Kardashian: the name that evokes a response out of everyone. Whether you’re a die-hard fan of “Keeping Up With The Kardashians” or you cannot stand that they’re everywhere in the media, everyone knows who the Kardashians are. My opinion has drastically changed over the years. In high school, I agreed with the latter. I could not stand them and at home, we referred to them as the Kar-trash-ians due to Kim’s sex tape. Even when Kim was robbed at gunpoint in Paris, I genuinely thought it was a publicity stunt orchestrated by Kris Jenner (yes, I am ashamed). Now, a sophomore in college more prone to procrastination than ever before, I find myself watching — nay — enjoying the show. I don’t really even have a Kardashian that I dislike.
Why do we hate celebrities? I mean, I understand that maybe someone may not like the power that a person has as far as influence over their fans, but as far as politics go, the two arguably most influential members of the Kardashian family, Kim Kardashian-West and Kanye West, balance each other’s views with Kim supporting Hillary in the 2016 election and Kanye supporting Trump. Could it be the means to which they got to power? Kanye, an eccentric rapper known for his Taylor Swift feud and odd love for Donald Trump, and Kim, known for so many things, from breaking the internet to the sex tape that started it all, both have rather interesting paths to fame. Yet, I really don’t think that’s it.
I think that we average people don’t really have a problem with famous people, I think we have a problem with ourselves. If you could get paid to take selfies and do commercials and drink a certain tea and stay in shape, wouldn’t you? I most certainly would. Therefore, I think the problem is comparing ourselves with them. I hate to say this, but I think we hate them because we ain’t em. They seem to be living the perfect lives – filthy rich, gorgeous, and famous.
But is that really what you’d want? Think about it: put yourself in their $3,000 Jimmy Choos. People are constantly saying negative things about you and critiquing you on everything. They think they know you, and they hate you even though they really don’t know what you’re actually like at all. Paparazzi everywhere, taking pictures of you while you are trying to relax with your family or even just grab a coffee. Let’s not forget the inevitable crazed fans that will try to sneak into your house or grope you in public. People saying your lips are too thin so you fill them? Oh, now you’re fake. Think back to Kim’s robbery in Paris, when people mocked her with Kim K robbery costumes and endless conspiracy theories on how it was staged. Aside from being completely despicable about joking that it was fake, they either did not consider that she is a mother and a daughter and has as much of a right to live as the rest of us, OR, considered it and thought it less important than the joke they were making on Twitter that probably only got them 17 retweets because it takes an incredibly sh*tty person to be able to joke about another person’s life being in danger.
For the low price of $70, you can show everyone you know just how sh*tty of a human you really are!!
Can we just let celebrities live for a bit? While it would be nice to have all that money, clearly money isn’t the answer to problems because they have the same problems as us – divorce, heartbreak, substance abuse, etc.– just in fancier cars and bigger, emptier houses. As Post Malone’s song “Rich and Sad” says, “all this stuntin’ couldn’t satisfy my soul, got a hundred big places, but I’m still alone.” Are we jealous of their things? Because then the problem is clearly us, not them. Are you really going to let your intense desire to have expensive things decide that you hate a person because they actually have them?
Or, even worse, do you hate them because their views are different from yours? Now that’s just narrow-minded.
Here’s my point: they are humans too. One thing that I really admire about the Kardashian krew is their loyalty to each other. Sure, they do talk sh*t about each other to each other, but at the end of the day, family comes first and you can really see that in the way they are there for each other and love each other. I know I, for one, am not innocent when it comes to gossiping about a family member to my sister. It’s just what sisters do.
So next time you think of tweeting something angry at your least favorite Kardashian, first of all, they probably don’t even read them because they know there’s going to be negativity, but also, is it really necessary? Would you say something mean or despicable to them if they were in front of you? What if they weren’t famous and they were just a passing stranger on the streets? You most likely wouldn’t, but if you answered yes to any of these hypothetical questions, please do some self-reflection on your anger towards people you don’t know.
I guess I just want to say this: the last thing the world needs is another negative tweet or comment. Why can’t we put kindness in the world? Sure, there’s something to nitpick in everything and everyone, but there are 100 more things to appreciate and praise. If you can’t find a single thing, then I think you aren’t trying hard enough.