Strange as it is, I find I cannot look away from the Kardashians, or KarKrashians (as I’ve come to call them). Partly, because it is nearly impossible NOT to see them, as they seem to have infiltrated every single possible nook and cranny of the world as we know it. My initial reaction to the K-Klan was possibly a bit like yours: variations on a theme of “What the what?!” or “Oh, no they DID – N’T!” and more than a few combinations of simple, monosyllabic reactions (“Ew / Um / Er / Duh” and the like). But, after a little research and more time spent thinking about them than is probably healthy – I’ve formed some opinions. Which, I’m going to share. Feel free to look away, if you must.
You’ll find that most people lump the KarKrashians in either the Love ‘em or Loathe ‘em categories and nothing in-between. Those in the latter camp get pretty steamed about it, too (honestly, more than is probably healthy). The two strongest negative emotions I’ve seen exhibited toward Kim K. and her family, from the naysayers, are jealousy and antipathy, as they point to the clothes, the cars and the coifs (I can’t tell you how tempting it is to spell all of those with a K. Yet, I shall refrain). Kim, Kourtney and Khloe (my personal favorite) show up in every form of media with comments accompanying their images with nothing more than strongly voiced opinions. And, I think we all know what opinions are worth (mine, in fact, won’t buy me a grande non-fat latte at 140 degrees at Starbucks).
Kris Jenner is the matriarch manager/Momager (now a copywritten term, owned by Mrs. Jenner) of the Kardashian and Jenner empire. This woman has long been vilified in the press for being the stage mom from Hades. That’s unfortunate, because I actually have to admire how this woman took what was possibly the nastiest batch of nuclear waste lemons ever, in the form of her daughter’s horrible initial (videotaped) misstep in her 20’s that made her infamous, and made a cocktail that everyone wants a taste of. There is a magnet on my refrigerator that aptly sumps up what I think Kris Jenner managed to do: You’ll eat it… you’ll eat it and like it. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the seventh season debut of the reality television show Keeping Up With the Kardashians attracted nearly 3 million people with a 16 percent increase in viewers over last season’s premiere audience. The Kardashian-Jenner kids all have lucrative merchandise lines, modeling careers and business enterprises and Kris herself is estimated to be worth approximately $20 million dollars. Twenty million dollars that she didn’t marry, inherit or rob a bank for. Even Ma Barker got more respect than Kris Jenner and I just think that’s wrong.
As the mother of a teenaged daughter who hasn’t (yet) made any grave mistakes that could alter her entire life’s trajectory, I can honestly say if she did (on the grand scale that Miss Kardashian did), I could only hope that I would accomplish what Momager Kris did, turning the harsh glare of a wicked spotlight on a misguided youthful mistake into something more respectable and, if I can be frank, profitable.
Certainly, I’m grateful that nobody followed ME around, filming my every (mis)step and statement, in my younger years. While it might have been highly entertaining and slightly salacious, there likely wouldn’t have been great substance or material that I’d want as my epitaph. In my opinion, a life worthy of a legacy usually takes a little more time in the existential crockpot. Oscar Wilde (a man with his own wild and wooly background worthy of the E! Network) said, “Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.” Yet, I have to agree more with James Joyce, who said, “A man’s errors are his portals of discovery.”
None of us are without blame and I think those Kardashians sort of deserve to be given a second look (which they obviously are happy to provide you with), without condemnation. After all, the numbers from those Nielsen Media Research people show that rubbernecking of the KarKrashians is at an all time high. We just can’t bring ourselves to look away.
“There are no mistakes in life, there are only lessons to be learned.” – Mark Twain
“Continue to point out the weaknesses in others and you’ll eventually discover you’ve no strength left to work on your own.” — T. Katz