Keeping Up With the Kardashians

[Imperfect1]

Can you imagine being Kendall and Kylie, who are still teenagers, and having your mom put out a racy book about her past extra-marital affairs? I realize this happened before she was married to their father, but still...ick. Not that their father is immune to such things either, but at least he's not actively out there promoting a book that describes the less savory aspects of his past. I really think Mama Kris would promote absolutely anything so long as it made money. She just doesn't seem to have any boundaries at all, nor does she get that kids grow up and family relationships change. I remember seeing some episode where she and Kim were just outraged that Khloe wasn't going to get to Las Vegas in time for some party honoring Kim, because Lamar had gotten hurt during a game. Khloe stood her ground, said he was her husband and she wasn't going anywhere until she was sure he was alright, but Kris and Kim fumed about it. Geez, most normal families would understand that a spouse being in the E.R. ranked higher than a party for a sister. I don't think they even asked how Lamar was. Maybe they got paid per Kardashian at the party or something (though I think Khloe hyphenated and is now Kardashian-Odom).

Boy Tilden, you raised several big issues for me. First, let me say that I actually enjoy watching the Kardashians, and there are a couple of family members (Bruce and Kim) that I actually kind of like.

However, it IS pretty much just about the money, fame, and excess extravagance for them all --- for example, let's not forget that in ADDITION to insisting on having a $14 million dollar wedding, Kim was paid $250,000 to attend her OWN BACHELORETTE PARTY!!! When you talk about Khloe not wanting to attend a party to take care of her husband --- I'd bet the K family was losing money by her not attending whatever party that was. Yes, I hear that they all work hard, but their lifestyle is pretty much way over the top in every aspect.

I agree this family has absolutely no boundaries. It's not just Kris --- it's all of them. They are so inappropriate with each other and with almost everyone else that I am constantly cringing as I watch them on TV or read about what they're doing. And by the way, it's not just the Kardashians who have no boundaries. I have noticed through recent years that more and more people have 'expanded' their boundaries tremendously --- to the point that they will reveal publicly pretty much anything/everything that is going on in their lives. I'm sure that's what makes the hordes of tremdously invasive reality TV programs possible --- that never would've been possible even 20 or more years ago.

And speaking of Kris' tell-all book of inappropriate salacious details --- yeah, like any celebrity's tell-all book, I'm sure there's an effect on the other family members that's got to be rough. Poor Bruce! He's put up with so much from all of them! I don't know how he stands it. That's probably why he's not involved in much of the family filming and goings-on. Interestingly, some of my young family members go to high school with Kendall and Kylie and they have been over to the Jenner house on occasion. I've been asking if there's been any backlash against the girls because of Kim's divorce and their mother's book, but if there has been, they're keeping it pretty quiet because their parents haven't heard of any teasing or bullying against the younger Kardashians. Of course, let's not forget that Kendall and Kylie are up and coming models (and who knows what else) --- so they have their own status and mini-celebrity with their high school crowd -- so I don't think we have to worry too much about them!

[Tilden]

Here's the latest:According to TMZ, Kim flew commercial (gasp!) to Minneapolis, arriving at 5:30 a.m. to talk to Kris. She's supposedly going to talk with Kris and the pastor that married them about the marriage and the divorce. TMZ said it's not a reconciliation attempt, but that Kim wouldn't rule that out either. She's only saying that she felt she should talk to Kris face to face, that he deserved it, and that she wanted "closure."

Perhaps I'm being overly cynical, but wouldn't it have made a lot more sense to talk to Kris and seek some kind of counseling (I'm assuming that's why the pastor's involved) BEFORE she filed for divorce and not afterwards? By doing it in reverse, it looks like a move to reverse all the bad publicity she's been getting instead of any sincere attempt to be fair to Kris.

[momrek06]

Here's the latest:According to TMZ, Kim flew commercial (gasp!) to Minneapolis, arriving at 5:30 a.m. to talk to Kris. She's supposedly going to talk with Kris and the pastor that married them about the marriage and the divorce. TMZ said it's not a reconciliation attempt, but that Kim wouldn't rule that out either. She's only saying that she felt she should talk to Kris face to face, that he deserved it, and that she wanted "closure."

Perhaps I'm being overly cynical, but wouldn't it have made a lot more sense to talk to Kris and seek some kind of counseling (I'm assuming that's why the pastor's involved) BEFORE she filed for divorce and not afterwards? By doing it in reverse, it looks like a move to reverse all the bad publicity she's been getting instead of any sincere attempt to be fair to Kris.

Oh brother. Why doesn't she just leave him alone? She files for divorce and flies all the way to Australia. While there CRAP hits the fan in KarTrashian land and Kim and the family become persona non grata all over the world. And Kris who has remained absolutely quiet NOW gets the pleasure of HER company? Are you kidding me? And does she think we all are that dumb to think she is being sincere?

THIS IS A TOTAL ATTEMPT TO SAVE HER FACE. PERIOD.

[Debb70]

I pray Kris doesn't give the marriage another chance and then they televise their road to reunite. Uggghhhh. Someone please make them go away.

[Longhornfan]

Since I have NEVER paid any attention in the past to what the Kardashians were up to, I had to ask myself why this has touched such a nerve with me. And I think that it is just a culmination of everything that is wrong with this society, which is what the Kardashians stand for.

The amount of money that the Kardashians make and just out and out waste is sickening. I recently watched Diane Sawyer's special "The Hidden America - Children of the Plains" filmed on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, and it just broke my heart to see the exteme poverty and living conditions of the children that were featured on that show. If you did not see that Special, I highly recommend that you watch it. It haunted me for days afterwards. If just a portion of that $14 million that was spent on KK's wedding was given to those people on the reservation, it would make a huge difference in their lives.

Kris Jenner used the term "indian giver" when discussing whether or not Kim should give the engagement ring back to Kris H, and I immediately thought of those kids living in poverty, and Kim and her mother are quibbling over a ring!!! What an ignorant bunch those Kardashians are. They all make me sick, and I just need to quit reading about them and hope that this will eventually be the end of the public's fascination with this morally bankrupt family.

[Debb70]

Since I have NEVER paid any attention in the past to what the Kardashians were up to, I had to ask myself why this has touched such a nerve with me. And I think that it is just a culmination of everything that is wrong with this society, which is what the Kardashians stand for.

The amount of money that the Kardashians make and just out and out waste is sickening. I recently watched Diane Sawyer's special "The Hidden America - Children of the Plains" filmed on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, and it just broke my heart to see the exteme poverty and living conditions of the children that were featured on that show. If you did not see that Special, I highly recommend that you watch it. It haunted me for days afterwards. If just a portion of that $14 million that was spent on KK's wedding was given to those people on the reservation, it would make a huge difference in their lives.

Kris Jenner used the term "indian giver" when discussing whether or not Kim should give the engagement ring back to Kris H, and I immediately thought of those kids living in poverty, and Kim and her mother are quibbling over a ring!!! What an ignorant bunch those Kardashians are. They all make me sick, and I just need to quit reading about them and hope that this will eventually be the end of the public's fascination with this morally bankrupt family.

I agree with much of what you said. And to think that for as smart as Kris Jenner pretends to be, she is ignorant enough to insult the original, native Americans, the American Indians. How insensitive can you get?

I think the heart of why it strikes a cord with me is the hypocrosy with the Kardashians and Kris Jenner. They pretend to be this loving and caring family, but they treat each other like crap. They lie and verbally abuse each other and then SWEAR it's real and that is how they really are. I can't stand it and don't think it sould be rewarded. Viewers should be outraged at their conduct, not a fan of it. Viewers should have been up in arms about their horrific treatment of each other long before Humphries came into the picture. AND then we have the fake accents. Hearing those girls talk is like nails on a chalkboard for me. So fake and so phony. Have any of them gone to college?

The biggest issue I have is all the drunken violence that is tolerated in front of and around Kourtney's baby by Scott. They play it up big for the cameras and then 3 days later appear in an interview and talk about what a great dad he is! Kris Jenner knows first hand that Scott is a violent, raging drunk, yet she pushes her daughter to marry the man!!!!!!! She is shameless.

I can tolerate a lot, but when it comes to children's welfare, you don't kid around with that.

[Tilden]

The big problem for me is related to the earlier comments about Pine Ridge: there are many people in many places, including Pine Ridge, who are struggling and have been struggling for a long time, often through no real fault of their own. Even for people not that desperately poor, it's inconceivable to spend that much money on a wedding. Then, when the marriage fails in so short a time, it seems even more preposterous. On top of that, you have Kris Jenner trying to spew nonsense that she seems to think justifies everything that's happening while promoting her book. It's as if they have no clue how most of the world lives and/or seems that ought to have no bearing on their lives at all.

There's a book that was very popular in the 1950s called The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit. It's really not a very good novel, but there's a wonderful exchange in it between a spendthrift, rich daughter and her father, in which her father tells her that she needs to think about the money she spends not in terms of how much she has, but in terms of what that money means in terms of what a person with an average salary has and what they could do with it. In other words, you shouldn't buy a purse that's more than most people make in a month or more, even if you have the resources to do so. Your make-up bill shouldn't equal a middle class family's mortgage payment and so on. Makes sense to me. It doesn't, however, seem to make sense to Kim and Kris. They seem to be suffering under the delusion that they owe it to their "fans" to live a certain kind of lifestyle. Frankly, I'm fine with people who earn immense amounts of money living less lavishly and figuring out better ways their money could be spent. I'm sure, for instance, that the late Paul Newman lived a comfortable life, but he also spent a lot of money he earned to help out people who really needed it, and the line of products he established continues to help them, even after his death. Likewise, his buddy Robert Redford put his money where his mouth is in terms of supporting environmental causes and independent films. I don't think anyone needs to support every cause on the planet, but if everyone were to pick one or two things near to their hearts and support them to the best of their ability, whether through funds or time or both, everyone would be better off.

If Kim had had a smaller but still very nice wedding, which many celebrities do indeed do, I don't think people would be this upset about the divorce. While I'm not a Kardashian fan, I also have a hard time feeling like her "fans" would have collapsed into teary piles of disappointment if she'd done that either.

[ButterflyFaery]

making or wishing that the Kardashians would go away is the same thing as wishing that Khate Gosselin would go away too...never gonna happen both of these women love the spotlight above and beyond anything else and they don't care who gets used, abused or hurt in the process

[captain]

It all comes down to this (IMO) if a person can afford it or get sponsors to pay for anything, why not? Do I watch or buy anything the Kardashians...no, but they have made a fortune off being themselves. I cannot fault them for that.

[Tilden]

The problem, for me, at least, is that just being able to afford something or get someone else to pay for it doesn't mean it's even remotely necessary to have it or that there's not a better use for that money or those freebies. A number of years ago, Oprah had one of those giveaway shows where everyone in the audience was being honored for charitable work. A lot of the people who were interviewed afterwards said that they gave away the things they were given that they couldn't use or sold them and put the money back into the charities of their choice. As one woman said, " I don't need a Burberry bag. I'd rather give the money I can get for it to people who can really use it." I know Kris is now claiming Kim gives a lot of money to charity, but the last report I heard was that she gave $200,000 to charity in lieu of returning wedding gifts. That might seem like an extremely generous gift, if it hadn't been made public how extravagant her registry was or how much she spent on the wedding. Really, given how much she already has, why even bother to ask for wedding gifts? Why not just ask people to donate to charities instead?

If you're lucky enough to be able to make a fortune, especially when you make it for things as unrelated to real talents or skills as showing up at parties, I think you do--or should--have an obligation to think about what you can do with that fortune beyond buying another bauble for your own amusement. I like what Jack Lemmon said about success. If you're lucky enough to make it to the penthouse, you have a duty to send the elevator back down to help other people make it there too. The Kardashians seem more concerned about redecorating their own penthouse than about trying to help others move in as their neighbors.