Today, the first rock star that America has demanded to be humble and the first bombshell America has demanded to be otherwise talented were married. And for some reason, a lot of people deeply care.
Now, some people care in earnest--the idea of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian marrying is akin to a royal wedding (which is no more or less stupid than the Kimye nuptials). But for most people, it is an opportunity to complain. Because few celebrities are as hated as these two. But why?
Let me first start with Kanye West. As I said in sentence one, likely to the annoyance more than a few of you, Kanye West is a rock star. You know what? Let me up the ante. Kanye West is the biggest rock star in the United States of America in 2014. You can argue that his music isn't rock (though it's not quite as cut and dry as some people would like to make it out to be), but for all of the factors by which we traditionally evaluate the "rock star" as a culturally archetype--which one does Kanye not fit? He has been a famous musician under two presidents, both of whom have acknowledged his existence in less than flattering terms. His increasingly eclectic records have eschewed his own popularity while still fascinating the public, to an extent not seen since Lindsey Buckingham followed up his biggest polished, smash pop-rock hit with some weird-ass experimental rock that was nevertheless a top-ten hit because apparently Fleetwood Mac was HUGE in the late seventies. If Kanye isn't the biggest rock star, who is? Dave Grohl and Chris Martin are far too nice for that title. Jack White probably isn't famous enough and if he isn't, don't even try to counter me with the Josh Hommes, Dan Auerbachs, or Alex Turners of the world. Not even close. Bono is 54 years old and he might still be the most famous musician under the conventional rock and roll umbrella. We need to expand the definition. And I'm fine with Kanye fitting in there.
But people hate, and I mean HATE, Kanye West. Some people just don't like hip hop, which is fine (I'm not pretending I am as fond or knowledgeable of it as I am straight-forward guitar driven rock and roll). But people don't hate Jay-Z. They HATE Kanye. They hate Kanye because of his "George W. Bush doesn't care about black people" comments (although his much later apology, in which he explains that he didn't have the knowledge to make such a bold condemnation but that he was nevertheless disappointed in the Bush administration's policy regarding Hurricane Katrina, is difficult to begrudge). They hate Kanye because of his award show interruption of Taylor Swift, a hatred which strangely hasn't slowed down even as public perception of Swift has declined (for largely stupid reasons, though I really don't feel like explaining that one right now). They hate Kanye because of his self-satisfaction about his own recordings. You know, arrogance. The arrogance that drove Mr. More Popular Than Jesus to write a song consisting mostly of tape loops and distorting guitars and drums which may be the greatest rock song ever made. The arrogance that drove a guitar virtuoso to re-invent the most revered song in the country. Previous generations didn't mind (you could argue they preferred) arrogance in music. But with Kanye West, it drives people up a wall.
Kim Kardashian, unlike West, is not a person I particularly like or respect. But she is also not a person I particularly revile. I find her generic, in a sense, because while I don't necessarily consider being famous for being an attractive woman to be a particularly admirable thing, it's also something I'm used to seeing. I'm not even saying that we as people shouldn't demand that beautiful women (and, as apathetic as I am to her existence, Kim Kardashian is very much attractive) have some kind of discernible skill aside from simply being. I'm just saying that we historically haven't. Does anybody care that Kate Upton is famous? Gisele Bundchen? Heidi Klum? Tyra Banks? Cindy Crawford? Do I need to keep going back here? And at this point, aren't the Kardashians basically Donald Trump without the self-righteous indignation towards people who weren't born with a tremendous head start in life? If somebody's reason for disliking Donald Trump were that he was born wealthy and not that he lacks self-awareness about his good fortune, that would seem quite pedantic, no? Then why is it any different with Kim Kardashian?
I'm not saying that you should care about this wedding. But reviling it is still caring about it. It's not radically different than Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe getting married. And maybe future generations will have absurd nostalgia for the personal lives of these two modern famous people like the present day does for famous people of yesteryear.
Now, some people care in earnest--the idea of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian marrying is akin to a royal wedding (which is no more or less stupid than the Kimye nuptials). But for most people, it is an opportunity to complain. Because few celebrities are as hated as these two. But why?
Let me first start with Kanye West. As I said in sentence one, likely to the annoyance more than a few of you, Kanye West is a rock star. You know what? Let me up the ante. Kanye West is the biggest rock star in the United States of America in 2014. You can argue that his music isn't rock (though it's not quite as cut and dry as some people would like to make it out to be), but for all of the factors by which we traditionally evaluate the "rock star" as a culturally archetype--which one does Kanye not fit? He has been a famous musician under two presidents, both of whom have acknowledged his existence in less than flattering terms. His increasingly eclectic records have eschewed his own popularity while still fascinating the public, to an extent not seen since Lindsey Buckingham followed up his biggest polished, smash pop-rock hit with some weird-ass experimental rock that was nevertheless a top-ten hit because apparently Fleetwood Mac was HUGE in the late seventies. If Kanye isn't the biggest rock star, who is? Dave Grohl and Chris Martin are far too nice for that title. Jack White probably isn't famous enough and if he isn't, don't even try to counter me with the Josh Hommes, Dan Auerbachs, or Alex Turners of the world. Not even close. Bono is 54 years old and he might still be the most famous musician under the conventional rock and roll umbrella. We need to expand the definition. And I'm fine with Kanye fitting in there.
But people hate, and I mean HATE, Kanye West. Some people just don't like hip hop, which is fine (I'm not pretending I am as fond or knowledgeable of it as I am straight-forward guitar driven rock and roll). But people don't hate Jay-Z. They HATE Kanye. They hate Kanye because of his "George W. Bush doesn't care about black people" comments (although his much later apology, in which he explains that he didn't have the knowledge to make such a bold condemnation but that he was nevertheless disappointed in the Bush administration's policy regarding Hurricane Katrina, is difficult to begrudge). They hate Kanye because of his award show interruption of Taylor Swift, a hatred which strangely hasn't slowed down even as public perception of Swift has declined (for largely stupid reasons, though I really don't feel like explaining that one right now). They hate Kanye because of his self-satisfaction about his own recordings. You know, arrogance. The arrogance that drove Mr. More Popular Than Jesus to write a song consisting mostly of tape loops and distorting guitars and drums which may be the greatest rock song ever made. The arrogance that drove a guitar virtuoso to re-invent the most revered song in the country. Previous generations didn't mind (you could argue they preferred) arrogance in music. But with Kanye West, it drives people up a wall.
Kim Kardashian, unlike West, is not a person I particularly like or respect. But she is also not a person I particularly revile. I find her generic, in a sense, because while I don't necessarily consider being famous for being an attractive woman to be a particularly admirable thing, it's also something I'm used to seeing. I'm not even saying that we as people shouldn't demand that beautiful women (and, as apathetic as I am to her existence, Kim Kardashian is very much attractive) have some kind of discernible skill aside from simply being. I'm just saying that we historically haven't. Does anybody care that Kate Upton is famous? Gisele Bundchen? Heidi Klum? Tyra Banks? Cindy Crawford? Do I need to keep going back here? And at this point, aren't the Kardashians basically Donald Trump without the self-righteous indignation towards people who weren't born with a tremendous head start in life? If somebody's reason for disliking Donald Trump were that he was born wealthy and not that he lacks self-awareness about his good fortune, that would seem quite pedantic, no? Then why is it any different with Kim Kardashian?
I'm not saying that you should care about this wedding. But reviling it is still caring about it. It's not radically different than Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe getting married. And maybe future generations will have absurd nostalgia for the personal lives of these two modern famous people like the present day does for famous people of yesteryear.
