I have yet to dedicate an hour to watch E's reality series, Keeping up with Kardashians. From what I gather in the previews, it really is a show about nothing. In an enviable twist, the show about nothing, succeeded in enabling its stars, the Kardashian family, to generate sixty-five million for the year 2010.
Now, I am sure you are wondering, just like I have been, how they made that money during a time when the country's economy, including the entertainment industry, was tanking. In a recent article from the Hollywood Reporter, Kim told the magazine "I have a blog that has 40 million hits a month, people leave comments: What shoes do you wear, and what lip gloss do you use? My mom told us, 'So why not be a brand for our fans and give them what they want?' Many of our ideas [about what to endorse] come from our fans and then our mother makes it happen." It seems the Kardashians are cashing-in by inviting the world to witness them do nothing but walk around dressed in couture (albeit, a little on the skanky side) and Louboutins. Their public existence is basically one long beauty advertisement starring attractive people.
This family has been successful recipients of what I like to call the Power of Fancy. The notion that brought about sayings such as: "Dress for the life you want not the life you have" (unknown), "Beauty is everything" (unknown), "I dress for image" (Marlene Dietrich), and "Clothes don't make a man, but clothes have got many a man a good job" (Herbert Vreeland). The Power of Fancy, equivalent to an "it bag", is usually evoked as an accessory and propellor of success but never the sole reason for it. I am certain millionaires without tangible professions, skills, or talents aren't what our forefathers had in mind when they conjured up and sold the American dream to the New world and its posterity. So, by being fascinated with such reality stars with no discernible skills, are we feeding the vapid beast and in turn--are we falling short of the glory of America?
Wouldn't a reality show starring someone from Forbes list of most influential people under 30 be more beneficial to our generation?
I only hope there is not a group of thirty-something’s in another part of the world, working and improving their intelligence to create the world's next biggest invention--America's super power status might get even shakier than it already is ...
