Susie O’Brien: Tone deaf Kim Kardashian rightly condemned
Kim Kardashian is the latest celebrity to learn that flaunting privilege during a global pandemic isn’t smart. There’s nothing humble about getting drunk in G-strings and hugging dolphins in Tahiti, writes Susie O’Brien.
Susie O'Brien
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Don’t hate Kim Kardashian because she’s rich, beautiful and famous.
Hate her because she is tone-deaf, stupid and arrogant.
She’s just turned 40 and wants you to know she is feeling #humbled and #blessed.
She decided to share photos of her small little birthday gathering on social media to show how appreciative she is to have her amazing life and not ours.
Her party involved a small selection of her closest friends who were able to “pretend things were normal for just a brief moment in time”.
But her birthday celebrations have nearly broken the internet, because she didn’t just have a humble gathering, but a multimillion-dollar party on a private island. Guests were flown in via private jet, subjected to two-weeks of quarantine and then, as she described it on Instagram, they “danced, rode bikes, swam near whales, kayaked, watched a movie on the beach and so much more”.
As many celebrities have found out the hard way, flaunting privilege in the middle of a global pandemic isn’t that smart.
Former WAG, broadcaster and business icon Bec Judd was given a taste of the same reaction. Judd occupied herself during lockdown by posting glam shots of her in pieces from her exercise wear brand alongside photos of her kids in the spa or playing cricket in her luxurious living room.
But the minute she strayed into more political territory by calling Premier Dan Andrews “Dictator Dan” or wearing a Free Melbourne T-shirt, she copped it.
People cooped up for months in public high-rises or tiny apartments without gardens or outer-suburban houses miles from anywhere resented Judd appearing to complain about lockdown life.
A $7 million house, a pool and tennis court sure make lockdown a little easier to bear.
Negativity against Judd’s guest appearance on The Block showed this resentment hasn’t abated.
I understand the sentiments. On the short appearance on the show as a guest judge, Judd didn’t say or do anything wrong.
But by discussing how the apartments in her home suburb of Brighton should look, she reminded people of her own privilege.
It’s been reported that the show’s producers were impressed by Judd’s performance but I’ll bet they weren’t impressed by the reaction.
Times have changed and we’ve got other things on our minds than bikini selfies, Brighton real estate and birthday parties.
Kardashian has made people so mad because she tried to dress her birthday post up as proof that she’s humble and down-to-earth.
Kardashian wrote: “for most people, this is something that is so far out of reach right now, so in moments like these” but this didn’t stop her from posting multiple photos of her and her friends on the beach looking relaxed and happy.
No masks, no social-distancing and no worries.
“There is not a single day that I take for granted, especially during these times when we are all reminded of the things that truly matter”.
For her the things that “truly matter” appear to be lording it over everyone else, flashing her cash and parading her privilege for everyone else to see.
In posts she talked about appreciating what a “simple luxury it was to be able to travel and be together with family and friends in a safe environment”.
This trip was no “simple luxury”.
A simple luxury at this time is stocking up on essentials at Kmart, or popping into a friends’ house without checking the back yard for police drones, or having a meal out with the family.
It’s not dropping five million dollars to fly your mates to a private island.
Who’s got two weeks to take off work to quarantine anyway?
The rest of us are still stuck at home marvelling at how crap we look in zoom work meetings, working out how to have friends over without breaking the new rules and lining up dutifully outside shops.
That’s our new normal, not getting drunk in G-strings and hugging dolphins in Tahiti. Or chartering an 88-seat jet for 30 people. Or partying at a $30,000-a-night villa.
Kardashian says: “I realise that I am humbly reminded of how privileged my life is.”
But that doesn’t stop her from sharing multiple photos parading her privilege.
It’s not a case of #thisis40. But #thisisobnoxious.