I will be very brave and admit that there was a time when I actually did think much of the Kardashians.
It was way back in 2011 when Kim visited Dubai with her mother and manager Kris Jenner, for a product launch. I clearly remember waiting to interview her, and both the stunning ladies arrived bang on time — which is very rare for celebrities. I remember being in awe of their business acumen and mesmerising presence. They spoke of their business, their association with Dubai, their future plans and a lot more.
But well, that was almost five years ago and a lot has changed since then. I don’t remember the last time I went through a whole day without reading about the Kardashians.
First it was Kim’s pregnancy announcement, her outrageous maternity outfits, and most recently her stepfather Bruce Jenner’s transformation into Vanity Fair cover girl Caitlyn Jenner, which blew everyone away.
To be honest, I salute the extremely brave decision that Bruce took after being in the closet for so many years. “I’m so happy after such a long struggle to be living my true self”, Caitlyn announced. She collected more than one million Twitter followers in just a little more than four hours, setting a new Guinness World Record. Four days later, her Twitter account had more than two million followers with another two million on Instagram. To me, this means something. It means that there are millions of people around the world who respect a person who has overcome the struggle to live a life that they truly wish for. I think it was a huge risk, especially since she was so much in the public eye even before this.
After reading this news, every single tabloid was filled with news on the Kardashian girls, their opinions, their points of view on the transformation and on things unrelated. Kim tweeted her reactions, then quickly went on to tweet her first post pregnancy public appearance, her Jack & Lazaro dress catching fire, her morning sickness, her brag about running ’30 businesses’, her “I am sooooo bored!” tweet, and you get the drift.
“What is she actually famous for?” my son asked me one Friday morning. I thought to myself and replied, “For being famous, I guess”. She, and a whole load of people like her, get famous for being famous. I see no real contribution to the world in terms of any talent. She and her gorgeous sisters just have a knack of showing up in the news ranting about different things, senseless or sensible, but ranting publicly anyway. So much so, that I want to explore my intelligence and creativity and create a ‘block The Kardashians’ app.
“But isn’t it ironic that you’re doing the same thing? Writing another column on them?” my son asked.
True, I replied, but I had to voice my thoughts.
