For four years now, E! audiences have been Keeping Up With The Kardashians. The reality show premiered in October of 2007, and follows the life of the Kardashian family through their ups, downs, and all aspects of daily life. Reality TV has made many attempts in following the lives of famous families, but I don’t think any of them can even compare to the success and fascination of the Kardashians.
The Kardashians are a household name. If you haven’t watched their show, there’s a good chance you at least know about it. Millions tune into the E! channel to watch the weekly episodes, and even more tune in when E!’s airing specials on major events in their lives. The fascination with this family is worldwide, as people of all ages, races, and backgrounds find enjoyment in watching this family’s life play out on TV.
Kim Kardashian’s marriage to Kris Humphries seemed to be the pinnacle of all things Kardashian. It drew in 10.5 million viewers, providing E! with the most watched event in the history of the network. Fans were happy, the family was happy, but perhaps Kim wasn’t. When she decided to end her marriage after only 72 days, it seemed as if the Kardashian backlash began to erupt. People were outraged. I will admit, I was frustrated as well. I spent hours of my life watching this elaborate wedding ceremony take place, probably costing more than I will ever make in my entire life, only for the celebration to be revoked shortly after.
However, I think we all need to keep in mind that Kim is a real person. We tend to believe that everything we see on TV is arranged to perfection with flawless characters, stories, and happy endings. The Kardashians are a real family, not a specifically casted group of individuals. We all got so involved in the fantasy of Kim’s fairytale wedding that when the news broke shortly after that the marriage was ending, it killed the reality of the fairytale, thereby upsetting many people.
The backlash of the Kardashians has only gained more momentum, as a petition has recently been started asking E! to pull Keeping Up With The Kardashians from their network.
“We are respectfully requesting that your network (E!) find other shows to air.‘Keeping up with the Kardashians’ is just not viewing that we the public, would like to see from your network. Enough is enough.” The petition states.
Considering that an average episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians consists of millions of viewers and this petition has but thousands of signatures, my guess would be that it’s likely the Kardashians are here to stay. It’s ok for people to be frustrated. The Kardashians live their life in the public eye probably more than any other celebrities, making it easy for us to constantly judge them. Kim made a huge mistake. She got too caught up in the wedding and living out a “fairytale,” that she was unable to fully come to her senses until a few months later.
Contrary to what others have said, I think it was a very brave thing for Kim to end her marriage at the time she did. After having an extravagant wedding in front of the entire world, just the thought of filing for divorce that quickly to the individual seems like the most embarrassing thing. She obviously didn’t care about the embarrassment, public scrutiny, or backlash.
Instead of bashing the Kardashians over the mistakes they make in their own lives, let’s try and learn something from this whole wedding fiasco. Kim’s “Fairytale Wedding” is now contradicting its original intention. It’s a perfect example of how a wedding differs from a marriage. Marriage is about love and wanting to spend the rest of your life together with one person and laying your life down for each other. Sometimes people get so caught up in the glamorization of a wedding that they forget the real meaning behind it all. Kim’s wedding was perfect, but the marriage obviously wasn’t. When considering marriage, we all must remember the real meaning behind it. Without love, no amount of money can create a ceremony good enough to make anything last.
Words By: Gina Stornetta
