The Kardashians - An ABC News Special (2022)

The Kardashian clan has a new show on Hulu, simply titled The Kardashians. Leading up to its release, Bustle ran a cover story of the oldest Kardashian sibling, Kourtney, with the headline, “Kourtney Was Right All Along.” In 2015, Kourtney’s younger sister Kim told her, “If you had a f*****g business that you were passionate about then you would know what it takes to run a f*****g business, but you don’t.” Now it seems that Kourtney has found herself in a business sense and a personal sense. Her self-actualization comes just as society begins to wake up to who the Kardashians really are.

Although best known for their on-screen hijinks, family feuds, and increasingly glamorous lives, the family makes no effort to conceal their business savvy. In fact, their business enterprises are central to their new show that is shot in a documentary style. This stylistic choice implies that the Kardashian’s lives are no longer only worthy of fanfare but of serious contemplation. The new show asks, How did they get here? Where are they going? The show could only ask these questions after the fourteen-year run of the original series, Keeping Up With the Kardashians, during which society began to digest the Kardashians not just as reality stars, but as serious businesswomen.

The Kardashians receive backlash, as all famous people do. Some of this backlash is warranted and some of it isn't. After all, the Kardashians are successful businesswomen living in a patriarchal society. Consequently, popular discourse often finds a way to undermine their success. “They’re famous for being famous” is a common way to trivialize the Kardashian’s success. However, being famous for being famous is actually an accomplishment. The Kardashians leverage their appeal to create a self-sustaining cycle of fame: their personal lives generate income for their businesses, and their business ventures generate interest in their personal lives. No one knows where it starts or ends.

Many consumers feel hijacked. But what do the Kardashians actually do? Although the Kardashians run businesses, plenty of people run businesses and aren’t billionaire pop culture phenomena. The Kardashians are a pop-culture force that is overtly an economic force. Generally, most pop culture icons don’t advertise the fact that they are economic entities. Flaunting your wealth makes you less relatable. However, the Kardashians make their lavish lifestyle part of their performance.