The Celebrity Narcissist of the Millennial Generation
In millennial America, narcissism is the guiding principle. Millennials are narcissistic in the ways that they are selfish, uncaring, and materialistic. These narcissistic characteristics are seen in typical millennials as well as in celebrity millennials. These characteristics can be seen through their treatment of others, the ways the celebrities refer to themselves, and how the celebrities feel about material things (celebrities wanting to live in luxury). The epitome of narcissism in the A-list world of millennial celebrities is Kim Kardashian; she shows narcissism through the same qualities that are seen in typical millennials: selfish, uncaring, and materialistic.
Kim Kardashian is a model of typical millennials through her selfishness; she is widely acknowledged to be self-absorbed and narcissistic. In an article for CNN, University of Washington sociology professor Pepper Schwartz calls Kardashian “the Queen of Narcissism.” She notes a prime example of Kardashian’s narcissism; the release of Kardashian’s “Selfish” book. “Selfish” is a 352-page book by Kim Kardashian, where each page is a selfie of Kardashian herself. Schwartz goes on to explain why Kardashian would release such a “selfish” book; she was originally going to give it to her husband Kanye West as a gift, but then thought that everyone else would want it too. Thinking like this is what helps to paint Kardashian as the epitome of narcissism in millennial celebrities. Kardashian is so in love with herself that she actually believes that everyone would want a book full of her pictures. In her head, the world revolves around her, and being so self-obsessed 24/7 does not help. According to Lauren Hahn in the Odyssey, Kardashian even thinks that selfies are “the purpose of life.” This shows that Kim Kardashian is the celebrity model for a typical millennial, as being selfish is part of narcissism.
Uncaring is another narcissistic characteristic that Kim Kardashian has that makes her a celebrity model of typical millennials. This is shown by Kardashian as she has a tendency to neglect others, especially her family. In an article by Lauren Hahn in The Odyssey, Hahn describes Kardashian as "disregarding others feelings and/or showing no concern." An example of this is on the first episode of Kardashian's sister Khloé's new show, "Kocktails with Khloé." On this episode, Kendall Jenner (their youngest sister) prank calls Kim Kardashian saying that she is pregnant and does not know what to do. Kardashian's response to Jenner was to rant about her day and make the situation about her instead of showing Jenner the support she was looking for. Regarding this situation, Kardashian shows no signs of caring for Jenner as she does not acknowledge how Jenner might feel. She only cares about what she feels, she does not take into account the feelings of anyone besides herself. There is a similar situation on season three episode one of "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" where Kardashian is uncaring towards another member of her family. In this episode, Khloé Kardashian is arrested and forced to serve time in jail. While Khloé is getting arrested, Kim Kardashian is taking selfies and not showing any signs of caring about her sister’s situation. In this way, Kim Kardashian shows that she does not care about anyone but herself. She also exhibits narcissism in this way through her lack of caring, providing more evidence that she is the celebrity model of typical millennials.
Along with being selfish and uncaring, Kim Kardashian is materialistic. Kardashian prides herself on having the best of everything. Kim Kardashian shells out millions of dollars on her purchases, making sure that she gets the best of the best. According to Char Adams and Aurelie Corinthios for People Magazine, Kardashian’s engagement ring cost around $3 million. For the wedding ceremony, Kardashian spent half a million dollars on her wedding gown. Almost all of the real estate (homes, apartments, villas, etc.) owned by Kardashian and her husband cost in the tens of millions of dollars range. Kardashian is no stranger to spending millions of dollars to live the life of luxury she thinks she deserves. She is known for having the best clothes, cars, makeup, etc. Kardashian wants to be known for having the most expensive things: she wants to have things that other people cannot. Kim Kardashian is the best example of typical millennials through her materialistic tendencies as this is what guides millennials; millennials are materialistic through their obsessions with their own materials things like that of cell phones, cars, clothes, etc.
Through the characteristics of selfishness, lack of caring, and being materialistic, Kim Kardashian is the prime example of typical millennials. Kardashian is the quintessence of narcissism; she is obsessed with herself, she is uncaring towards her family and shows them no signs of love, and she is obsessed with having what everyone else cannot. Kardashian exemplifies narcissism in the celebrity world and actually prides herself on it. Kim Kardashian is the narcissistic celebrity of the millennial generation.
