Inside Scoop: A Kardashian Konversation

Our Editors Keep Up with the Kontroversial Family

“They just don’t seem to understand their influence and responsibility.”

I am not the biggest fan of the Kardashian-Jenner clan, but I have to admit that they are extremely interesting in the sense that they know how to remain relevant over a long period of time and across many mediums. To satisfy my curiosity about the family’s merits, shortcomings, and overall influence, I decided to ask my fellow editors a few questions in a group chat format to discuss the family’s status as controversial figures in the media.

Here’s how it all went down:

Marco: So before we really dive deep, what is your general opinion about the Kardashians?

Natasha: I don’t really have a huge one, but overall I think that people who are that famous and don’t use it towards a good cause are not only selfish, but have kind of messed up values. It seems like they are just famous for the sake of being famous and don’t really contribute much to society beyond uploading stereotypical ideals of physical beauty and the characterization of wealth and fame as what people should aspire to.

Anna: A lot of people see them as just socialites on Instagram, but I see them as comedians. They are all so funny! Every time I watch their show, I laugh out loud. The things they say to each other crack me up. They are just hilarious savages. People know them from their annoying posts on instagram, but I’ve been watching their reality TV show for a while now and you see a different side of them.

Aly: I don’t really care much for them: I don't hate them or love them. They just do their thing and it doesn't bother me. Obviously sometimes I disagree with things they do, like when Kim posted on Twitter about the psychic who predicted COVID-19. I find that insensitive and they often don’t realize the huge impact they have on their millions of followers.

Rachele: I don’t like them, to be honest. I’ve always found their fame to be overrated and blown way out of proportion. They just don’t sound like intelligent people. It kind of annoys me that people idolize them so much.

Marco: Personally, I am between Aly and Natasha’s opinions. I try to let them do what they want, but at the end of the day they have a large amount of influence and most of it is on the negative side.

Natasha: So, a lot of us have negative opinions of them. Why do you think they’re so famous regardless?

Aly: I think their stupidity, family gossip, and shenanigans are entertaining. I don’t watch their show or follow any of them on social media, so I don’t personally contribute to their success.

Marco: I think they're really good at keeping their name relevant because of perfectly timed scandals that coincide with the release of things like their show’s new season. Do you guys think their success stems back to Kim and Ray J’s sex tape that was leaked in 2007, not long before the very start of their show, Keeping Up with the Kardashians?

Aly: Yeah I totally agree with you Marco. Also, they have so many products and brands now that they literally touch on everything from fashion to makeup. Doesn't Rob have a sock brand or something? And I’m sure so many more things I don’t even know about.

Rachele: The devil works hard but Kris Jenner works harder lol. In regards to Kim’s sex tape, I do think they capitalized on it. They took a scandal and basically turned it into reality TV gold.

Aly: I truly believe Kris Jenner is an evil genius.

Anna: Their show started because of her sex tape. They were only mildly famous before because of their father, Robert Kardarshian Sr. So my answer is yes, her sex tape did make them famous.

Aly: Yeah, I totally agree with Anna on this one.

Natasha: Honestly, I feel like most of the young viewers who know them today don’t even know anything about the sex tape. They remain “relevant” because they represent a distraction from the difficult topics in the world. I just think it’s easier for people to be entertained and to focus on more...I don’t want to say shallow, but easy topics. And this isn’t just the Kardashians, but reality TV in general.

Marco: A lot of people do not know that their father was a lawyer who was famously part of O.J. Simpson’s defence team. I agree with Natasha about the entertainment aspect of their family: their shallowness really sells.

Natasha: I was definitely surprised when I found that out after watching the OJ Netflix series.

Rachele: I knew Rob Sr. was a key player in the OJ Simpson case, but I don’t think him being the lawyer has any correlation with the family becoming super famous. Maybe they would have had a brief time of “look at the family behind Robert Kardashian” but I truly think it wouldn’t have gone more than that .

Anna: They were only mildly famous because he used to represent a lot of famous people and they were really rich.

Aly: That is a good point Nat, not many of their newer/younger fans know about their father or the sex tape, so I guess I’d say that these days their success is due to loyal older fans, and new fans they pulled in because they distract people from the real world for a little bit.

Anna: Well said Aly!

Natasha: I agree with Rachele: those two things don’t seem to relate a ton. I feel like Kylie’s rise to fame made a huge difference in bringing them to the younger generation. Teenagers don’t even watch TV at all nowadays; they’re on social media more than anything else. So their popularity on Instagram really made a difference, in my opinion.

Aly: Facts!!! The fact that Kylie entered the beauty community was huge for them. Kim also has her own makeup line and the beauty community is huge and is a big part of their success.

Marco: Anna, you watch their show sometimes, right? Do you have a favourite?

Anna: Favourite sister?

Marco: Any of them. Even Rob LOL. Who even remembers him?

Anna: It’s a tie between Kim and Kourtney because they both make me piss my pants. When they fight, it’s honestly the funniest thing. There was one episode that Kim put her pointy ass heels on Kourtney’s new sofa and they were like cats and dogs. So funny! I guess you have to watch the show to see just how funny they are.

Aly: Yeah, I think the show works so well because they’re so relatable as sisters and show everything like all the ups and downs in their family.

Marco: There’s also a lot of memes with the Kardashians that run through social media. Do you guys find any of them funny?

Anna: I’m not even sure if this is a meme but Kim crying is the funniest thing because she always cries like that.

Rachele: Only the ones that make them look stupid. Yes I know, I’m a horrible person.

Aly: Yes definitely. My favourite one is Kim freaking out in the Bahamas. She's crying because of her lost diamond earring and Kourtney goes, “Kim, there's people that are dying!” I think it’s especially fitting these days…

Anna: YESSSSSSS HAHAHAHAHA. I watched that episode and I died laughing!

Rachele: Okay yes, that one is hilarious. She sounds so privileged.

Marco: That moment is iconic. This one is one of my favourites as well. I see it everywhere.

Marco: All of them seem to be about Kim, but Kylie almost broke the internet with her “Rise and Shine” little song meme.

Aly: Am I the only one that found that SO cringeworthy???

Rachele: Nope. It was like pouring bleach in my ears and then she trademarked the sentence like, cmon.

RiSe aNd sHiNe MEME COMPILATION!!

Anna: I laughed out loud at the video. She’s so weird.

Marco: You guys make me laugh. Speaking of Stormi, the family has some pretty weird baby names. Which one do you find the weirdest? I think Psalm (Kim and Kanye’s fourth child) definitely has the weirdest name. Like...what even is that?

Aly: They’re all pretty bad. Saint? Really? In my opinion, they think way too highly of themselves, lol.

Natasha: I don’t even want to know...

Anna: I don’t care about any because a lot of celebrities name their children weird names. Like Apple or Coco. Psalm is biblical so I find it cool.

Natasha: Yeah, Kanye likes his fake religiousness.

Aly: But I do totally agree with Anna. It's like celebrities are competing to come up with the weirdest names. Poor kids lol.

Marco: That is true, Anna. There are definitely some weirder ones if you look at celebrities as a whole, but when I heard Psalm and Chicago West (that one sounds like an ABC medical drama) I was just so offset by it. You are naming a whole human, and that is what you decide to call them?

Rachele: I think the only one with normal baby names is Kourtney.

Marco: And even one of her children is called Reign. What do you think of Kylie’s ‘youngest self-made billionaire’ status?

Marco: I personally do not think she is self-made at all. She had all of the connections and money previously and everyone to help her out with her cosmetics business. It’s a bit of a joke. I understand she put in some work for her company to do as well as it has, but don’t try and tell me she is self-made.

Natasha: It pisses me off LOL. She ain’t self-made. She worked hard...ish I’m sure, but I think most of it was handed to her.

Aly: I totally disagree with the “self-made” part. She definitely had help and started from a privileged place to get to where she is today. For me, self-made means starting from the bottom, as in having NOTHING, and still making something out of yourself. She had everything and more when she started her career.

Rachele: Please don’t even get me started!!! Self-made, my ass. Don’t tell me that Kylie Jenner knows anything about how to truly make a lip gloss. She took her millions and hired a crew and slapped her name on it. That’s it. If I already had millions, I’d also find a way to make more, but she did nothing. Sorry not sorry.

Anna: Self-made is a big word. I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t have been able to become a billionaire if she wasn’t already a millionaire.

Aly: Exactly!!! If we were millionaires we'd probably be able to do the same thing. You know what they say, the rich just get richer.

Marco: Have any of you bought her makeup? Is it good?

Rachele: Nope. I literally avoid anything with their name associated with it…

Aly: No, I haven’t bought any of her products. Honestly I've surfed her site so often and I admire her products, they look amazing but they’re expensive and shipping prices to Canada are crazy. I'm not THAT interested. I’ve heard from friends that her Kylie Skin is pretty good though.

Natasha: I actively avoid it LOL. Not that I buy makeup anyway. Some of my friends have and it makes me maaaaaad how much they pay for something that isn’t even better quality than other types.

Anna: A lot of makeup is very expensive for nothing. Not just Kylie’s. Hers might be cheaper than some others that are sold at Sephora. No, I haven’t purchased it just because it doesn’t interest me but her lip kits are very good apparently.

Aly: Yeah, for sure Anna. But I don’t buy expensive makeup in general and I wouldn’t start with Kylie's that’s for sure.

Natasha: Yeah makeup is always stupidly expensive. And I won’t pretend to know anything about makeup quality, but the fact that hers is expensive and also of shitty quality just makes me realize that she is charging that much because she knows she can, not because her product is worth it.

Marco: A lot of makeup gurus have said her products lack quality. The lip kits are the main attraction though.

Rachele: They’re overrated and if you’re gonna sell something expensive, at least make sure the quality is actually worth the price.

Marco: The Kardashians are clearly very much into the world of aesthetics. What do you guys think about their influence regarding body ideals and cosmetic surgery?

Anna: I don't think they are influencing anyone. It is their decision to get plastic surgery and it shouldn’t be anyone’s business. It’s not like they’re actively telling people they should get their face done.

Rachele: What annoys me most is the fact that they deny some of the cosmetic surgeries they’ve obviously done. Sometimes it’ll be like “yeah I did this” and others it’s like no, it’s just make up. I don’t care if they do it, but own up to it if you’re supporting it.

Aly: It annoyed me that Kylie hid the fact that she did her lips for so long. I don’t think they promote cosmetic surgery to anyone, but obviously because of their stunner physiques, a lot of people might be influenced to look like that. I don’t know… I feel like they lie about some of the stuff they get done too, which causes unattainable standards.

Anna: But it’s none of our business whether they deny it or not.

Natasha: One of my best friends has actually brought this up with me several times. She feels (and I agree) that their popularity has had so many negative effects on young people. While they don’t actively tell people that they need to look a certain way, they should be aware that their audience is made up of a lot of young women who are very influenceable. With body issues being so prevalent in the world we live in, they should realize the power they have and actively speak out against it. I think that’s a responsibility they should realize they have.

Aly: I totally agree Nat, and I think my biggest issue with the whole family is that they just don’t seem to understand their influence and responsibility.

Marco: When you're that famous, it could be difficult to truly understand how many people you are affecting. Don’t get me wrong, I am not defending them at all, because by this point they have an idea of their impact, but we do not know how fame can affect our behaviour because it is an unnatural part of the human experience. All this to say, there really is something about them that just intrigues pretty much everyone. That is really their talent, I guess.

Well, thank you guys for this interesting discussion! I hope we can have more like this in the future.

As you can see from this heated conversation, opinions about the Kardashians are passionate and widespread. But no one can deny that they cause a stir wherever they go and that is the majority of their appeal. There were so many more topics we could have discussed, and that is telling in and of itself.

Hope you enjoyed reading our thoughts!

Comment below if you have any opinions about the Kardashian Kraze. We'd love to hear from you!