{"id":6769,"date":"2016-03-07T02:07:45","date_gmt":"2016-03-06T20:37:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6769"},"modified":"2016-03-07T02:07:45","modified_gmt":"2016-03-06T20:37:45","slug":"keeping-up-with-the-kardashians-a-sincere-look-at-the-first-family-of-american-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=6769","title":{"rendered":"Keeping Up With the Kardashians: A Sincere Look at the First Family of American Controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"\nS<\/span>ince it began, 2020 has felt like the dawn of a new and more terrible era based more on science fiction than reality. We\u2019re simultaneously dealing with a global pandemic where experts and epidemiologists are ignored by governments; an Orwellian nightmare of digital disinformation; and wildfire-ravaged skies that look like something out of Blade Runner 2049. And now, we\u2019re bidding goodbye<\/a> to another type of reality this year, in the form of the finale of Keeping Up With the Kardashians<\/em>. The show\u2019s twentieth and last season is set to air in 2021, marking the end of a 16-year run that few would ever have predicted.\n\nToday, the Kardashians and their affiliate branch, the Jenners, are household names around the world, and the sprawling family has always found a way to stay relevant in entertainment news. Like a relay race, different members have picked up plotlines for KUWTK<\/em> over the years: Most recently, youngest sister Kylie came to global attention last year when Forbes named her the youngest self-made billionaire<\/a> thanks to her bestselling line of lip kits \u2014 and again this year when the legitimacy of her billionaire status came into question.\n\nHer elder sister Kendall is known for being a top model who hangs with the Hadid sisters, while the three Kardashian sisters (and brother Rob, forever in parentheses) fraternise with the likes of Jay-Z and Bey, LeBron James, J Law, J Lo and beyond.\n\nBut the early days of Kardashian fame were a far cry from the mega-rich Balmain-clad glamazons they\u2019ve become. Kim, the middle sister of late lawyer Robert Kardashian\u2019s four children, was a hanger-on friend of hotel heiress Paris Hilton in the early 2000s. Her family had some notoriety due to her father’s successful defence of OJ Simpson, but overall, Kim and her family were barely supporting characters in the first blush of the reality TV heyday, with dubious fashion sense and a desire to be included that made them – dare I say it? – relatable. Even with Kim\u2019s leaked sex tape<\/a>, in these times of Onlyfans and WAP, the Kardashians look almost wholesome in retrospect.\n\n

The early days of Kardashian fame were a far cry from the mega-rich Balmain-clad glamazons they\u2019ve become.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nA surprising sensitivity\u00a0<\/strong>\n\nThis was the charm of watching KUWTK<\/em> too. From eldest Kourtney\u2019s on-and-off issues with baby daddy Scott Disick that dominated the early seasons, to Kim\u2019s short-lived and highly publicised marriage, from Rob\u2019s depression<\/a> to fan favourite Khloe\u2019s perpetual misfortune in love, there is a strange sincerity in this meticulously produced peek into the lives of one of America\u2019s most controversial families.\n\nAnd the Kardashian clan could be surprisingly progressive, keeping up with the conversation as adroitly as the show’s name suggests. When Caitlyn Jenner (formerly known as Bruce) came out as trans in 2015, she publicly transitioned in the show and released a special about the family coming to terms with her new identity. Kim\u2019s struggles with fertility<\/a> and IVF after her marriage to Kanye West were also tackled with a sensitivity many might find surprising. Above all, KUWTK<\/em> insisted, the Kardashians were a family who had each other\u2019s backs.\n\nIt\u2019s only in the last few years that the cracks between family and business have emerged, in a series of meta-arguments on the show about the show. Promotions involve the sisters coyly dropping hints on talk shows about what\u2019s to come in new seasons, even as their personal tragedies and triumphs are splashed across tabloids. This brand of candid capitalism<\/a> is only furthered by the family\u2019s mammoth social media presence, replete with ridiculously edited photos that nevertheless claim to be authentic representations of them. The exhaustion of such an uncompromisingly public existence seemed to catch up with Kourtney, who wanted out of KUWTK to focus on her family.\n\n

The Kardashian clan could be surprisingly progressive, keeping up with the conversation as adroitly as the show’s name suggests.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nKardashian fatigue\u00a0<\/strong>\n\nWas this the moment Kardashian fatigue well and truly set in for audiences, when it did for some of the family members themselves? On one hand, the Kardashians have gone beyond the reality show and become superstars in their own right. Have we also stopped needing more carefully cultivated, bare-it-all, famous-for-being-famous celebrities in 2020?\n\nThe Kardashians might have been our very first influencers, spawning a movement that will outlive KUWTK<\/em>. But this year has also seen us, the viewing public, no longer being interested in celebrity for celebrity\u2019s sake. An ill-advised cover of \u201cImagine\u201d by a host of sur-challenged Hollywood actors, featuring their sumptuous homes and gardens in the background, wasn\u2019t so much inspiring as it was irritating to ordinary people going through crisis. In India, film fans have steadily lost patience with privileged Bollywood stars, with the growing outcry over nepotism<\/a> coming to a head this year. Fame is a fickle friend, and in a world on fire, celebrities are often a reminder of the gulf between the haves and have-nots.\n\nThe demise of KUWTK<\/em>, a reality show that defined the previous decade, is timely. Of course we\u2019ll miss the unbeatable drama and Kim\u2019s iconic crying face \u2013 but in the immortal words of Kourtney, there\u2019s people that are dying.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The early days of Kardashian fame were a far cry from the mega-rich Balmain-clad glamazons they\u2019ve become. They might have been our very first influencers, spawning a movement that will outlive KUWTK. But this year has also seen us, the viewing public, no longer being interested in celebrity for celebrity\u2019s sake.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":208,"featured_media":6770,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop-culture"],"yoast_head":"\nKeeping Up With the Kardashians: A Sincere Look at the First Family of American Controversy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The early days of Kardashian fame were a far cry from the mega-rich Balmain-clad glamazons they\u2019ve become. They might have been our very first influencers, spawning a movement that will outlive KUWTK. But this year has also seen us, the viewing public, no longer being interested in celebrity for celebrity\u2019s sake.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6769\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Keeping Up With the Kardashians: A Sincere Look at the First Family of American Controversy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The early days of Kardashian fame were a far cry from the mega-rich Balmain-clad glamazons they\u2019ve become. They might have been our very first influencers, spawning a movement that will outlive KUWTK. But this year has also seen us, the viewing public, no longer being interested in celebrity for celebrity\u2019s sake.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6769\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arr\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-06T20:37:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1599894097.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1520\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kahini Iyer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Keeping Up With the Kardashians: A Sincere Look at the First Family of American Controversy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"The early days of Kardashian fame were a far cry from the mega-rich Balmain-clad glamazons they\u2019ve become. They might have been our very first influencers, spawning a movement that will outlive KUWTK. But this year has also seen us, the viewing public, no longer being interested in celebrity for celebrity\u2019s sake.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kahini Iyer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6769#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6769\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kahini Iyer\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/dfa7873b3da2fc04ce9c2175364ca0e1\"},\"headline\":\"Keeping Up With the Kardashians: A Sincere Look at the First Family of American Controversy\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-06T20:37:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6769\"},\"wordCount\":894,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6769#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1599894097.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Pop Culture\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6769\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6769\",\"name\":\"Keeping Up With the Kardashians: A Sincere Look at the First Family of American Controversy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6769#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6769#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1599894097.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-06T20:37:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/dfa7873b3da2fc04ce9c2175364ca0e1\"},\"description\":\"The early days of Kardashian fame were a far cry from the mega-rich Balmain-clad glamazons they\u2019ve become. They might have been our very first influencers, spawning a movement that will outlive KUWTK. But this year has also seen us, the viewing public, no longer being interested in celebrity for celebrity\u2019s sake.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6769#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6769\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6769#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1599894097.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1599894097.jpg\",\"width\":1520,\"height\":850},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6769#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Keeping Up With the Kardashians: A Sincere Look at the First Family of American Controversy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arr\u00e9\",\"description\":\"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/dfa7873b3da2fc04ce9c2175364ca0e1\",\"name\":\"Kahini Iyer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/28f0aaa78fb3c2e6f74a6b9942c215b9e05c4f129048918912e608a6e3d60946?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/28f0aaa78fb3c2e6f74a6b9942c215b9e05c4f129048918912e608a6e3d60946?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/28f0aaa78fb3c2e6f74a6b9942c215b9e05c4f129048918912e608a6e3d60946?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kahini Iyer\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?author=208\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Keeping Up With the Kardashians: A Sincere Look at the First Family of American Controversy","description":"The early days of Kardashian fame were a far cry from the mega-rich Balmain-clad glamazons they\u2019ve become. They might have been our very first influencers, spawning a movement that will outlive KUWTK. But this year has also seen us, the viewing public, no longer being interested in celebrity for celebrity\u2019s sake.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6769","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Keeping Up With the Kardashians: A Sincere Look at the First Family of American Controversy","og_description":"The early days of Kardashian fame were a far cry from the mega-rich Balmain-clad glamazons they\u2019ve become. They might have been our very first influencers, spawning a movement that will outlive KUWTK. But this year has also seen us, the viewing public, no longer being interested in celebrity for celebrity\u2019s sake.","og_url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6769","og_site_name":"Arr\u00e9","article_published_time":"2016-03-06T20:37:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1520,"height":850,"url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1599894097.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kahini Iyer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Keeping Up With the Kardashians: A Sincere Look at the First Family of American Controversy","twitter_description":"The early days of Kardashian fame were a far cry from the mega-rich Balmain-clad glamazons they\u2019ve become. They might have been our very first influencers, spawning a movement that will outlive KUWTK. But this year has also seen us, the viewing public, no longer being interested in celebrity for celebrity\u2019s sake.","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kahini Iyer","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6769#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6769"},"author":{"name":"Kahini Iyer","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/dfa7873b3da2fc04ce9c2175364ca0e1"},"headline":"Keeping Up With the Kardashians: A Sincere Look at the First Family of American Controversy","datePublished":"2016-03-06T20:37:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6769"},"wordCount":894,"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6769#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1599894097.jpg","articleSection":["Pop Culture"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6769","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6769","name":"Keeping Up With the Kardashians: A Sincere Look at the First Family of American Controversy","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6769#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6769#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1599894097.jpg","datePublished":"2016-03-06T20:37:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/dfa7873b3da2fc04ce9c2175364ca0e1"},"description":"The early days of Kardashian fame were a far cry from the mega-rich Balmain-clad glamazons they\u2019ve become. They might have been our very first influencers, spawning a movement that will outlive KUWTK. But this year has also seen us, the viewing public, no longer being interested in celebrity for celebrity\u2019s sake.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6769#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6769"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6769#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1599894097.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1599894097.jpg","width":1520,"height":850},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6769#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Keeping Up With the Kardashians: A Sincere Look at the First Family of American Controversy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/","name":"Arr\u00e9","description":"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/dfa7873b3da2fc04ce9c2175364ca0e1","name":"Kahini Iyer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/28f0aaa78fb3c2e6f74a6b9942c215b9e05c4f129048918912e608a6e3d60946?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/28f0aaa78fb3c2e6f74a6b9942c215b9e05c4f129048918912e608a6e3d60946?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/28f0aaa78fb3c2e6f74a6b9942c215b9e05c4f129048918912e608a6e3d60946?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kahini Iyer"},"url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?author=208"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1599894097.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/208"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}