With the increasing popularity of social
media and reality television, the future of entertainment has changed
drastically. From popular situational comedies such as I Love Lucy to
the unapologetically risqué Sex and the City,
television has evolved to show more authentic lives and everyday situations.
Naturally, humans are interested in the lives of everyday people. Despite its
negative connotation, humans enjoy being voyeurs. Producers and advertisers
have picked up on this as the number of reality television shows has reached
over 300 since the beginning of the 21st century.
Arguably one of the most popular and successful reality television shows is Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
The soap-opera style reality show follows the lives of the beautiful, rich,
funny, and often ridiculous, Kardashian family. At the center of the family is
Kim Kardashian who reached a high level of publicity from a leaked sex tape.
Instead of trying to stay out of the spotlight to distance her from the deviant
act, Kardashian seized the opportunity and created an empire, one based solely
on her and family. Gaining popularity through being a personality without a
traditional talent or skill had never been as successfully accomplished before
Kardashian. She is arguably the most famous woman in the world today. However,
she receives relentless backlash questioning her “unearned” fame. In this essay
I argue that Kim Kardashian has redefined entertainment and opened the door for
democratized entertainment.
Kimberley Noel Kardashian was born in Los
Angeles, California to Robert Kardashian and Kris Houghton Kardashian. She has
an older sister Kourtney, and young siblings Khloe and Robert, Jr. Despite
being rather privileged, the Kardashians had a normal upbringing. A few years
after her parents divorced, her father represented O.J. Simpson in the
controversial and publicized murder trial, People of the State of California v.
Orenthal James Simpson. This was far from the last time the Kardashian name would
be in the public eye. In 2003, Kim had a reoccurring role on reality television
show, The Simple Life,
which followed young socialites and daughters of affluent fathers, Paris Hilton
and best friend Nicole Ritchie. Hilton achieved fame through her last name and
more prominently in 2001 through her leaked sex tape. Her show, and subsequent
celebrity, ran for 3 years then ended due to lack of interest. Kardashian had
befriended Hilton in preschool, but their long-term relationship quickly turned
sour due to Kardashian surpassing her best friend’s status. In 2007, a sex tape
filmed four years prior of Kardashian and then boyfriend, famous rapper Ray J,
was leaked and distributed by Vivid Entertainment. Her mother Kris said in
response to finding about her sex tape, “As her mother, I wanted to kill her.
But as her manager, I knew that I had a job to do”. Instead of avoiding the
spotlight until the news cycle and gossip blogs moved on, Kardashian used the
popularity to jumpstart her fame and has managed to stay relevant for the past
decade.
In 2006, executive producer Ryan Seacrest
conceived the idea for Keeping Up With the Kardashians
after he successfully produced The Osbournes, a
reality television show following Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne. On October 14,
2007, the pilot of Keeping Up With the Kardashians
aired on the E! network. The show was received extremely well and quickly
renewed for more seasons. In interviews, Kris has said that before the family
decided to film the show, they agreed that the only way to do it right was to
be completely transparent. The family concurred and the first episode
immediately addresses Kim’s sex tape, but does not revisit it if it is
avoidable. The show successfully portrays their lives as authentic, despite
obvious markers of scripting or over-dramatization. Every episode follows same
formula: Opens with a funny situation unrelated to the episode’s plot typically
showing the stupidity of one or more of the family members; a Plot A and Plot B
are established; the problem or multiple problems arise and reach the climax,
but problem is always solved by the end of the hour with the love of their
family rising above all; finally a funny, blooper ends the show while the end
credits start. The episodes still follow their real lives, but their problems
are just dramatized for entertainment. The show has become increasingly more
scripted with each season, which is proven by Tumblr blog “Keeping Up With The
Kontinuity Errors” showing the episodes are filmed out of order using the
family members’ Instagrams to match their outfits to the dates of the shows
events. Despite the overwhelming proof of scripting, the show and “cast” remain
extremely popular and one of the top shows on E!. There is a captivating appeal
of authenticity with a traditional television show plot structure. Even though
they live an extravagant lifestyle, the Kardashians manage to make their lives
relatable to virtually everyone who watches. They are so likeable because they
are real; even with direction and dramatization, they appear unscripted and raw
satisfying their voyeuristic viewers. Keeping Up With the Kardashians is
currently in its 12th season averaging 2-3 million
views per episode.
Kardashian has accomplished the same amount
or even more than a “traditional” celebrity. She has had acting roles in
multiple television shows and films, two fragrances, countless brand deals,
worked with charities, a beauty line, and a low-end and high-end clothing line.
Her career started because she was a hot topic that brought a lot of exposure
to whatever show she was on or product she endorsed. Then, she became
attractive and pursued by companies because she had done so many successful
campaigns as well as being on her way to becoming a household name. Her rising
status made her more popular thus more expensive to hire until only high-end
companies could afford to book her. Now, she is only surrounded and associated
with designer brands. Kardashian started off as a joke by trying to make a
career out of a sex tape, but she has accomplished far more than originally
thought to be possible while overcoming her deviant and controversial origins.
Other “famous for nothing” reality
television celebrities have a fraction of the popularity as represented by
Kardashian’s 45.1 million Twitter followers and 69.4 million Instagram
followers. For example, Jersey Shore star
Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi has 6.92 million Twitter followers and 9.4 million
Instagram followers; Paris Hilton has 13.6 million Twitter followers and 5.8
million Instagram followers; The Hills
star Lauren Conrad has 3.53 million Twitter followers and 4.9 million Instagram
followers; and rap music video extra and ex-wife to Wiz Khalifa, Amber Rose has
3.68 million Twitter followers and 10.9 million Instagram followers. More
importantly, Kardashian has more Twitter followers than “traditional”
celebrities: Chris Pratt has 3.45 million followers; John Stamos has 1.87
million followers; Amy Schumer has 4.04 million followers; and the President of
the United States, Barack Obama, has 7.66 million followers. She even rivals
Beyoncé Knowles social media presence of 14.4 million Twitter followers (with
only nine tweets) and 70.1 million Instagram followers. Kardashian still talks
to fans on social media making her more approachable and shows she’s not above
her fans. Even if she doesn’t run her twitter (she probably does) her fans
believe she does. It’s not really well known that many celebrities hire someone
to run their twitter, since social media is seen as personal and authentic. She
is one of the most popular social media personalities, but she is still
critiqued and degraded by society as a whole.
It is easy to agree that she is a joke of a
celebrity and ridiculous in nature. However, she is arguably the most famous
woman in the world and will only continue to rise on the fame scale.
Nonetheless, a mob mentality has formed around disliking the Kardashians in
addition to labeling all supporters of them stupid, ignorant, and simple minded
just like their idols. It is not socially acceptable to respect Kim and her
family, so no one speaks up to support her. Those who do are called stupid or
delusional. The media loves to put them in a box and use them as the epitome of
declining American values and culture simply because she is not famous for
accomplishing anything in the scientific, fine art, or political fields or even
by family relation. Her non-traditional, yet exceedingly prosperous career is
difficult for society to accept since her path to fame is new. Being “famous
for being famous” was not a new concept for society, but until Kardashian, it
has not been as successfully accomplished. Since we can’t fit her talents or
what she does for a living into a clear box, her success is demeaning to
everyone. As seen early in her career, she made cameos in movies and television
shows, became a wardrobe stylist, released workout tapes, and recorded a song
because she felt pressured to do something that fits in a box and create a
reputable resume to reference. After a few years, her status was above those
low social capital opportunities. Her entire family followed suit and is now
personalities for a living, too. Now, Kardashian is a household name, and not
just for young people. However, it is far easier to just call someone stupid
than dissect what they are trying to say or do.
After she began dating and eventually
marrying famous rapper Kanye West, her image changed drastically. West
handpicked an entirely new wardrobe for her, which comprised of high fashion
pieces. She began appearing on several best-dressed lists, which demanded more
respect from her peers. In 2013, West and Kardashian were invited to the
Costume Institute Gala or the Met Gala, arguably one of the highest honors in
the A-list celebrity and fashion world. She has been invited and attended each
Met Gala since 2013 with West. Kimye, the celebrity relationship nickname for
Kardashian and West, have become the “it” couple in Hollywood. She can now
afford to keep some aspects of her life private without hurting her celebrity.
Her first child, North West, was not photographed or introduced in public until
several months after her birth. Her daughter was also not shown on Keeping Up With The Kardashians
until the 11th season per request of her father. Kardashian and
West’s Florence wedding was extremely private and exclusive unlike Kardashian’s
previous marriage to basketball player Kris Humphries. Photographs of the
ceremony or the reception have never been released to the public expect for a
handful of photo booth pictures. Since she can now demand and expect privacy,
Kardashian has reached the status and deserves the respect of a traditional
celebrity.
Kardashian is also a monumental figure for
the feminist movement. She’s a role model for most women in some relatable
aspect. She’s not a size 2 or 4 but has ideal curvy, attractive, non-white,
worked hard to reach her success, is confident with her sexuality, celebrates
her body despite it not being a traditional editorial body. She is making
nudity socially acceptable to be celebrated. Her book Selfish,
which she originally made as a wedding gift for her husband, is a photo book of
selfies with an uncensored nude section located in the center. She appeals to
the everyday woman by showing how she’s confident in her non-modelesque body.
Kim Kardashian has gone from rich girl with
the right friends to the butt of jokes about American culture to a successful
and increasingly respected businesswoman. Claiming someone is only “famous for
being famous” is an insult to his or her intelligence and talents. The entire
family with Kim has become “famous for being famous” through the television
show. They accepted the backlash and are able to laugh at themselves making
them more likable by society. Despite being connected to a sex tape, Kardashian
is well liked, respected, and envied by many. She represents the American
Dream. She plays an important role in American culture by pioneering the future
of entertainment. Kim Kardashian has paved the way for making it possible to be
famous by just being you by connecting to her fans through new forms of social
media and maintaining the appeal of authenticity making her far more relatable
and likable than the scripted characters in film and television.
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