You may not know who the leading GOP candidate is or what’s going on in Greece right now, but I bet you’ve heard that Kim Kardashian broke up with Kris Humphries on Monday.
The Kim Kardashian crisis (or Krisis, as they would probably say) is the latest controversy in the long-running debate around whether reality TV is a harmful form of entertainment or not. Reality stars hold considerable power. Brand experts place Kim Kardashian and Snooki as the top celebrity brands with which fans identify. The fact is, the extent to which reality TV permeates national consciousness and the lack of concern about the messages most shows are conveying make the issue one that merits more scrutiny. Shows that address authentic social issues realize reality TV’s true potential, but shows that exploit its popularity degrade the genre.
It’s unclear what message “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” intends to portray. Sometimes the show is framed so that we’re laughing at the family’s antics, like Kim going to get her butt X-rayed to prove she didn’t get implants. But often the makers of the show craft it so that we are admiring the Kardashians, as conflicts within the family often culminate in an affirmation of family unity and the importance of sticking by each other.
Despite the show’s strong suggestion of the admirable quality of the Kardashian family’s values, the family’s accompanying branding is nothing short of shameless. The family earns a reported $65 million per year from their “Kardashian empire,” which includes commercials, clothing lines, fragrances and their various E! reality series. The Kardashian sisters have a combined 15 million twitter followers and are mobbed by fans wherever they go.
Although reality TV often serves as a ratings-generator capitalizing on our voyeuristic fascination with other peoples’ lives and a marketing tool for celebrities, it also has the ability to pursue nobler causes that scripted television does not. Issues that sitcoms or dramas wouldn’t dare tackle come up in the melange of reality TV. MTV’s quasi-documentary series “True Life” and similar shows like AE’s “Hoarding” educate and humanize elements of society that we consider weird and alien. In the TLC show “19 Kids and Counting,” the Duggars are not portrayed as fanatical Christian fundamentalists from Arkansas, but as regular parents doing the best they can to raise their large family in accordance with their personal values.
Chaz Bono’s appearance on Dancing with the Stars introduced transgenderism to the small screen. Bono said of his role, “I came on this show because I wanted to show America a different kind of man. I know that if there was somebody like me on TV when I was growing up, my whole life would have been different.” Even the Kardashian divorce has incited gay rights activists to protest the fact that Kim is permitted to marry with such carelessness and serious gay couples are not. Topics like Christian fundamentalism or gay rights are much too heavy for most scripted shows to attempt, but the fact they are cropping up in discussions surrounding reality TV demonstrates the power reality shows have to reflect societal undercurrents.
Kim Kardashian has received intense criticism for filing for divorce after just 72 days of marriage, with headlines that declare she’s making “a mockery of marriage.” The hype that her divorce is causing and the amount of criticism being directed at her shows the effect she has on society and the extent to which we are taking her seriously. If reality TV is becoming such a pervasive force in society, it needs to be more closely critiqued. The subjects of reality shows and the manner in which they are portrayed matter.
Natalie Friedman is a Weinberg senior. She can be reached at [email protected]
