I just really love this week’s Life & Style cover! I think it illustrates this post well.
Personally, I’m kind of over hating on the Kardashians. Are they everywhere? Yes. Do they do anything important? Nope. Are they just gossip filler until someone more important does something? Yep. And for that, I kind of thank them. I enjoy bitching about Kim Kardashian’s fug style and Khloe’s Pinocchio Butt. I barely cover Kourtney and Bedhead usually covers Socky and the Jenner girls. It works out well during the gossip lulls when genuine celebrities aren’t doing much. But Rolling Stone writer Rob Sheffield wrote an essay called “The Kardashians: The Egos That Ate America” and I guess it’s supposed to be some kind of think-piece blasting everything the Kardashians stand for in our society (gossip filler? Pinocchio Butts? Catfaces?). Here you go:
The Kardashians are about to celebrate the seventh anniversary of their astoundingly durable reality-TV juggernaut. Keeping Up With the Kardashians has spent an entire season building up to the blockbuster Kim & Kanye wedding special – just weeks before the debut of Kourtney and Khloé Take the Hamptons. (You thought there was any as-yet-untaken-by-Kardashians turf? Not on American soil.) There isn’t another story in the annals of reality TV comparable to this one. So many empires have come and gone in the Kardashian era: The Hills, Jersey Shore, The Real Housewives of Wherever. All those people, all those lives – where are they now? But the Kardashians are right here, where they’ve always been. Which is freaking everywhere.
The Kardashians are the last ladies standing in reality TV because they’ve simply always believed they were celebrities – endlessly amused with themselves, endlessly oblivious to one another. Their vanity is impervious to the outside world, which is how many of us often wish our own personal vanity worked. Their gargantuan egos, their petty jealousies, their catty feuds, the effort-vs.-eye-roll they put into reciting their lines, their commitment to frivolity at all costs – these are seductive qualities in a reality-TV star, however repugnant they might be in real life. Whatever it is you watch reality TV for, the Kardashians just have a lot more of it.
Occasionally, the sisters will meet and mate with a human male who will regard them with curiosity, lust, maybe even warmth, only to find their company irksome. The sisters are always surprised when this happens. Why? They just are. They do not learn, grow, mature, suffer, any of that HBO Sunday-night business. They do, however, take pole-dancing classes. And get mad when Mom crashes the pole-dancing classes.
It never ends. Just this summer, Kim’s video game blew up into the megagrossing airport-lobby time-waster of the year. Kim showed up with her new name and an open kimono at the VMAs, then the sisters got caught texting during the moment of silence for Ferguson. The big joke at the Emmys was Jimmy Fallon saying, “For all our success, we will never make as much money as Kim Kardashian did for that game app.”
The dramas in Kardashian World don’t change much. Kourtney is knocked up again. (She giggles, “Scott wants to kill himself!” Yes. He does.) Khloé mopes around the mansion in one of Lamar Odom’s old sweatsuits. Mom Kris, who has achieved empire-building like Joe Kennedy never dreamed of, wants to party with Rick Ross and Diddy. While having lunch with Kris, Khloé observes, “You guys are having a MILF-off,” while Kim notes, “My mom and I have always had this funny weird cute competition.” You don’t say.
You might loathe the Kardashians, and that’s more than understandable. But there are hardly any ex-fans of the Kardashians, because all they ever promised is what they keep delivering: a journey into the American ego at its most luridly monstrous, with lots of shopping. The ongoing Kardashian saga has turned into the rise and where-the-hell-is-that-fall of an American-family empire, bigger than U.S. Steel.
Yeah, I guess. Pretty much. I mean, I agree with him. They are vapid, silly, vain and absurd women. But the overwhelming majority of us still sort of care. We don’t care in the way we care about, say, Angelina Jolie or Kristen Stewart. But we still indulge in that silly and absurd side of ourselves and click on the latest Kimye photos just to see how ridiculous Kim looks or whether North is wearing baby-Chanel. The Kardashians are our gossip id: our basest gossip instinct to gawk at drowsy hookers, fake butts and plastic faces.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet, WENN, cover courtesy of Life & Style.
Do they think they had to tell us this?
Yes. Education is the key to Kuntrashian-free world.
Sometimes I feel like we need to be told it, although we already know. This family has no own merit, it would cease to exit in the public eye, if not for us. Say what you want about Lainey, but I find the fact that she “banned” this family from her blog great. The less they are talked about, the better. It happened to Paris Hilton, eventually it will happen to them, but it’s for us to decide, how soon.
Three cheers for lainey!
I agree. I click on very few Kardashian posts and if they were never talked about again I wouldn’t blink an eye. I really couldn’t care less about them. Now Goop? Goop is someone I love to read and hear gossip about to hate on haha. I even complain to Mr. M about her and her ridiculousness while he rolls his eyes at me.
I think it’s not so much us who needs to hear it as it is the K. clan.
but why? So they can cry all the way to the bank?
Much like Paris Hilton, it kills me to say it but… it takes a lot of… not intelligence… moxy? Yeah, we’ll go with moxy to be able to build a multi-million dollar empire by offering abso-fucking-lutely nothing.
I’m fairly sure they’re aware of what they’re doing, what the offer, what they represent and are more than willing to keep shovelling that shit our way if it makes them money (which it does). So I doubt they care at all.
Kourtney looks like that kid in that tv show about the munsters…cannot be unseen.
Eddie Munster rules!
Talk about Captain Obvious..
Totally obvious, but the guy did a really great job of articulating it.
+1.
Very true
The Krappening: Giving hope to pretty, talentless people everywhere.
Excellent.
I’m assuming the chain mail skirt is the new favorite photo of Kim? If so, good call. She looks absurd. I’m perplexed by her decision EVERY time I see it.
Michael K from Dlisted captioned the skirt picture “Like a can of biscuits exploding in slow motion”. I can’t unsee it now.
Okay, that almost made me choke on my coffee. What an awesome, and hilarious, description. Thanks for the laugh.
😀
omg, he’s the master of the simile.
I admit I only click on the KK articles to see how hideous she (and her butt) looks and to see what new changes she’s made to her face. Its kind of a game for me to spot the procedures.
as far as anything else, I never really bother with it b/c most articles are bogus stories just to keep them in the press. Theres a thread on another site that has some ‘alleged’ gossip about their empire crashing down b/c ratings are way down. I expect any new stories about them are just publicity stunts to try and get ppl interested in them again.
These people are like side show freaks in the circus of old that came to towns all over America back in the day. We now only have to click to see today’s version of the side show, The Kardashians, Miley Cyrus, Coco, Nicky Minaj, Lady Gaga, etc. They are getting attention because they are freakish. Did I forget anyone?
I agree with you. Why hate them? It’s like Howard Stern said years ago, if you don’t like it, don’t tune it. Half of their audience is probably people who DO hate them.
This is probably true. Tragic.
I don’t think there is anything surprising about “anti-fans”. We all understand fans, people who just love a celeb for no reason. Anti-fans are the same, they just hate a celeb for no reason. Kim inspires a lot of anti-fans.
It’s funny you say that, I remember at the height of Stern’s infamy most of his audience was composed of people who hated him and only tuned in to see what he would say next.
Where is the LIKE button for this post?
~Word~ to everything this Rob dude said.
The Kartrashians made the word ‘famous’ and ‘Celebrity’ lose it’s value.
And to think Kim is a role moel to some young girls is preposterous but the sad thing is it’s true.
Model*
I think the Kardashians are the result of the “Look at me!” era our society is currently going through. Everything is posted on Twitter, Facebook, and every other form of social media. People are obsessed with having money, having the latest this and the lastest that and the Kardashians encompass all of these things. You would not believe how many kids today want to be models, sports players, or some other high profile career instead of a teacher or a doctor, or any job that requires higher education. I might be off the mark, but I think the Kardashians have been able to capitalize off this (smartly so) better than others have and in that sense they DO represent the American dream for a good chunk of the population, which to me, is sad.
Sorry for the essay.
You are so right. Young kids today don’t want an education they want to be famous and a lot think they are entitled to things just for being. I have a 13 y/o son and he will say oh I want this/that, my response “do you have a job” pocket money to contribute? No well think again. It is sad.
Tiffany, I have to agree with you on this one. I think that along of younger people of my generation is narcissist, selfish and obsessed with the whole notion of getting money without working. And the Kardashians are proof of it, also, hip hop mcs and pop stars like Rihanna who are self entitled. If for some cases it is hard to be humble but humility is the best trait for everyone.
Dead on, great comment! It’s also very sad where society is at right now.
I believe you have hit the mark.
I agree. People love to live vicariously through people who get to be as extravagant and self indulgent as they want. I think their wealthy lifestyle is a huge part of it.
100%, I have a 21 year old cousin that is an exact reflection of this and her parents continue to make excuses for her and fund her aimless lifestyle.
I work with young people, and I don’t think this is true for 80% of them. The problem is that the vain, vacuous people are the most visible. If you were not on a gossip site and didn’t read the gossip rags, you would still see these people, but not nearly as much. You can eliminate them almost completely if you stop looking at fashion mags and stop watching talk shows (including the garbage morning “news” shows). And of course you can’t watch E. Plenty of young people have better things to do. I love fashion and love to flip through this site, but I leave it that so the garbage is not brought into my house and my kids have less exposure.
Excellent analogy. I mean, we live in an era where it’s perfectly acceptable to be so overcome by your own loveliness/vanity that you need to take several photos of your own face and whack that on social media. The Kardashians have actually found a way to capitalise on that with a coffee table book. That’s insane.
As fun as they are to hate, they are just aggressive embodiments of the current trends of our era.
Parenting comes into this. My parents made me do chores, told me I had to work if I wanted a car, told me I wasn’t the most important person in the room. We have a lot of “adults” who act like overgrown teenagers and spoiled brats, Kim and Kanye included.
I have never once in my 36 years of life have i felt any sort of competition with my mom. In a normal family dynamic a mother loves you unconditionally and supports you, not trying to out due you.
THIS!
I’m about the same age as you and my mom = support, love, comfort, and nurture.
As I’ve gotten older, it’s been fun to see our relationship turn into a great friendship instead of a parental figure/child, but NEVER is there competition. It wouldn’t even be possible to have that kind of a dynamic with her.
I’m sure your mother doesn’t get a percentage of every dime you make like Kris does with ALL of her kids.
My mom is one of my best friends. I can’t imagine competing with her for anything other than like, weekend family bag-o tournaments and croquet. But then, my mom isn’t a fame monster who would be willing to sacrifice my dignity and sexuality in order to become famous by selling my (hypothetical) sex tape.
I agree. I don’t identify at all with K’s comment about her mom.
I just think of Kris as the hyperbolic embodiment of a scared-to-age, insecure stage mother who struggles to find an identity that embraces motherhood without denying womanhood. I knew girls with moms like that, who were more interested in being their kids’ friend than parent. Who insisted on reliving their teenage glory years through their daughters. Who shared a closet with them, and bragged when the daughters’ pants were too big, and flirted with the boys that came to the house, and just wanted so badly for their kids’ social circle to think of them as one of the gang, that they were utterly unable to step back and see the caricature that they had become–and how uncomfortable it made everyone around them, most of all their daughters. With that kind of relationship, yeah, I could see competition becoming the inevitable outcome.
her plastic surgery is way obvious on tv. her pictures it doesn’t look as obvious, believe it or not
Really? I was kind of astounded by her GQ cover recently. I didn’t recognize her at first!
Personally,as a non American, I don’t quite understand the sense of these think pieces about the Kardashians being the symbol of the evil of modern society.They are pointless to me. Yes, they are talentless and vapid but the reason why they are huge is because there are people invested in them, they have a big following. Even the people who don’t like them as Kaiser said are still interested. Why not analysing why the general public is so interested and charmed by people like them, Paris Hilton and company? Let’s investigate: why did people allow them to become crazy successful and have an impact in popular culture? I’m genuinely asking….
MTE! They are a legitimate reflection of our current society.
I think, as with Paris Hilton, that people love to hate them.
There’s that, and I think that some people just like trashy tv. My godmother, who is one of the most no nonsense, no drama filled woman ever watches trash tv. Basically because she has a stressful and physically hard job–and so when she comes home, she wants to lay down and watch something that doesn’t make her think.
So there are the people who love to idolize, the people who love to hate, and the people who are just entertained by it.
I don’t think that people are so fascinated – it’s that people want to feel better about themselves, and everyone thinks that they are better than these reality show people.
Great point.
Cable tv is the real reason for their success. There are hundreds of channels/networks all looking for a portion of the audience pie that back in my childhood was split among just about three or four networks. So mindless shows like the Kardashians have a niche, very much related to the soap operas and weird shows like Queen for a Day that filled the afternoon tv schedules in my childhood also. The Kardashians are on prime time (evenings) only because of cable, though. Their audience has never been big compared to prime time shows of my youth. But it’s big enough to justify obscene amounts of money in their paychecks because every extra viewer means the network can charge more for ad space. So their shows will continue as long as they earn their keep with advertising money.
Another factor is the Internet. Sites all over the place with space to fill and the ability to almost instantly post photos. I doubt the Ks would be visible in earlier times where people got their celebrity fix from print magazines which had to pick and choose due to space and time limitations. Of course back then they wouldn’t be able to be famous from tv because there wouldn’t be a slot for them to occupy. They also would have been too crude for even daytime tv in my childhood. But web sites are filled with ads (notice the banner ads on every story here), and whatever draws in viewers online also helps bring money to the sites. The Kardashians have apparently also collaborated with paparazzi to share profits on the photos, which makes money for them, the photographers, and ultimately those who use the photos to get ad money.
The newer advertising concept of tweeting for pay also brings them a nice chunk of change. The more followers a person has on Twitter, the more money they can make tweeting about specific products. It’s lucrative enough that big blocks of fake followers are sold. So they’re getting a basic large paycheck to be on tv to attract ad money for the network, which makes them famous enough to attract twitter followers, which makes them more money by working directly for the advertisers on twitter. They also can make direct ad money by product placement in photos in addition to tweeting about the products.
So in order to understand the Kardashians, as for war you just have to follow the money trail. But really, most people even in the US don’t keep up with the Kardashians. Most people don’t read tabloids online or offline except the headlines on issues set by the cashier, while they’re waiting in line. If you read tabloids, as someone else said, they’re overwhelming. Likewise if you watch E!, where it’s impossible to avoid long promos for their shows if you’re busy doing something that prevents you from hitting the mute button. But most people don’t watch E! either.
I’m still absorbing that we’re supposed to consider this article a “think piece.”
Like you say, Duckie, so much potential for analysis of this topic but this article fails, IMO. I thought Rolling Stone used to have a reputation for real journalism? This seemed more like something you’d find on Buzzfeed.
“Occasionally, the sisters will meet and mate with a human male” – LOL
That was one of the best lines in the piece!
He makes it sound like these girls are a bunch of hyenas! I can visualize them cackling with pimp Kris rubbing her hands together.
I thought this was the best line of the piece too. Now if the author had set the whole article up as a sort of Nat Geo/Wild Kingdom spoof, that could have been really good.
I personally have no problem with a semi-respectable outlet printing an article like this. The Kardashian level of fame is a disgusting reflection of our current society, generally speaking. I don’t mind reading that sentiment every single day.
Escapism at it best.
Hate is stronger than love. You can grow tired of loving someone, but you never grow tired of hating them ! The Kardashian/Jenner Klan are gossip fillers. When ANYTHING else in Hollywood or the world is going on, the Kardashians are forced to take a back seat. They then re-appear when the “coast is clear”. Kim’s GQ cover didn’t get a lot of press because it was released right when Joan Rivers died (by the way did any of you notice Kim was the only Kardashian/Jenner not to post a RIP to Joan on twitter ?).
“Occasionally, the sisters will meet and mate with a human male who will regard them with curiosity, lust, maybe even warmth, only to find their company irksome. The sisters are always surprised when this happens. Why? They just are. They do not learn, grow, mature, suffer, any of that HBO Sunday-night business. They do, however, take pole-dancing classes. And get mad when Mom crashes the pole-dancing classes.”
LOL, completely on point.
“MTE! They are a legitimate reflection of our current society.” – tiffany27
^^^ Yes. I liked this piece, I think it serves as an important reminder. Many people probably tell themselves that the Kardashians are nothing more than a morbid curiosity, when in fact, they are a grotesque, but accurate magnification of our increasingly shallow, materialistic, self centered culture.
I actually think I might care about the kardashian more than I care about Kristen Stewart.
Kanye is going to blow a gasket.
Note to self, avoid all things Kardashian. Thanks Captain Obvious 🙂
I caved in to my morbid curiosity once and attempted to watch an episode. Yeah…I lasted about 10 minutes before the nausea set in. They’re just awful. The RS piece really nailed it. And it really does speak volumes about us, as a society, in terms of their success and staying power. It’s a real catch-22, isn’t it? We want them to just go away, and stay away, but we can’t *look* away because we might miss the big downfall. And that almost makes all of the attention worth it. Almost.
The Kardashians are like pickle chips. They are the most disgusting, hideous, putrid, vile, affront to mankind. But you just can’t stop eating them. I’m making a vow to say something nice every time I criticise. So here goes. The Kardashians, also like pickle chips, go great with pinot grigio.
I mean really? The Bush family and Clinton family are way more disgusting to me.
Do we really need a deep analysis of the Kardashians??? They’re an entertaining, or not so entertaining distraction from everyday life. I have nothing personally invested in them. They aren’t reflective of anything about American society in general.
They didn’t start a war overseas.
They didn’t crash planes into the world trade center
They didn’t start the housing bust and global credit crunch.
They didn’t exhaust our military and provide substandard care at Veterans Administration.
They didn’t cause oil leaks into protected waters.
They aren’t responsible for fracking.
They didn’t cause America’s crumbling infrastructure.
They are not on public assistance.
They weren’t in the most obstructionist and do nothing congress ever.
One more Hollywood family and their foibles are the least of what’s wrong with America, IMHO.
This so much.
I can’t believe you compared a family needing public assistance to a terrorist attack. SMH
Maggie, I can’t believe that was the takeaway point for you.
Yes but this is a celebrity gossip site not CNN!
Thank you! And Brionne made a point above about the Bush and Clinton families being worse than the Kardashian’s.
Wrong site, Brionne; you want HufPo or Salon.
Absurd to equate these things and ridiculous to suggest that the Clinton and Bush children should be held accountable for their parents political careers. It’s all well and good to be conscientious but if you expect to get anywhere with debate learn the appropriate forum to express your opinions.
Meh. I see this as an incredibly well explained essay on how to button a blouse. The eloquence is appreciated but you’re not actually educating anyone.
I don’t mind the fact some dumb family is making millions out of a stupid reality show. I don’t even consider it the biggest problem of our society. My problem with the Kardashians resides on the fact they sometimes use serious topics (racism, sexism, cultural appropiation) to keep themselves relevant. If they shied away from any actual controversies, I wouldn’t mind them at all.
“Meh. I see this as an incredibly well explained essay on how to button a blouse. The eloquence is appreciated but you’re not actually educating anyone.”
Exactly. I basically said the same thing above, but I like your wording a lot more.
Seven years. That’s about when the economy tanked. This is when we stopped believing that wealth and success were due to hard work and discipline. The 1% is a leisure class made up of vain, useless, uneducated people like the Kardashians. That should’ve been the theme of his article. Not that the American dream is vapid, but that it’s dead.
GREAT point!
Much like during the “golden age of Hollywood” that occurred along with the depression, people like escapism when they are down and out. The recession fed the need for escapism from money issues, to have a fantasy to turn to where they could see people spending days on spa treatments instead of the harsh realities that a lot of people were facing.
I think your point about people being disillusioned about the idea of a ladder to economic success, disbelieving in the mobility of the lower and middle class, is really insightful.
You are both totally on point.
Oh God, give me a break. They put silly, vain, vapid crap on the show because THAT IS WHAT PEOPLE TUNE IN FOR. No one puts on an episode of KUWTK because they want to watch real people grow and suffer. It’s fluff television and K’s know that. They give the viewers what they want. They are still people and I am sure as vapid as they appear on tv, they do grow, suffer, learn, mature, etc just as any other human being. They just don’t put that part of reality on their show because no one watches it for HBO sunday night emotion style tv!
I watched my first and only Kardashian episode in Quebec last summer, dubbed in French! Now that was mildly amusing, though I didn’t watch all the way through the show.
Oh, look, it’s Anna’s Cheap Trick! And I bet she is wearing Anna’s new signature scent: The Scent Of Betrayal. It is really more of a stench than a scent, but Anna “wears” it better. Doesn’t she always!!???
Kourtney looks like Eddie Munster in the bottom pic. That slicked back hair look is gross & should never be worn off a runway. Never.
Says the magazine that gave us the soft focus glamor shot of Tsarnaev. Please.
The only real problem with the K’s is when they hurt other people in their pursuit of fame and fortune. Such as the smear campaign and fake scenes about Kim’s second husband when she tired of him (during the wedding, I think, although she waited two months to file for divorce after humiliating him on tv for a while). Or poor Nori, who is going to have serious problems despite good nannies and some loving relatives other than her incompetent parents. If only Kim and Kanye had not dragged a child into their drama. And Kim and her Demon Mother have certainly done their best to damage her unprofitable brother over the years. Khloe has done her share of damage also, with her manipulations and sabotage of other people’s relationships. Kourtney seems to be the only likeable one in the bunch and her kids will be ok at least.
These people are repugnant in every way possible. Kris and Kim being the masterminds behind this whole nightmare that we are all in. I will loathe Ryan Seacrest and E Television for the rest of my life, whom I hold entirely responsible for this abomination.
They followed the Paris Hilton blueprint, but the main difference is Paris just wanted fame. And she was mercilessly ridiculed for it. And she was always loaded like a Hilton would be. Kim was not like that. Kim is a not only a social climber, but will do just about anything for money and airtime. Anything. And people now praise her for this! She doesn’t get buried in the ground like Paris. People actually take her seriously, and that’s what kills me.
Oh, and I still believe she released her own sex tape to kick-start her campaign. Nothing to be ashamed about making a sex tape or owning your sexuality: I would never judge anyone about sex or slut-shame them. But I will slut-shame her, because nothing in her life seems sacred. She is more than willing to share and capitalize on every aspect of her miserable and vapid existence with the world – via reality TV or pre-arranged paparazzi moments. She is thirsty, desperate and totally vomit-inducing. Everything about her can be purchased for the right price or a promise for a headline.
And I find the current state of media, and what prominent media sources spend their time focusing on, extremely reprehensible and regrettable.