Anna Nicole Smith is dead. You may already know this, they’ve made mention of it on the news. Typically, dead people are buried. Typically right after they die. Anna Nicole was not typical, in life and especially in death.

While Anna laid on a Floridian gurney with accelerated decomposition, a slew of atypical people who were technically still alive (debatable) were very “concerned” about her decomposing body.

A judge - who was also still alive but whose career is now dead - seemed concerned with everything but Anna Nicole’s body. His main priority seemed to be securing a television deal after he disgraced Anna Nicole’s remains. In watching Judge Larry Seidlin juggle and throw knives, I grew more irritated than most and I’ve since realized why. As much as I hate to admit it, I’ve to come to grips with the fact that I am a fan of Anna Nicole.

I’ve read every almost every slurred word she ever said. I may have glanced at her Playboy spread (for the articles) and I’ve seen all (both) of her movies. I enjoyed her up and down weight gain and I found her attractive even 50 pounds overweight. I was one of four people who actually enjoyed her reality show. I liked her stoned appearances on awards shows and I found her shy son engaging. The fact that I can say all that might make me one of the potential fathers of Dannielynn. More so than some of the others who have thrown their name in the hat anyway.

On the night of her death, I had dinner with some news folks and they were debating if leading with Anna’s Nicole death was the right choice over a deadly car crash. Immediately, I was offended and I almost said Anna Nicole’s death was the biggest story since the death of Princess Diana, but thought otherwise due to my audience. But Anna Nicole was important. Not just because of what was in her bank account or her bra.

Anna Nicole was an ideal. Anna Nicole the human being wasn’t nearly as complex as Anna Nicole the abstraction. Her ideal is now the template for many of LA’s wanna-bees and has-beens. The ideal is being famous for nothing more than being famous.

If a celebrity is struggling, the mantra isn’t to work harder and produce higher quality work. It’s to shave your entire head and scamper over to the tattoo parlor. That is an ideal. Anna Nicole helped sculpt that ideal.

Sure, she made millions, essentially, on the pole and her shortcomings far outweigh her positives but that's what made her interesting. Much like Paris, she was only relevant in her inadequacy. That notion is what makes people like them iconic way past their talent level. Don't get me wrong, Paris was phenomenal in 'House of Wax', but it was nothing compared to her having sex with Tom Sizemore in a porto-potty. The discovery of her case of Valtrex has also led to many a spirited debate. (Usually involving Tom Sizemore.) The most value they can add, conversationally speaking, is to misbehave.

Anna Nicole was a classic example of limited talent finding unlimited success. She created herself. She was self-made right down to her name. Unfortunately, as is often the case, she also killed herself. At 17 she was pregnant by the fry cook. At 27, she was being awarded $450 million. At 39, she was dead. Now, I’m not saying this makes her good or right and it certainly doesn’t make her a role model, but it does make her relevant.

What’s more pathetic than my realization that I’m an actual fan of Anna Nicole is the realization that I just might miss her. I cringed at the footage of an EMT pumping her chest, not because of the vulgarity, but because I feel I knew the person involved and just how flawed she really was. That’s today’s reality culture.

She was finally put to rest on Friday and she can now decompose in peace. Because of the great “work” she did in such films as ‘Skyscraper’ and ‘To The Limit’, her legacy will live on forever. But much like Marilyn, she’ll be more famous in death than she was in life. Regrettably, this is where her importance swells. She will always be a reminder of where that template often takes you. The template is basically a deal with the devil and it always ends badly. How badly it ends often depends on how much money you leave behind. Anna Nicole’s ending was as bad it gets.