistic-sociopath-4587611
https://blog.allpsych.com/the-dark-side-of-celebrity-worship/