In the last 12 years, the Kardashians have been the most popular family on the globe, more than the British royal family and as Kanye West will let you know, Kim is more influential than the US first lady, Michelle Obama.
You might roll your eyes at that, but it is very debatable that FLOTUS has more pop culture influence than the First Lady of E!
Without possessing what most people refer to as obvious talent – they don’t sing, play sports and as you probably noticed from Kim’s cameo appearance in the 2013 movie, Temptations: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor, they cannot act.
How is it so that not one day passes without mention of a Kardashian in the news? ‘Oh there they are eating lunch. There they go walking. See them goofing around on social media… ‘
Yet, the reality television family is dismissed and mocked for being famous for nothing. That’s not true, their talent is their ability to stay famous and profit from the audience’s obsession with their lives. Their talent is ability to command the airwaves by being their unpretentiously simple selves.
Truth of the matter is, the Kardashians haven’t done anything nobody has done before. If Kim poses nude, some of the most celebrated figures in have appeared nude in the past. Grace Jones, Cindy Crawford, Janet Jackson and Tyra Banks all have. Katy Perry‘s naked magazine covers didn’t affect her appearance at the Democratic Party’s convention. For Hillary Clinton‘s campaign, she has done a skit where she posed nude.
How about Yoko Ono and John Lennon‘s now iconic magazine cover?
The distaste for the Kardashians might stem from their unapologetic freedom to do just exactly what they want to. They seem unfazed by the backlash their antics attract. And for some reason, the audience cannot stop looking at them.
Each year, the family nets in excess of $20m for their shows on E! alone and much more from event appearances and sponsorship.
So in these days that Rihanna has sold more records than Diana Ross and Taylor Swift has sold 20 million more records than Barbara Streisand, what is the measure of gauging the limit of what talent is? Who determines what it is that the audience finds entertaining or not? The answer is the audience itself. And they cannot get enough of the Kardashians.
The rules have changed. The continuous news stream and omnipresence of internet connectivity means that the audience needs to be entertained in different forms. Fans binge on their television programming and every Snapchat post provides us an insight to their lives.
Their lifestyle is aspirational. Who among us doesn’t want to be handed a cheque for doing practically nothing? Who among us doesn’t want to get paid for going on vacation?
Their life is entertaining – even if it is scripted. The soap operas of the 1960s and ’70s are not too different from the Kardashians of the 2000s.
It is incorrect to say the Kardashians have no talent. Their talent is being what they are. Their gift is to make the mundane regularity of everyday life and turn it into entertainment for millions of viewers.
When they’re eating and fighting and making up and attending fashion shows and showing fittings on social media, they are entertaining their fans.
One might argue the morality of their actions but since when were entertainers the standards of good behaviour anyway? And as we’ve seen with Malia Obama‘s wilding out at Lollapalooza, even the President’s kids will have certain moments of indiscretion – as do every human being in the world.
The Kardashians are rock stars of the 21st century. They have fame, money, scandals – just like any self-respecting rock star should. Disputing it is folly.
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