SINCE ritzy hotels are used to accommodating the whims of celebrities, a call requesting a red carpet for the singer Mariah Carey should have been run-of-the-mill. A star is a star and so even the mundane act of checking in to a Knightsbridge hotel ought to be a glittering event. The only problem was that when the Baglioni Hotel received the call this week, it was 11pm. When her aides arrived at 2am, they explained that Carey is always greeted with a red carpet, lined with white candles. Staff were dispatched to search for the precious goods and Carey alighted at 2.15am. Perfect.

When, a few days later, she arrived at an awards ceremony an hour-and-a-half late, on account of a broken fingernail, and would only eat lunch under the watchful gaze of two bodyguards, cynics cried: “Too much!” Is this the caprice of a pampered diva, or the sign of something much darker? Could it be that the accessories of celebrity are little more than a cover here for the grim realities of an obsession? A red carpet signals status but also acts as a barrier against that great horror: a dirty pavement.

Obsessive symptoms often involve entrances and thresholds. The ancients put amulets and protective signs above doorways to ward off evil. And today, many people have discreet little rituals around thresholds. They have to enter with one foot first or not pass through it an odd number of times during the course of a day. Such rituals are more common than you might suspect. So why this attention to entrances? They are boundary points, barriers where our own space begins or ends. And this privileged position means they have to be protected. But from what?

Like other obsessions, the key is to avoid contact with danger. This could take the form of the germs on a dirty pavement, or the thought of harm befalling a loved one. If you touch the pavement, you will be contaminated. If you pass through the door the wrong way, a loved one will die in an accident.

But where on earth do these fears come from? Could they actually be disguised wishes? Perhaps the terrible fear of harm coming to those we love veils a desire to hurt them. Or the fear of being dirty might conceal thinking unclean thoughts. Since these thoughts are so disturbing, we split them from consciousness and they become obsessions.

Beyond fear is desire. But this is a desire we need to be protected from rather than fulfil. Obsessions ward off these desires. Take away the red carpet and one risks a lot more than losing the props of stardom. It might mean a real internal catastrophe for the person concerned. If the staff at the Baglioni were worn out by their late-night duties, keeping anxiety at bay must be an even more exhausting process for Carey herself.







Darian Leader is a psychoanalyst and author

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