After twenty mind-numbing seasons, Keeping Up With The Kardashians is coming to a fitting end. It seems as though the family believes they can make their money elsewhere, exploiting teens across the internet rather than through television.
I felt filthy and desheleved doing research for this piece—only now am I truly ashamed of my search history. Anything these people have ever done publicly has either confused or angered me. Even Kanye West—although I’m not quite sure how he fits into this whole thing—is a social and political nightmare.
So please don’t expect high praise for your favourite celebreality show here. Instead, consider this article a celebration. Praise the fact that today’s youth will no longer be subjected to such damaging influences—at least not on television.
Although I’m sure the Kardashians will find their own innovative ways to continue deteriorating the malleable minds of young boys and girls this is, by all accounts, a step in the right direction.
Cancelling the show makes a lot of sense, both for fans and the Kardashians. Many members of the family already spend the majority of their time in the limelight. When you can put your energy and efforts towards selling overpriced, copyrighted t-shirts to children, why bother with the miniscule paycheck of a reality show?
Although I’m baffled by the fact that these people still garner attention, it’s understandable how it all got started. When the show first went on air, society had been entering a new stage of pop culture. The popularity around social media was just heating up—Facebook and Twitter were on the rise—and the popularity of ever-advancing smartphones was only growing.
Keeping Up With the Kardashians fit that narrative. Especially with Paris Hilton continuing her attempt to remain socially significant, it’s no surprise the show attracted viewers.
But I can only say so much about the show, simply because I’ve never watched it. I still don’t know who is who, why they’re famous or why they all look like rubber—even after all my menial research!
“The cancellation of Keeping Up With the Kardashians means there will be one less show for me to watch,” says Jacqueline Borg, third-year student at Ryerson.
After asking Borg what the show meant to her, her initial answer made me laugh. “Should I lie?” she replied. “Should I lie and say it means something to me?”
Why we give attention to these types of people I will never know. Especially when so many intelligent humanitarians continue striving for a better world. Sure, the Kardashians have the ability to entertain their audiences but are they making us smart? Are they even bettering our day?
And it shouldn’t surprise us that the Kardashian legacy isn’t going anywhere quite yet. “The Kardashians will continue building their empire through their never-ending bloodline,” Borg explained. So for those of you hoping this year’s Pulitzer Prize winners will begin collecting recognition, get in line.
In a world full of honest, creative and truly genuine people, it’s a shame we as a society have decided to divert our brief attention spans to a family like the Kardashians.
There are people that are extremely easy to come by. It took nothing more than a poorly lit sex tape to rocket Kim into stardom. You’d be pressed to find anyone to tell you there’s skill in anything any of these people do.
In contrast, genuine, creative minds—the people worth our attention—are increasingly difficult to find. They’re limited to their niche, confined to the bounded advertising of their fans. David Sedaris and Alice Munro never aired on adverts during the Superbowl.
Although these people may be popular in their own right—isolated within their little circle of fame—the majority of the global population couldn’t identify Carver from Cheever.
And these are the voices that deserve our attention. A voice that’s honest of our reality rather than one that glorifies their own in opposition to their viewers.
And although I’m clearly biased, I’m happy to see Keeping Up With the Kardashians off the air. Hopefully this will serve as a small yet significant stepping stone as we attempt to stray from passive, mindless consumption.
