One of the more recent concepts in show business is the cult of reality television. Personalities are purportedly followed around all the live-long day and every aspect of their life is laid bare by the cameras. Coupled with some clever video editing it can serve for worthy entertainment especially since central to the human heart is the inexorable desire to be party to the affairs of others. But this is just a preamble; the real meat of this blog post is arguably the greatest beneficiary of this new culture of reality television, kim kardashian. Catapulted to fame by her appearance on her family’s reality television ‘keeping up with the kardashians’ she has since evolved from the wide eyed Hollywood dreamer to a permanent fixture in the inner sanctum of the Hollywood royalty.
However, safe to say this has not been well received by some. Legions of critics have followed the kardashian phenomenon and have leveled a number of epithets for example ‘famous for being famous’ while also casting doubt on the ‘socialite’ label as a credible identity and whether it ought to be celebrated or glorified. The loathsome discount of kim kardashian by her detractors is no doubt informed by a deep seated envy born of the obvious contrast that exists between her glamorous life and their own humdrum existence compounded by the relative ease with which she has managed to attain her current station in life. But I will concede, some creative humor has been generated from making kim kardashian the butt of many jokes (no pun intended). Hatred can spawn some very rib cracking jibes.
But now the meat…
I want to emphatically stand among the kardashian faithful and support her on fundamental economic principle. (Here goes nothing). So according to Armatya Sen, Nobel prize winning economist, economic development has a very important component and prerequisite which entails the freedom for one to make choices that allow them to use the features/skills/talents that one has come to possess to elevate oneself or for their personal gain. By that token therefore, kim kardashian as a rational economic agent has leveraged her exceptional beauty and sizeable posterior (that is fodder for a lot of male fantasy) to garner interest in herself and what she brings to the table. Her affinity for famous black sportsmen/rappers/singers and their reciprocal interest in her are also in part responsible for positioning her favorably in the limelight. She is not to be blamed that black males have been empirically exposed as having their Achilles heel in that device women use for the function of sitting. She has effectively leveraged her skills, however shorthand they might be and has used that as a platform to venture further and expand her portfolio to fashion, show hosting, modeling etc.
Her repertoire has since grown in stature to great financial benefit for her and her family. The kardashian business model is the stuff that should be included in business courses for future generations where an improbable set of skills comprising a pretty face, big bum and some publicized lukewarm family drama was used to create a respectable brand and a fistful of cash in the process. I salute kim kardashian and the important applications/lessons her journey has provided for business and economics.
