The TV show Keeping Up with the Kardashians seems to have polarized the public, making people either die-hard fans or die-hard haters.
The show has met with strong criticism since its first season, but Kim Kardashian’s 72-day marriage to New Jersey Nets player Kris Humphries has pushed many to the point where they have had enough of the reality TV family.
It has been alleged that the marriage was nothing more than a money-making scheme, and a petition asking for the show to be pulled off the air has already garnered more than 175,000 signatures.
The whole culture of reality TV stars being famous for being famous is ridiculous. It’s almost cyclical. The reason these people become famous is because people tune in to watch their shows week after week, but they refuse to go away when people get tired of watching.
It’s not necessary to watch the TV show to know who the Kardashians are. They’re in everything from fragrances and magazine covers to commercials and even movies. They’re inescapable.
Like it or not, the Kardashians are role models, and young girls model their appearances and attitudes after these reality TV stars who first gained public attention because of a leaked sex tape. Why wouldn’t people be upset?
Paris Hilton, another reality TV star who first gained notoriety after a leaked sex tape, also came under fire for her behavior and the image she projected to young girls. She has had her fair share of reality TV shows starting with The Surreal Life, which ran for five seasons. The public obsession with Hilton has slowly faded, and the same may be true of the Kardashians.
It would be nice to see more well-rounded families that young people could look up to. But honestly, who would watch? It’s unlikely that E!, the network where the Kardashians’ shows currently reside, would pull them off the air as long as they are making money. Maybe instead of being upset and starting petitions, parents should take control of the TVs in their homes and monitor what their children are watching.
Whether Kim’s marriage was a publicity stunt or a money-making scheme, it worked. The reality TV star supposedly made $18 million from the stunt, and the second season of the Keeping Up with the Kardashians spin-off, Kourtney and Kim Take New York, premiered with more than 3 million viewers, a record for the show. Maybe the adage is true. Maybe any publicity really is good publicity.
Or maybe parents should invest time and effort into finding new role models for their children, ones that teach young girls they don’t need to be superficial bimbos to be liked or to get ahead in life.
