Ah, the Kardashians. You either love them or hate them, and the world absolutely loves to hate them. Walking towards the cashier in grocery stores, I often pass by chocolate bars and Kim’s booty on display. I must admit, I’ve succumbed to tabloid headlines and shamefully flipped through the magazines in search for the latest gossip, but I’ve never walked out the store with one. Khloe Kardashian’s divorce, little Kylie’s relationship with Tyga, and even baby Mason’s first steps were all documented for all to see, and to be honest, I wonder when it will all stop.
Let’s get to it:
Kim Kardashian was patient zero. In the early noughties, she followed around Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie like a little puppy, and by 2007, her sex tape with artist Ray J had made her a pornstar. While most women will issue numerous apologies and rework their image, Kim did what only Kim would do; create a reality TV show around her dysfunctional family.
The show garnered so much attention that even the previously unknown sisters, Khloe and Kourtney, became overnight celebrities. Soon, they built an empire; sticking their family name wherever they can and reaping the benefits. They seemed untalented, vapid, and have been voted as the dumbest people in the world, but they are far from that. Their talent lies in branding themselves. They are creators; able to turn whatever they touch into gold. These women are street smart and quick on their feet. Even Khloe’s involvement with Peta’s no fur campaign was a clever publicity stunt to show off her new slim physique. They have the media wrapped around their manicured fingers and will continue to control the world with their unsolicited presence.
The Kardashians have groomed their younger step-sisters, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, into marketing themselves the same way. Both teenagers found their sexuality at such a young age that the media treated them like legal adults and not the underaged high schoolers they were. The family had slapped on false lashes, push-up bras, lip injections and stiletto heels on the young Jenners and shoved them into the spotlight. They mingled with the right people and became socialites before they even finished puberty.
By 2015, the Kardashian-Jenner family have made a fortune by promoting themselves. The untalented Kylie Jenner have over 34 million Instagram followers purely by self-trafficking herself for fame. Will she make something out of her life in the future? Perhaps. But it seems like her only skill in life is limited to sexy selfies, and it's only a matter of time before she publishes a book full of it. But who would do that, am I right?
But isn’t talking about them exactly what they want us to do? Isn’t Kylie’s new Ferrari, Kendall’s current flame, Kim’s marriage to Kanye, Kourtney’s children and Khloe’s derriere all part of their scheme to be talked about and thought about? Hating on the Kardashians isn’t edgy, it’s being a part of the system, and it’s infuriating. Even writing this article means I am contributing to the content in the world’s search engine. You can’t run away from them the same way you can’t run away from spam e-mails. It’s always there, and even if you choose to ignore it, sometimes you’ll need to peruse through them in case you missed something important.
There is no telling when the Kardashian-Jenner empire will fall, but it seems that the family won’t stop anytime soon. The father’s transition from Bruce to Caitlyn exploded all over the media and continues to gain momentum with her new reality show.
But why do we want to talk about them so much? Because they keep themselves relevant. When stats are down and news begin to wander off to the Palestinians or the Elgin Marbles, the Kardashians will launch a new line of perfume or accidentally slip a nipple on the red carpet. What's more; the media refuses to stop broadcasting them. Can CNN and FoxNews remove Kardashian stories from their evening news? Of course, but they probably want to appeal to a younger audience; the superficial ones who think fortune cookies are culturally Chinese.
There is no running away from them, and decades into the future, there will be case studies and history lessons about the Kardashian-Jenners. Our future grandchildren will study our strange predilection for artificial news stories and our hive mind mentality. We will be known as the generation that let these 5 plastic women run the media. They will fall under the same category as Cleopatra, Anne Frank, and Harriet Tubman. Do they deserve to even be in the same sentence as those powerful women? Not to me, but it’s an inevitable future that we’re progressing towards with every tweet and every Google search. They have left such an immutable mark that we must live with it for the rest of our lives. I just hope that the world’s obsession with them dies quickly and painlessly, because there is much more to marvel in the world than Kim Kardashian’s belt.
Like i said on your feminism article, why do we keep making stupid people famous? its dangerous nowadays with so much social media power. Its funny how successful people in this day and age, 50 years ago would have been examples of what not to be.
ReplyDeletei find it really sad that both Bruce and Kylie, seem to want to be anybody but themselves.
I agree with this article. It is so sad to know that people would rather update themselves with irrelevant things than be concerned with what is important for the society.
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