While we’re struggling to decide whether to circle B or D on a multiple choice question for a final, Kylie Jenner is stressed about whether to choose a mint or emerald green wig for her next outing.
At 18 years old, this girl has lived quite an extraordinary life whether you choose to condemn it or not. Usually when we see celebrity children grow up, it’s in the shadows of their legendary parents, and truth be told, it’s rare for these children to lead inconspicuous, normal lives. Jenner is no exception as proved in this month’s cover story in Interview magazine.
Just to give a bit of background on this publication, Interview was created by pop art legend Andy Warhol. The magazine breaks the fourth wall between the whimsical lives of pop icons and the common, plebeian reader. These intimate interviews show so much about a person — what keeps them awake at night, their raw, unedited inner thinking and minute details that completely crumble their cookie-cutter appearances.
Jenner’s interview was no different. Ostensibly on the cover, Jenner’s youthful appearance is abandoned for a mature, sensual aura posing in lustrous, skin-tight garments. The jarring Helmut Newton-esqe images, accompanied with props like wheelchairs and an unknown, suited man, are utterly wrong and not just because of her age. In an incompatible manner, this photoshoot completely contradicts the text that appears in tandem with the photographs.
I’m not an avid Kardashian keeper-upper, yet I’m enthralled to see how different their lives operate compared to the average human. The Kardashians and Jenners are, for all intents and purposes, an entirely different species whose superficial facade is of the utmost importance. Up until Kylie, we only saw their lives through TV screens and tabloid magazines.
In her interview with Chris Wallace, Jenner said if she could really be herself, she’d never dress up or wear makeup. Instead she’d like to go on outdoor hikes and revisit her youthful days of listening to Jack Johnson and staring at the sky. Though so many idolize her fame and material belongings, it’s sad to see that she’s bereft of a normal existence — wanting nothing more to be like her ordinary teenage followers instead of her illustrious, influential self.
We can’t choose our family or our wealth — so what happens when an anxiety-riddled Jenner, trying to break through the chains in which her siblings worked so hard to lock, breaks free? She becomes lost.
In her interview, it’s clear to see how deep her incongruous opinions run — there’s her business-oriented, managerial side that’s a steadfast moneymaker who’s cranking out iPhone Apps and lipstick lines, and then there’s the small voice of a little child that wants nothing more than to settle down on a farm, marry a nice man and raise chickens.
How, in a world where everything is nothing and cameras are more familiar than human company, is one able to form their own ideology? It’s odd to think Jenner, who made Time magazine’s list of the world’s most influential teens, is simply a confused girl that has become disillusioned by the consequences of fame.
jlkarl@indiana.edu
@jkarl26
