Will Kendall and Kylie ever learn?

Top Stories

Will Kendall and Kylie ever learn?

As Kylie and Kendall find themselves in hot water again after being accused of culturally appropriating music history for their own commercial gain, we bring you our thoughts on the issue

By Maan Jalal
 maan@khaleejtimes.com

  • Follow us on
  • google-news
  • whatsapp
  • telegram

Published: Mon 3 Jul 2017, 12:58 PM

Last updated: Sat 8 Jul 2017, 5:17 PM

By no fault of their own (please note we are being sarcastic) the Jenner sisters have found themselves offending the whole world yet again by the sheer power of their ignorant entitlement and "celebrity." Celebrity which we keep trying to remind people has a sole basis in absolute nothingness. The Internet went into near meltdown when the sisters and "designers" released a range of shirts on their website superimposing their own faces over iconic images of musical icons and imagery associated with them such as Pink Floyd, Metallica, The Doors and rap legends Tupac and Biggie. After experiencing major backlash online the sisters issued an apology (eye roll) and pulled the shirts from their site.

Look, we've expected (sort of) that we are for worse or worse off stuck with this family to a certain degree over the next decade or two. And in a way we can sort of accept the fact that they  we will be forced to hear about their ridiculous scandals that pertain to their world - boyfriend stealing, cheating, scandalous fashion, plastic surgery related stuff or all the other stuff they've built their empire on. But when it comes to art - yes art in all its forms, music, design, writing - real forms of expression that people spend years and time perfecting - it is impossible for us to accept or understand how and why they keep trying to literally and metaphorically superimpose their image, their brand, their actual faces on these ideas. It's blasphemous. It isn't the first time either and we doubt it will be the last.

We've decided to list out all the other times the sisters managed to offend the world through their complete ignorance and what can only be called sheer greed for relevance, celebrity and money. You guys can decide how much the sisters are to blame for this.
KK Shirts
Their latest attempt to stay interesting, relevant was  their line of shirts called Rap vs. Rock. Not only did they place their face over images of iconic musicians, they also added their initials KK in neon yellow or pink. To make matters worse they were selling the shirts for $125 each - that's almost Dhs500 for a shirt! Voletta Wallace, mother of The Notorious B.I.G., Sharon Osborne, Paris Jackson, Jeff Jampol, manager of The Doors, all made public statements criticising the shirts and the Doors estate even sent a cease-and-desist letter to the sisters.
WRITING FLOP
For us writers this makes want to gag. We would be more accepting if they decided to write a book about their lives but why delve into the word of fiction? We use the term write very loosely. It was penned by ghost writer Maya Sloane who was also criticised for her involvement in the book. Their joint novel a science fiction "epic" entitled Rebels: City Of Indra: The Story Of Lex And Livia was not received well. It was a flop selling  13,000 copies while offending many readers and writers. Stick to what you know please, taking selfies.
THE PEPSI AD CONTROVERSY
What's ridiculous about this whole shirt thing is that people were almost about to forget the whole Kendall Jenner Pepsi commercial that was both hilarious and offensive. It only reiterates our point that the whole Jenner and Kardashain clan live in a world with no references to reality. In case you forgot, we are here to remind you. Kendall was the star of a commercial that exploited the idea of a younger, diverse, politically active and aware generation, protesting the police. Kendall some how solved the whole protest by presenting a can of Pepsi to the police man resulting in cheers from her peers. The commercial had recreated some imagery from real protests as well. After the backlash and Kendall issued an apology and the commercial was pulled. It was so offensive that it actually became hilarious. The memes and gifs out there will forever be some of our favourites.
IN VOGUE?
OK, so this one might be a little bit hard for some of us to blame Kendall for. Or maybe not. Vogue India has been blasted online for featuring Kendall, a white American, instead of an Indian model or actress on the cover during their 10th year of publication. In the modern age where print publishing is going through a crisis and with so many issues surrounding standards of beauty and the lack of diversity in films and fashion why on earth would Vogue India want Kendall Jenner to celebrate being in publication for 10 years? This was a missed opportunity to celebrate Indian fashion, not to remind everyone that the ideal woman is . Kendall Jenner. Not good.
APPROPRIATING BLACK CULTURE
Oh Kylie. please get a personality. Kylie has made it her signature to take common trends that have been relevant for years within the black community and then representing without any creative reimagining as her own. Her line of camouflage swimwear reminded many people of Destiny's Child's Survivor music video. Twitter went into meltdown because this wasn't the first time Kylie has "borrowed" from black culture without referencing while being hailed as a trendsetter. From wearing wigs, donning cornrows, make up styles and exaggerating lip shape and colour the African American community is constantly finding the cultural and fashion trends they have developed over the years being stolen and commercialised for Kylie's gain.


More news from