Keeping up with the Kardashians

Relating to the Kardashians

 Over the last decade, there is no doubt that Reality TV has experienced phenomenal growth in both viewership and popularity. One of the best examples of this success is “Keeping Up With the Kardashians”, which first appeared in 2007, and has experienced increased popularity over the last seven seasons. When the show first aired, my parents declared that the Kardashians were a “dysfunctional and disgusting” family. I, on the other hand, found them to be extremely entertaining. In fact, I spent hours behind my bedroom door professing to be studying, and instead, watching their crazy antics with great delight.  I never considered them dysfunctional, I thought of them more as another television family like “The Brady Bunch”, which was a made up blended TV family that aired in syndication on family TV.  The “Brady Bunch” focused on family issues like guilt, jealousy, rivalry, and responsibility.  I would argue that while the Kardashians are a tad more flamboyant, and their issues more complex on the surface, if you peel back the superficial layers, they are a blended family, like the “Brady Bunch” and many other real American families, dealing with everyday issues. I would continue to suggest that the Kardashians’ popularity is a result of our desire to associate with people that we perceive to be the same as us, in other words people we feel we can relate to.

            Amanda McClain in her article “Keeping Up with Contradictory Family Values”, explains the relatable issue this way, “Televised “real” people and their inherent ideals may be more important than fictional characters. The familiarity of the banal everyday tasks visible on reality TV engenders an intimate relationship between participant and viewer,” (136).  Thus, one reason the Kardashians have become so popular is because their viewers consider a common bond between the Kardashian’s lives and their own.

            “Keeping Up With the Kardashians”, is centered around the three Kardashian sisters and their mom Kris.  Each sister has her own unique characteristics. Kourtney is the oldest and very pretty, but she often says dumb things. Khloe is the youngest sister and is constantly battling her weight, but can also come up with some clever quips.  Kim is the one that seems to have it all, and their mom is the driving force behind the family’s financial success. These women along with their step-dad Bruce, brother Rob, step-sibilings, and spouses make up the family cast.

            In McClain’s article, she believes that “the audience is asked to accept the people on reality TV as average, normal people, as “us””(137).  McClain’s statement gives credence to my view that the fact the Kardashians are a real family, dealing with familiar issues that we encounter everyday in our lives, makes them very “relatable”. Their actions and values become ingrained in our own and we accept them as normal.

            In “Keeping Up with the Kasdashians”, each show contains drama from both the family and their career. While the topic of each show is different, they are often situations that are relatable because they encompass normal activities, but with a television twist.  One of the first shows I remember, and McClain points out, was when Kris and Bruce Jenner were celebrating their anniversary. Kim decides to give a stripper pole to her parents as a gift. Now, who does that? The anniversary and gift buying are both activities we can all relate to, but the stripper pole added a new dimension of outrageousness or humor to the episode. Also, the fact that Bruce Jenner is not amused when his young daughter is playing on it, adds a slight element of credibility. Other episodes center around mundane topics as buying a puppy and arguments over clothes, yet still others deal with much for controversial issues like drunk driving, divorce, and drug abuse.

            In addition to the relatability of the Kardashians everyday activities, I would argue that the audience also relates to their family values.  The girls consistently

support traditional values such as marriage and family. They often speak out when topics arise regarding the family and children. While I cannot speak for men, I believe many women watch the show because they relate to the same value system that the girls profess. These values on display as women who all work outside the home in their own ventures, but when they are at home they play the part of mother and care giver to both children and their significant others.

While the Kardashians might not be YOUR normal family, (most normal families would not choose to live their private life in such a public setting, for any price), they are in fact, a real family who is taking on the same issues and problems that most American families face. They are also making many of their decisions based on a truly conservative value system, which always places the importance of family values first. I believe the issues they face, and their perceived values are what make them relatable to their audience. I feel this is the reason they have become so popular in our society and have been renewed for yet another season! We can struggle with Khloe and her weight problems, because many of us are also overweight. Parents can sympathize with Kris and Bruce because they only want what’s best for their children.  We can relate to the jealousy that arises between sibilings.  We all have friends or family members who have had trouble becoming pregnant or going through a divorce. I believe we love the Kardashians because we can relate to them. The only difference is that the Kardashians have become enormously rich and famous in the process!

Works Cited:

 7 Lessons We can Learn from The Kardashians on Life and Success (Yes, Indeed), Celes, Aug1, 2012, http://personalexcellence.co/blog/kardashians/.

McClain, Amanda S. “Keeping Up with Contradicting Family Values; The Voice of the Kardashians”, Television and the Self; Knowledge, Identity, and Media Representation. (2013);135.