TV Review - The Kardashians Episodes 1&2
Images courtesy of Hulu.
The Kardashian family makes their triumphant TV return in The Kardashians, and they’re here to pull back the curtain that was behind the curtain they pulled back for Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
I can’t claim to be an avid follower of the Kardashian family, having never properly engaged with Keeping Up nor followed any of the family’s social media, but I’m not sufficiently brazen to pretend that not having seen an episode of Keeping Up means I know nothing about the group of people. I have social media (big whoop), and even though I don’t follow any of the family, I still manage to see a lot of what goes on in their lives, purely as a result of their far-reaching following and expansive multi-media empire. I have always held low expectations of Keeping Up, but for reasons unbeknownst to me, myself and I, believed that perhaps the show proved this group of people to be more intelligent, nuanced, and genuine than my peripheral experience of them through social media and tabloids had encouraged me to think. Though I had high hopes that The Kardashians would finally show me the real people behind the media headlines, I left the grandiose Melbourne premiere of the first two episodes feeling dissatisfied.
The Kardashians is a guided trip through the lives of the rich and famous family and though undoubtedly entertaining, this NEW AND EXCLUSIVE behind-the-scenes look at the bigwigs comes at the expense of being heavily manufactured. The promise of an “all-access pass” into the lives of the sib feels all too ironic – there is rarely a moment that doesn’t feel at least somewhat fabricated, or a person looking even slightly imperfect, to the detriment of the show’s claim of authenticity. I didn’t want to see these beautiful women looking perfectly made-up, wearing expensive clothes that hug every curve and running their successful businesses – that’s what I already knew of them. I wanted this luxurious, opulent, mythical curtain to which everyone endlessly refers, to be pulled back and reveal just once, someone slobbing out and giving up just like me, but alas it wasn’t meant to be.
The humour strewn throughout the show is its saving grace, transforming it into a genuinely enjoyable watch. Most funny moments come from jokes made at the expense of one or another member of the family, injecting a generous dose of self-awareness that successfully undercuts what might have otherwise come across as a wholly inauthentic production. I particularly enjoyed Khloé’s criticism of Kim’s brand SKIMS, as she complained about her “fat vagina” falling out of her underwear. Big thank you to the family for including this tidbit in the final product, verifying that modern feminism and body positivity are both alive and well in the Kardashian family.
In saying all of this, as long as watchers know that what they’ll be getting with The Kardashians is (from all reports) exactly what they’ve come to expect from Keeping Up, they’ll probably have a pretty good time with this show. It is legitimately entertaining to see how the other half lives – even if the vision is still polished and shiny when the layers have been peeled back. Hopefully in the upcoming episodes or the next Kardash-iteration, The Kardashians: Return of the Kim, we’ll get to see the family show a little more depth and vulnerability, and a little bit less perfection. I still have faith in them to give us a healthy measure of actual, ugly, average Joe reality one day soon, but we all know it pays to keep up appearances. As they say, don’t hate the playas, hate the game 💯
10/10 watch for a sick day requiring the healing powers of reality TV.
Follow Annie on Letterboxd and Instagram.
The first episode of The Kardashians is available to stream now on Disney+.