I feel like I have to chime in on this subject because I have been such an advocate of all things Kardashian in the past, so I will and I will do so half-assed because I’m tired and a little bit confused about almost anything that seems adult or connected to responsible behavior.
I am such a fan of Rob Delaney and consider him to be a pal (I say “pal” because I have a hard time calling anyone but Ed my “friend” because I’m not entirely sure what that word even means any more as it’s been bastardized and twisted so much in the second half of my life, although I do genuinely enjoy his company when I see him and support his career and voice, etc.), and I think his Vice piece about suing Kim Kardashian for misleading the public with her sham of a marriage is a great take on things.
However (and again, this is not to discount my affection for Rob and his opinions), I have to ask: Did we not know? Did we not know that this entire “marriage” and the entire Kardashian brand was built on a foundation of lies and paved with celebrity and cash? Do we not “get it”?
We knew. And most of us, the 4.4 million people that tuned in to watch the four hour wedding special, knew that it would not be an everlasting bond that perfectly encapsulated what the experience of falling in love with someone who we want to spend our lives with and that we’re willing to fight for come hell or high water is truly all about.
We live in a world where reality television started out as dolled-up mumblecore and has grown into a fully orchestrated and nearly perfectly produced fairy tale. If this family had ever been filmed in its natural state, we would see the deep-rooted tension that lingered far past family game nights and that eventually moved each adult member of the family who was living under that single Calabasas roof into their own homes. We would understand why, according to the show, Khloe and Kourtney are only at their boutique, Dash, when petty fights between the two of them and their mother break out.
The Kardashians are there to deliver us a Brady Bunch-style lessons and happy endings at the end of each twenty-one minute episode and they get it done. Smart producers, who I hate to admit are Ryan Seacrest and his staff, make that happen every damn week and they do it well.
My only issue with Rob’s piece, which I think accurately and intelligently breaks down the general unfairness of presenting a traditional ideal marriage – which is a very real thing that a great deal of our country is fighting to have equalized for all citizens – is that the money that Kim and Kris received to televise their wedding ($18 M) could have been spent on public education.
Fact is, E!’s production budget is not taken from tax payers and I’m pretty sure that they money would have been allocated toward producing more episodes of E! True Hollywood Story, or maybe increasing the salary of some of their other celebreality stars. We would have never seen that money anyway, so why not allocate to funds to the network’s biggest star on what has been presented to us as the biggest day of her life?
Here’s the thing: If so many of us didn’t love or love to hate every minute of Kardashian-fueled entertainment, the televised wedding and the massive paycheck that came along with it wouldn’t have happened.
Every day there are celebrities getting married, fighting and splitting up, and we choose to care or not to care about these stories as they come down the pipeline. For whatever reason, we have decided that the Kardashians are interesting and worthy of our time and therefore, they are allowed to capitalize on that and throw it back in our faces on a whim. It’s not their fault, it’s ours. All 4.4 million of us. And some of us don’t feel guilty about it.
My love affair with the Kardashians has gone from intense to nearly dead over the last several years, so I simply can’t sit by and pretend that I am not partially responsible for this special four hour televised event OR the demise of the marriage. I watched it, I loved it, I mocked it and I understand why it all burst into flames.
Thing is, people, especially those who we glamorize and provide with a sense of celebrity by our interest in their freakish lives, are not perfect. If Susie and Pete from down the block can’t stay married after five years or five months or five minutes because they realized they made the common human error of thinking something would last forever, when life itself (especially in today’s society, which is so strongly affected by our senses of narcissism and deep-rooted fear) is so riddled with conflict and general panic, who are we to judge Kim Kardashian?
If anything, I think that the woman was smart to file for divorce after realizing that she was not going to drag someone through her life who was going to be miserable or to be dragged through his life at the same expense. In some ways, a two month marriage that’s full of misery and conflict seems more responsible to end than a two-year or twenty-year marriage full of conflict and pain. Especially when there could have been children and finances and families that could have been further destroyed by years of just “trying to make it work.”
Let’s face it: That wedding a fun watch. A fun and, at times, completely disgusting watch. But anyone who sat there on their couch and witnessed it could have told you that it would end the exact same way that any episode in the history of the franchise has ended: happily. E! paid for a fairytale and they got it. It’s upsetting, annoying and a little bit disgusting because now we’re reading about their true reality, but since when has true reality been anything more than upsetting, annoying and a little bit disgusting?
I got exactly what I wanted when I watched that wedding special, even though I kept poking my roommate in the side and telling her that she didn’t really love him and that it would end in flames. I got my black-and-white themed wedding with Lindsay Lohan in attendance and Khloe making crass comments all the way through the exchange of vows.
And now? I guess I don’t really care what happened. I guess I don’t view this as an example of what would happen with any idiot who’d be willing to put himself through a lifetime of me and vice versa. I guess I just thought of it as four easy hours of TV I could breeze through partially drunk when I was trying to forget the upsetting, annoying and a little bit disgusting aspects of my own life.
Frankly, I think the lady delivered the goods and we don’t need to throw stones.
Featured image via JustJared.com
I think people have a slight misconception on how media works. The media only shows us what we want to an extent, but for the most part the media does a pretty splendid job of making us believe we want what they want us to want. That is the aim of advertising, after all. As for the $18m, that was never going to go to anything other than E!’s agenda. If there is anyone to be mad at, it isn’t the Kardashians.
It’s the people who lobby the media to play this crap in order to pacify political unrest.
I never thought about it until reading the replies…but yes this is not only a disgusting waste of money…. California is cutting EDUCATION by another 60 million dollars….. Closing down schools…… But for those fighting for the right the right to legally be wed this is a slap in the face….. PLEASE can hello giggles be a Kardashian free zone???? Where can I go to hide from this fame monster..and her fame hungry soul selling family?
The one and only reason I am upset is because I wanted to see what a baby frankenstein looked like gosh dang it.
And I can’t get four hours of my life back.
I agree Molls, and Georgina, but I’m still a little sad about how much attention these shows get- especially when what happens in their lives becomes a top story on the news. I wish people would love these shows and their stars a little less…
Props Molly. I completely agree and don’t really understand why people who supposedly don’t care about the Kardashians are letting this concern themselves so much. All kinds of people all over the world have and do take marriage lightly, which in my opinion is never ok. No matter who they are but in the case of a ‘reality star’ with that many factors influencing their every mood what did you expect? I watch the show and I enjoy it because I don’t take it seriously, it’s entertaining because that is exactly what it is meant to be. And obviously millions of others agree. I’m not even going to bother defending the Kardashians because it doesn’t even matter. What matters is how seriously you choose to take it and how much you let it concern you. To me those people spending their time and energy publicly complaining about it are only making it worse by giving it more attention and showing they actually take it seriously. It’s meant to be light entertainment and I can’t speak for everyone but that is how I take it. If you don’t believe it deserves any attention, then don’t give it any.
This is just another slap in the face to those who can’t get married. Since they broadcast it on TV, get paid by the network, and then flippantly (when the ink on the check is dry) divorce without batting an eye, makes me wonder. If you are so worried about the sanctity of marriage, does reality TV get a pass?
It’s just so sad that Kim and Kris can get married and then call it quits 72 days later, while countless Americans can’t even get married. People talk about destroying the sanctity of marriage, and that is how I look at this. I get it, they regret the decision. But if they truly loved each other 72 days ago, why not TRY to make it work. It just kills me that people do this.
Four things:
1. The waste of money is insulting to humanity. The millions of dollars paid out for the wedding special could have been millions of dollars donated to animal shelters, clinics or schools.
2. Why can a reality tv personality be paid to marry someone and then get divorced 72 days later as a publicity a stunt and yet LGBT couples are not allowed to marry in California?
3. What about all the 12 year old girls who look up to these fame-whores? They don’t know it’s not reality.
4. I can’t believe I just wasted minutes of my life on this ridiculous crap.
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I tend to also blame us for the obsession with reality television and celebrities and fame. I’ve only watched about 47 minutes of the Kardashian empire and I feel guilty about that. (This is not to boo on those of you who love these crazy kids. Let it be known that if Lauren Conrad ever returns to television, I will be ON IT.) But we love stuff like this and we always seem to forget that when a celebrity (using this term semi-loosely) does something that we disagree with. They’re not necessarily famous and plastered on the cover of every grocery store checkout line magazine stand or renewing their television contract for us. This is how they make their living and how they afford their lifestyles. Want a new Bentley or a new addition on that giant house? Sell those photos to Us Weekly! And it’s as simple as that. Anyone’s motives or what really happened isn’t really relevant – to me, anyways.
right on, molls! before i read this, i was actually very upset with the whole situation and very much agreed with robs campaign.. but you are absolutely correct: the people pretty much got what they wanted and now, kim’s trying to regain happiness and feel comfortable with her life! so thank you!!
I pretty much agree to the tee with the way you explained this. Thanks for approaching this with some humor and a light heart. Everywhere I turn people are slamming them. Certainly not something to get worked up about and honestly, like you said, who didn’t see this coming?! Thanks for sharing your take on this!
This marriage was never meant to last, she got married for publicity and money and divorced for the same reason. Does anyone really think every move by her is not to capitalize and add to her fame? She sold her life and soul for fame. I’m not convinced her sex tape wasn’t leaked by her to catapult her into the public eye, no one heard of her until after that. Nothing about this girl is real or genuin.
Octomom had a tun of kids for her 15 min, That 16 year old married that 50 something year old to try and get fame. I don’t see why someone would get married and divorced to promote a show and money, (watch the next episode of there show to see why it didn’t work). Fame/money = power and power can be like a drug. I already had a very low opinion of this woman anyway so maybe I’m wrong and my opinion is one sided. I’m not the best at dating ether. Just don’t marry one of the losers.
I find it hard to believe that even the biggest fame whore would DIVORCE for publicity. She’s getting ripped to shreds right now; I doubt she’s really enjoying the experience. I think she honestly got caught up in the fairy tale herself. I know I’ve dated total losers just because I was too goo-goo-eyed to see that they were actually drug addict / alcoholic / felons (I’m SUPER good at dating!).
they gave their guests good wine – I’m down with that http://grapefriend.com/2011/10/31/kardashian-rocky-wine-rocky-marriage/
I completely agree, especially with the part about condemning celebrities for their divorces when us “normal people” are no better. Marriages end, it’s always sad, and just like it’s not our business why Susie and Pete from down the street didn’t work out, it’s not our business to dissect Kim and Kris, as badly as we might want to. People will argue that if they didn’t want the world talking about them, then they shouldn’t have made it public. You don’t have to explain your divorce to every person to attended your private wedding, so why should they explain theirs to the 4.4 million who watched? It’s the same thing, just on two different scales.
Divorce is sad. I wish we could all leave it at that.
True, but those of us who don’t choose to follow celebrities’ lives and add to their fame & fortune can certainly be disgusted by the idea of throwing so much money away that could have been better spent.
The money belonged to E. Let’s not pretend they were ever going to give it to cancer research or feed the starving. We can’t choose how lame Entertainment networks spend their millions, sadly.