butter... good or bad?

cooking in the kitchen is showing me that dishes, like a perfume, have different layers of scents and flavours. that subtle one, the one that you can never put your finger on, but know almost innately, is the scent of oil or butter. having cooked a few dishes in my time, butter seems to be a ubiquitous component of every meal. my question, why?

butter is supposed to be bad, right? saturated fats lead to cardio-vascular problems and premature heart attacks.
in the kitchen, butter is the magical ingredient, adding mellow nutty flavours and lots of flavour.

so, which one is it? watching the chefs on tv use it so liberally gives the viewer a sense that a) it's necessary and can't be avoided and b) it's ok.

in cooking at home though, is it? i think that a touch of it nice because it's flavour really is irreplaceable, but 1/2  a stick?!?! do you want to have a heart attack at 22 yrs old!?

on the other hand, my brother in law's family uses butter incessantly and i can say that they are in better health (or so it seems) than any one in my family. so i guess it can't be all that bad? p.s. did i mention the french supermodels and everyone else there????

to become a true chef, does it mean that i have to adopt the insane amounts of butter that are called for in every dish i make? i mean, WHY?!?!?