I’ll be the first to admit that a giant guilty pleasure of mine is spending endless hours on the couch with my good friends, Kourtney, Kim and Khloe Kardashian. Who doesn’t love gazing at their lavish lifestyle and jaw-dropping wardrobe? I personally find their lives hysterical, and wish I had a Scott Disick to always crack a joke at the most inappropriate times. Their lives may be entertaining, but it’s definitely hard to “keep up” with those girls’ relationships.
A football player, a basketball player, and now a rapper? Kim has dated just about every kind of guy out there, but after 2 divorces, the reality TV star is now officially engaged to Kanye West. Third time’s the charm? Let’s hope so, I don’t think E! has it in their budget to air another Kardashian Wedding.
Kanye popped the question on Kim’s 33rd birthday at AT&T Park in San Francisco. He arranged for a 50-piece orchestra to play, and a fireworks show. And of course a true baseball stadium proposal wouldn’t be complete without a, “PLEEEASE MARRY MEEE!” plastered across the jumbotron. Kanye completed the task like a real gentleman, getting down on one knee, and pulling out a 15-carat Lorraine Schwartz diamond ring for his now fiancé.
Alright everyone get your “aw’s” out now. Sure, lots of lucky people get proposed to at baseball games. But those people are lucky if they have a hot dog stand next to them, not a 50-piece orchestra. Keep in mind that the Giants weren’t even in season, so Kanye rented out the entire stadium just for this proposal. After hearing about all of this, instead of thinking, “wow how adorable!” I was left feeling, “what an obnoxious use of your money.”
I know celebrities have ungodly amounts of money, and I guess they would be doing the lavish life wrong if they didn’t spend that money in the most extravagant ways possible. But I couldn’t help but think after this proposal, didn’t Kanye West have any other place he could put this money? I don’t even want to know how much it cost to rent out the stadium, get the orchestra, organize fireworks, and of course, the ring.
There are so many people that would do anything for the money Kanye West has, and actually put it to good use. Now don’t get me wrong, Kanye does his fair share of charity work; he and his mother founded the Dr. Donda West Foundation, in an effort to reduce the number of children that drop out of school. Boom, what a perfect, beneficial outlet for Kanye to put all that money toward. I’m sure he wanted to make the proposal as special as possible, but lets be honest, what did Kim really think was happening when she was brought to AT&T park when the Giants weren’t playing and it coincidentally also happened to be her birthday? Was the orchestra and fireworks show really necessary? Come on Kanye, we get it, you have insane amounts of money, but instead of displaying that with an over-the-top proposal, why not show us in more charitable way.
Turn on the news any day this past week and you’d hear stories about debt, poverty, car bombs in Iraq and all followed up with Kim and Kanye’s big engagement. It’s sickening to hear how someone is spending their money in gaudy ways when there are so many other sources that need it.
Of course Kanye worked hard for that money, he’s a very successful musician. But seeing that proposal just opened my eyes to how obnoxious it is that people have so much money they can just use it on things like that. Kanye took the extravagant route for simply one reason, he could. Thousands of people are proposed to each day, and thousands of people are not standing in the middle of AT&T Park with a 50-piece orchestra, but still share an extremely happy moment, and celebrate their new engagement. Nobody needs all the fancy things; there are far more important causes and people that are in need of money. All I’m trying to say, is Kanye, I’m really happy for you, and I’m gonna let you finish….but there’s a million other ways you could have spent that money.
Therese Burke is a Saint Mary’s College Contributor to Her Campus Notre Dame.