On Doctor Who, LoTR and being a sidekick

Recently i've been seeing more and more bloggers and gamers posting about game such as the Doctor and LoTR games. This is nothing new I'm sure, those games aren't new (heck even I own a copy of LoTR merps) but is something thats really only started to nag at me. Like a rot grub making itself cozy in my frontal lobes. So here it is :

Whats the attraction with games where the players aren't the core focus of the campaign narrative?

Surely the players are just second fiddle? Effectively the GM's sidekick in an already unfolding story that the players have no real influence over?

People will give you lots of example of how a GMNPC will derail players feelings of control and worth, so I'm guessing that games that explicitly work on the assumption that players will never be the shining stars suffer from the same problem? I could (and I'm kinda hoping) that I'm wrong, if you're a fan of these games do let me know.

Now lets just get it out there, i've not played any of these games in a loooooong time. I think the last time I played the aforementioned LoTR game was when i was 15, so this post really does come from ignorance and the inability or lack of will to get a game going.

So yeah, whats the deal?