Noah Demeke
Professor Anderson
English 60 11:45 am TR
13 November 2014
Family Influence Over the expansion of television series, reality television in general has been perceived by the media as unethical due to the fact that reality television has a reputation of embellishing what is being seen and having a negative influence among its viewers. In the hit reality television show Keeping up with the Kardashians, features household name, Kim Kardashian, and her blended family. The show portrays the everyday life of a family who have been notorious for being the attention among the public eye. Although members of Keeping Up with the Kardashians are in the media limelight for all the wrong reasons, ultimately the show continues to generate a strong fan base due to the fact the family constantly promotes positive influence among its viewers. With the everyday stress and obstacles the common family tackles, viewers start to watch Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ who have been perceived by the media as a “dysfunctional” family to make their family values seem superior. Throughout the show, viewers’ part take in the hectic lives of the three main sisters Kim, Kourtney, and Khloe Kardashian. Viewers acknowledge that the sisters demonstrate childish behavior and verbal abuse towards each other and their mother, Kris Jenner. In one particular episode, Kris who plays the role of both mother and manager for her daughters was confronted directly by Kim for doing a poor job managing her schedule. Viewers witnessed Kim belittling her own mother and throwing temper tantrums towards her mother’s poor job of managing. Kim went as far as using vulgar language towards her mother displaying no respect through the audiences’ eyes. Although the family live a much more lavish lifestyle compared to the average person, viewers tend to embrace the show because of the fact that these media icons have immoral flaws. The actions that Kim and her sister demonstrate throughout the course of the show leaves the audience feeling better about their own family matters due to the fact that this well-known family has serious problems. Viewers at home get the opportunity to witness these families’ troubles and escape their own problems for a limited time. Even with the scrutiny the Kardashians face on a daily basis, viewers tend to respect the family and realize that the family has a strong bond, even with all their personal problems emphasized by the media. The Kardashians have been victims of leaked sex tapes, arrested for driving under the influence, and leaked photos, yet the Kardashian embrace the negative media and created an unbreakable family unit. With divorce rates becoming an increasing percentage and families being split, the Kardashians remain to have an unconditional type of love for one another and preach family over everything (Lai). One direct episode, Kim’s sex tape was leaked and accessible to the public. With articles accusing Kim of being “trashy and unprofessional,” Kim’s family came to her defense against negative publicity (O’Toole). With the negative attention they had retrieved, the family managed to make their negative attention irrelevant and created a positive outcome by land their own television show Keeping up with the Kardashian later that year in 2007 (O’Toole). The members of the Kardashian family display a connection on affection for one another that has become increasingly foreign to a reality television audience (Lai). Viewers tend to acknowledge the fact that throughout each episodes the Kardashians are faced with major adversity as a family and continue to make their negative press work into their favor. The Kardashians are known for walking with pride and having high self-confidence. Even though in today’s day in age, society is obsessed with a thin culture environment. Society claims beauty lays on the weight scale, yet the Kardashians have embraced and rejuvenated the curvaceous body type, happy and confident in their own skin (Lai). With every other model sharing the same trait of being skinny, the Kardashians have renovated the newest look having a curvy body now perceived by the viewers as beautiful. As the show continues and the Kardashians continue to book countless modeling jobs, viewers appreciate the confidence the Kardashians possess. The audience is contagious to the fact that you don’t have to wear a size one to land a modeling job or to be considered beautiful. In one episode Khloe, the youngest of the Kardashian sisters was concerned over posing nude for a magazine due to the fact she has been criticized publicly for her weight issues. Eventually Khloe confidently posed for the magazine and turned out to be a great success. In the families book Kardashian Konfidential when asked about self-doubt Kim replied, “It’s important to have confidence to be proud of who you are and to always have courage to be yourself” (Lai). While watching the Kardashians, viewers have witnessed the Kardashians redefined the word beautiful and the Kardashians give the audience hope that being thin doesn’t define beauty. Viewers get the opportunity to “be a Kardashian” for an extended time period. Throughout that time, the audience are familiar with how the Kardashians live their high profile lives but appreciate their work ethic (Lai). The Kardashians are well known for modeling, but the family have been exposed to different occupations such as entrepreneurs, business owners, authors, and much more, yet the Kardashians remain to succeed despite numerous job opportunities. In the show, Kim identified that she works 350 plus days out of the year flying from job to job yet she still has time to stay in shape. From modeling dates to writing books, the Kardashians balanced their media heavy lives and with the work the Kardashians have inputted over the years, the name Kardashian has forever become a household name. The influence the Kardashians brought among the media causes viewers with self-doubt that no dream is too big. With reality television heading towards a new era, Keeping Up with the Kardashians have remained to influence its viewers. As the show continues the Kardashians remain to be in the spotlight in the eyes of the media. Viewers continue to receive positive knowledge taught by the Kardashians, making the negative allegations irrelevant. The show is widely popular because a family who have received negative attention for years have continued to succeed and have publicly promoted positive influence among its viewers.

Works Cited
Lai, K. "The Negative and Positive Impacts of the Kardashian Brand on Society." Web log post. My Two Cents. N.p., 20 July 2012. Web. 13 November 2014
O'Toole, Caitlin. "Sure, She's Beautiful, but Why Is Kim Kardashian Famous?"Webpaint
Entertainment. N.p., 8 Nov. 2013. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.