14 DAY TRIAL // The weekend started on a very high note for Kim Kardashian as Vogue US, the prestigious fashion publication also known as the Fashion Bible, revealed its latest cover, which she finally graces. It’d been years the Kim K had tried to land it and Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour had opposed it because she thought reality stars had no place in a fashion publication.
What changed is that Kim is now engaged to rapper Kanye West, so, after years of trying to make a serious name for herself, she’s finally seeing her efforts come to fruition because Kanye has legitimized her.
If anything, Kim K is proof that everything is possible if you work hard enough at it. She’s also the perfect example of how you can build an empire on a trash, if you have the right strategy to make it happen.
Getting a foot in the door
Kim’s first brush with fame came for being her father’s daughter. The late Robert Kardashian defended O.J. Simpson in the trial in which he stood accused of brutally murdering his wife and her friend, one of the most publicized and controversial criminal cases ever in showbiz. Simpson got off on what many still consider a technicality.
In the early 2000s, Kim Kardashian started making regular headlines, though not on her own just yet. At the time, it was Paris Hilton who was the hottest celebrity on the scene, the “it girl” who could make the world spin around her with just a flick of the finger. Kim was her friend (BFF is the term Paris preferred) and, for the time being, she had to content with living in her shadow.
Still, there were many who noted the exotic beauty of this dark-haired woman of Armenian descent, who had the perfect hourglass silhouette, an ample derrière, gorgeous eyes, full lips, and a beautiful smile. They paid attention whenever she was around because she seemed to represent the exact opposite of what Hollywood deemed a “perfect” woman, physically speaking.
Kim’s breakthrough came in February 2007 when, ripping a page out of Paris’ book on how to achieve fame, she (allegedly) leaked her own homemade adult tape, “Kim K Superstar.” Only Kim did it much better than Paris, which probably explains why she’s still around (and very good at it), while Paris’ star has faded considerably.
Word online has it that it was Kim’s own mother Kris Jenner, who also acts as her manager, that handled every aspect of the leak, from the actual shooting of the tape to how it was distributed and the stories in the weeklies that covered the “leak.”
Everything about it was controlled, there was absolutely nothing left to chance. After all, you only get one chance at this, so Kim and her team made sure she wouldn’t mess up.
Banking on it
Once the tape was out, Kim became the hottest star around and she moved quickly to bank on this sudden (but not unexpected) boost in interest. By October, she and her entire family had already signed a deal with E! for a family reality series, which is still on air today and, more importantly, shows no signs of being axed anytime soon.
In an industry as fickle as that of showbiz, getting people to talk about you is not the hardest part, though, in Kim’s case, it did imply showing more of herself than most of us would be comfortable showing on camera. Getting people to stay interested in you and to take you seriously are the more difficult parts.
Kim’s mission now was to prove that she was more than what people had seen on the infamous tape, so she set about it in an apparently honest way, through a reality show. Meanwhile, as more and more people tuned in to catch up with the (scripted) adventures of this numerous and drama-filled family, she also expanded her business into fashion and beauty.
By 2010, Kim was an international hit, with accomplishments like fashion and jewelry designer, actress, singer, and reality star under her belt. One year later, she managed to become an even bigger star as she turned her marriage to Kris Humphries and divorce 72 days later into one of the the biggest events in showbiz, which made her millions richer and got her more media attention than she could have ever imagined.
She was far from done, though: it was when she started dating longtime friend Kanye West in October 2012 that Kim began to be taken seriously, when people realized that she wasn’t just a flash in the pan. She’s been riding the rollercoaster of fame ever since and she’s enjoying the ride so much she will certainly not get off it soon.
Kanye legitimized Kim in a way that her efforts so far couldn’t do. He is an annoying loudmouth and a world-class narcissist but he’s also a great artist and, for that, he has people’s respect. When Kanye speaks of Kim and calls her the most amazing lady he has ever met, the world stops and listens and, at the same time, wonders if they hadn’t misjudged her all these years.
Because, you see, at the end of the day, Kim isn’t really all that. Undeniably, she is rich and famous, but she is so for just being herself and for selling herself and her life whichever way possible. She has no actual talent to speak of (she can’t sing or act to save her life, and isn’t really a designer in the true sense of the word), unless we consider she’s very talented at selling us a version of her that’s endlessly fascinating.
Keep the wheels spinning
At the end of the day, Kim K is just a girl who dared to dream big and then went ahead and filmed herself during a heated lovemaking session and sold the tape to the highest bidder to get there. She’s not talented, she’s not particularly smart or well-spoken, she has no inspiring goals in life, and she’s not a girl’s mother’s role model.
But she gets stuff done, she’s doing her thing. My guess is that Kim won’t be going away anytime soon: now that she is a mother and is about to become Kanye’s wife, we will witness her enter a new phase of her career, one that will establish her as one of the biggest stars of our times.
Ridiculed more than praised, trashed and hated, and criticized at every step, Kim Kardashian is laughing all the way to the bank because she knows that, as long as people talk about her, even to call her names or say bad things, she is in control, she has the power. And, as long as this happens, she is in no danger to slip off into irrelevancy.