The Scene
Kardashian ‘Marriage’
Libba Smith
I can still remember where I was when I heard that Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries were getting divorced. I came home, feeling accomplished after working on Junior I.S., and sat down at my computer, not expecting to learn that tragedy had struck. I can recall my reaction, one which I went through with millions of other disillusioned fans across the country: denial, naturally, because why would such a match made in airbrush heaven ever end; then anger, mostly directed at Kris, for breaking my beloved Kim’s heart; then bargaining, in the form of countless whispered prayers to surrender my first-born if they could only reconcile; followed by a deep depression from which I have not yet recovered. Acceptance may never bring its sweet relief.
The story has since unfolded into a drama with more twists than “The Da Vinci Code.” The fairytale wedding has descended into a whirlwind of betrayal, wild accusations, dramatic meetings and emotional press releases. It seems that every day a new piece of the puzzle is being revealed, and America is riveted. You can’t make up this kind of drama. Or can you?
Kim Kardashian made over seventeen million dollars on her wedding. For that kind of money, I would seriously consider marrying Mel Gibson, let alone an NBA player. Kim played a princess for weeks, arranging the lavish details of her wedding and having emotional moments that completely catered to America’s appetite for beautiful people and happy stories. Now the country is feeling betrayed at the rumor that her entire wedding may have been a sham, but I don’t understand why. Didn’t she give us exactly what we’ve been watching for years? She may have shrouded her story with a veil of truth, signing actual legal documents rather than fake ones created in a television studio, but ever since “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” became a success on E!, I question the sincerity of even her choice of breakfast cereal. If this wedding fiasco turns out to be a fake, which I believe it was, I don’t fault Kim for going along with it; if your every decision is already on television for everyone to see, and you know that your life is entertainment for millions of people to tune into on a weekday night, why not make it real?
Kim Kardashian got her start in the business of being a celebrity because of a lifelong friendship with Paris Hilton and a sex tape, not because she rolled up her shirtsleeves and climbed the ladder of success the old-fashioned way. While I react to Kim Kardashian with the appropriate amount of disgust, I can’t help but admire her. Her career consists of tweeting and having her picture taken. No other occupation involves such little work for such a huge payoff. If America is upset that her union with Kris Humphries may have been created in a network office and not in the sweet fields of true, eternal love, it doesn’t really matter. Kim will have the last laugh in the form of a bulging bank account.
I hate that we live in a society that worships a woman simply because she can put up with having a camera in her face at all hours of the day, but Kim is the best at what she does. She keeps the public interested enough to milk networks and corporations for every penny America has decided she’s worth. A fantasy wedding and subsequent divorce is just another episode in the life of Kim Kardashian, and America needs to learn to accept that on television, things branded as “reality” are rarely real.