A child, an infant, will spontaneously,in other words unconsciously, look for protection ,identify with a powerful figure; he / she will even tend to be envious.But he/she'll never really experience any feeling of jealousy.
That's for adults only;like certain books and films.What needs to be added is that this applies only and strictly to those adults who have absolutely no self-respect,no sense of dignity.How would one otherwise on be able to covet anything or want to identify with somebody else?
Whereas one can easily, though not so easily, understand the behaviour of a kid who identifies with a football kicking chap,one cannot but laugh at the adult who adopts a similar attitude.
The problem is not so much that most people have never really grown up, but rather that, having remained kids, they want to act as adults.