Should We Sensationalize the Kardashians? | Teen Ink

Should We Sensationalize the Kardashians?

February 8, 2016
By nataliebates BRONZE, Cincinnati, Ohio
nataliebates BRONZE, Cincinnati, Ohio
3 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Everyone in the United States and most parts of the world are familiar with the Kardashians franchise,  they have become a household name and often lend their name to several products. They’re admired as if they possess the perfect life and possess the key to happiness. They publicly broadcast on their tv series,  every aspect of their life that negates the illusion of perfection that is often portrayed by magazines and the media. They glorify personal turmoil and downplay serious issues such as alcoholism, drug abuse, and mental illness. The portrayal of everyday human life as shown in ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians’ has created a negative impact on society. There are numerous problems with the television show, ranging from minor to major.
One of the biggest problems that the Kardashians portray on their show and in the media is their opposition to the American dream, being that if you work hard success will follow. The Kardashians are notorious for being good at nothing, they have had everything, for the most part, handed to them. The Kardashians success has led people to believe that it’s okay to not work hard for what you want, it’s possible to be successful without working hard. This has led to unrealistic expectations out of life for everyday people that it’s easy to reach an absurd level of fame and make millions. On the other side of this, the majority of people who don't end up with lives as lavish as theirs feel grief that they work harder than these people and they aren't even a fraction as rich as the Kardashians. 


Reality shows are notorious for being abundantly scripted. The Kardashians show is one of the worst offenders. ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians’ and shows like it has diluted watchers sense of reality as they watch people's lives that are based entirely on what has been dictated by producers who are only interested in ratings and money. The real story becomes so twisted from scripts to editing that even the people involved are completely aware of the story that is being portrayed. People believe that is, in fact, reality and that is how a real family behaves when in fact this could not be further than the truth. They have successfully sold this idea to millions of Americans.


One of the worst offenses of the producers of the show is the effect that it has on American youth. The show is specifically geared towards the impressionable teens and early adults. They showcase that negative actions often result in positive consequences. They often showcase drug addiction and alcoholism brings families together and they romanticize mental illnesses. This puts false expectations into kids heads and can result in more issues down the line. There is little positivity that is shown and little repercussions for their heinous behaviors.


The Kardashians should not be sensationalized in our society. They stand for everything wrong with America all put into an hour long episode. If we want to progress as Americans, we can't obsess over them anymore, we need to obsess over people who deserve to have that level of fame and that disgusting amount of money. At the end of the day the Kardashians a creation of a television network aimed at creating the most money. The Kardashians reveal a fundamental problem with the media’s effects on perception. The Kardashian viewer is continuously fed false information skewed through the lens of writers and editors, which inevitably leads the viewer to have false perceptions of reality and how the world works.



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