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I’m a Millennial Cynic
May 26 2022
Hey Quinn,
I watched the latest episode of The Kardashians this morning while eating breakfast. I’m a big reality TV fan, but I like competition shows like Drag Race and Survivor more than I like lifestyle-documentary ones. So whenever I watch one of the latter category like Real Housewives or Kardashians, I always tend to be doing something else, usually chores or scrolling on my phone.
I thought it was funny in this episode how the b-plot was Kris and Kylie doing “normal” things, like pumping gas and going to the grocery store. Honestly, I thought it was sweet and cute. I genuinely like Kris Jenner. She reminds me a lot of my own mom, with her boomer optimism. But since I’m a millennial cynic, I couldn’t help but feel how manufactured it felt. I mean, Kylie was wearing a floor-length leather trench coat while pushing around a shopping cart.
It reminded me of the scene in an earlier episode this season that’s already been meme’d where Kendall goes to slice a cucumber. It looked like she had literally never done that before in her life. I thought she was going to accidentally stab herself. How hard is it to cut a cucumber?!
A big theme of this episode was Kim’s journey to find her new “fashion era.” She said that although she’s been interested in fashion her whole life, she used to be teased for her wardrobe. It wasn’t really until Kanye started styling her that people started to pay serious attention to her as a fashion icon. Now that he’s not doing so as much anymore, she’s trying to find more of her own point of view.
She talked about how much she loved Balenciaga. I have to admit: those are by far my favourite Kim looks. Yes, they are over the top, but at least the neon pink and full-length velvet bodysuits have a perspective! So much of what the Kardashians wear is simply so boring to me. It’s so anti-personality, all matte nude lips and neutral clothing. I think in the early seasons of the show they dressed more tacky. I kind of wish they’d bring that back. It felt more authentic to who they actually are.
I thought it was interesting how Kim said she was surprised Balenciaga approached her to do an ad campaign. She said she felt like she’d already been doing a real-life campaign for them just by virtue of constantly wearing their pieces. I know you want to discuss how Kim has become less of a person and more of a living brand, so I figured you might want to talk about that in particular.
Also, the Ayurvedic toxin/caffeine/sex cleanse made me die of laughter. Poor Travis Barker!
Alanna
Oft-Memed
May 28 2022
Dear Alanna,
I must admit that I haven't watched the most recent episode yet; I usually save it for Sunday, when I watch all of my junk tv, with junk food, while lying in bed (I guess you could say I'm not doing a very good job of "keeping up" with the new show, but I do stay caught up, in the meantime, via two different Kardashians-focused subreddits).
The thing about The Kardashian Machine, though, is you don't actually need to watch their show—and in fact, would only be getting one small, arguably the most insignificant, piece of the PR-spun puzzle if that was the only Kardashian-related kontent you consumed.
We used to consume media through print, then radio, then movies and TV. In our current social media-centred era, where the lines between fact, fiction, and sponsored ad have been irreparably blurred, the Kardashians et al. have recognized that the power of narrative now transcends books and movies. Today's #MainCharacter story arcs play out across what MJ Corey (the creator behind Kardashian Kolloquium, a multi-platform account that examines the Kardashians through the lens of academia and media theory) describes as "a mosaic of media stories being told through musical concerts, Instagram posts, sound bites from radio interviews, posed paparazzi shots and curated press releases framed as confessionals." All of that to say that I already know enough about what happened in this week's episode to feel like I still have something (or a few somethings) to say.
Disclaimer: While I know the kontent of this week's episode, I don't necessarily know the order, so I'll address the few thoughts I have pretty much at random.
I'll start with the impression I have that this episode was, as the entire season of this new show has been so far, an eerily textbook example of Jean Baudrillard's "hyperreality"—a postmodern concept that captures the inability of consciousness to distinguish reality from a simulation of reality. Kris and Kylie pretending to go grocery shopping is simultaneously paying tribute to the early 2000's "Celebrities: They're just like us!" tabloid features, reinforcing the Hulu show's new "docuseries" style, and undermining all of the above by depicting them as hopelessly (and cluelessly) unrelatable, especially when compared to earlier episodes of their E! show. (While I believe that Kylie has rarely set foot in a grocery store IRL, I'll never forget Kris' papped Costco trips back in 2014, when she was actually, at least in one way, just like me.) Kris' use of her now-signature catchphrase at one point (the oft-memed "You're doing great, sweetie!") feels like a wink to the fans, an easter egg proving this show shares a fictional* universe with their other one. The shopping itself is obviously a charade, but is pretending to shop in front of a camera even an accurate depiction of their "real" life? The one slip towards any kind of recognizable reality (by which I mean the collective reality occupied by people like you and me) is when the camera cuts to a slow-motion shot of another shopper trying to discreetly film them; at this point, the Kardashians feel so far-removed that I identify more with the anonymous shopper than with any of them.
I feel like I have a lot more I could say, but I'll save some of those thoughts for another time. Who knows? I could have a completely different take after actually watching the new episode. And either way, The Kardashian Machine gives us so many new headlines to talk about from one day to the next. I really hope Tracey gets paid overtime.
Yours truly,
Quinn
Alanna Why is a culture and fiction writer from Montreal. Her culture writing has been published in Minola Review, Canthius and PRISM, as well as in her newsletter, Why's World.
Quinn Mason’s writing has appeared in Lemon Hound, The Nashville Review, Cosmonauts Avenue, Maisonneuve magazine, and Michelin guidebooks. You can find more of her writing at www.quinnamason.com.