Keeping Up With The Kardashians is a mindless show that has been aired on the E Network for over 7 seasons now. There are also branch show like Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami. This show delves deep into the lives of the Kardashian family. As cameras follow the Kardashians around the audience gets to see parts of their "lavish" lifestyle. This show has created somewhat of a "cult" like following. The overall message of the show in my opinion is consumerism, the Kardashian family is constantly consuming, the audience of the show sees them consume as well. This goes along with what we have been talking about with Marxism, in the fact that the mode of production determines the social relations of production or (class structure). The Kardashians are very wealthy and overly consume.
This causes the "cult" like following to consume as well. The Kardashians have stores, perfumes, make-up, clothing, shoes, books, and movies that have the Kardashian brand. The people that are so obsessed with the show are constantly trying to be like them, look like them and consume like them. This creates almost a "Kardashian ideology" of constantly having to consume. This entire show as well as the Kardashian Family Brand creates consumer mentalities. Constantly consuming like the Kardashians is not going to make people like them or as rich as them.
I agree with you that this show has created and insane amount of people trying to emulate the Kardashian lifestyle. The shows says that they are happy because they have all these possessions and the best of the best but there life is so riddled with problems and drama that it makes no sense to me why people would follow their lead. The ideas that the media puts inside people's heads are crazy, but what is even crazier is that people believe it. Buying the same phone or clothes as the Kardashians have is not going to give you their life or make people suddenly like you so why mindlessly buy into this craze?
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ReplyDeleteI agree with all of you on this one! This "Kardashian Kraze" really is out of control, like Jordan said the Kardashians have clothing stores, clothing lines, perfume, books, accessories, etc. I have seen this "Kardashian Kraze" first hand with my own cousins! Two of them literally think they are Kim Kardashian, and Kourtney Kardashian. My cousins have both the books they have written, and own numerous items of clothing with the Kardashian name backing it. To make matters worse, one of these cousins got told they looked like Kourtney Kardashian! From there things have only gotten worse. The Kardashians are a perfect example of Marxist analysis because of how tightly tied the consumer aspect is to their family name.
ReplyDeleteYour post got me of so many other things that gather this "cult" like following. It reminded me of when the Lord of the Rings first came out. I home schooled and a part of a Christian speech and debate team. The parents approved of these movies because they saw it relating to the Bible. I remember watching all of my fellow classmates obsessing over them. A lot of people collected the trading cards and had books upon books of them. Some people recreated the costumes and changed their appearance to look like the characters. I even knew a person who spoke elvish and was translating a book into the language. Then there were all the speeches written and performed from the text. I'm not going to lie, I used to think it's pathetic. I realized they were a good series but I couldn't understand what the big fuss was all about.
ReplyDeleteHowever, after thinking about it I can think of some many things, like people following the lives of celebrities and buying their products. Then I realized that I am just as bad with the TV series Supernatural. I buy the products, I frequently quote things from the show, and I have participated in researching the characters in depth. To be honest I don't know if there is any way to escape the Marxist ideas.