For Kylie Jenner, life in
front of cameras is nothing new. After being in the reality TV show Keeping Up With The Kardashians from the
age of 10, she got used to the life of a celebrity. So, the transition into
YouTube seemed like a no-brainer. In the same month as she launched her
cosmetics company, she posted her first video on YouTube. Unlike the average
creator, Kylie didn’t start with crappy video quality and subpar camera
equipment; her first video was a professionally filmed hair tutorial, in which
she did nothing other than sit in a chair and allow the hairstylist to do his
job. The channel proceeded to gain 6.3 million subscribers and be mostly a
behind the scene’s look into her life, including videos such as Q&A’s with
her friends, behind the scene’s of photoshoots, “Get Ready With Me” videos and
promotional videos for her brands. These videos are mostly directed at young
adults and fans of her and her family.
The video I watched was the
one pinned on her front page called “Kylie Jenner: A Day In The Life” in which
she went through what a typical day in her life would be like. In the video,
she started off in a vlogging manner using the classic G7X camera to greet her
subscribers and brief them on a day. She went on to get glammed by her team just
to go into the office and get some work done. After she meticulously picked out
a “simple” outfit composed of an Alexander Wang jumpsuit and a Chanel pair of
sneakers, she went outside and chose her baby blue Rolls Royce to drive to work
in. She then took us into her office, showing its perfectly decorated baby pink
interior. She went on to record a series of meetings for Kylie Cosmetics and
Kylie Skin throughout the day, casually promoting both her brands to her
viewers. Once she finished work at the office, she left to get ready for the
surprise party she has planned for her ride-or-die beauty stylist. She met all
her influencer guests at a private room in a restaurant in LA and surprised her
friend. The dinner was nothing short of luxurious, with shiny balloons
decorating the ceiling and cocktails going around the room of people. The night
finished off with a birthday cake decorated with a picture of Kylie herself,
and a $20,000 ring as a small gift. All in all, she did her best to portray a
regular day in the life of Kylie Jenner, and she did not disappoint.
If you couldn't tell from
my tone, I confess that Kylie is not my favorite YouTuber. In fact, to me, she
is not a YouTuber at all. YouTubers start their channels because they love
creating content and want to share that with the world. Kylie, on the other
hand, uses her channel very much like backstage access to her fabulous life. Very much like Queer Eye (2004), her channel “trains”
her subscribers “in a life of responsible and fulfilling citizenship through
consumption” (Sender, 2006); she overwhelms her viewers with her lavish
lifestyle defined by consumption, showing them her designer purse room, her
collection of cars and her exclusive wardrobe. Much like Oullette and Murray (2009) described, Kylie
clearly shows how the internet has an integral role in the marketing and
promotion of not only her reality show but also of her life and products. She
uses the platform’s reputation of closeness between viewers and creators -
something which is longed for by art spectators (Benjamin, 1936) - to give her
subscribers the illusion that they know her and can be a part of her life,
which in turn helps her subtly promote her brands. She attempts to conform to
the typical standards of a YouTuber by using a vlogging camera and recording
some of the video herself, making her seem like she is just like any other
creator. However, this image is shattered by the constant exposure of what it
is really like to be Kylie Jenner; although successful creators nowadays have acquired
some of the things she has shown, most of the users of the platform as just
normal people, and she is the farthest thing from that.
While it may be sad, her viewers yearn for that content because
of the cult of personality that has been created around her life; this cult of
personality, described by Benjamin (1936) as a replacement of the aura of art,
is what keeps her fans interested and somewhat loyal to her. This leads
subscribers to no longer wish to see someone like them on their screens and
instead seek to watch the life of someone who they have no resemblance to doing
things they probably will never get the chance to do. Therefore, in my opinion,
Kylie Jenner only holds her position as a reality TV star as she is simply
using this platform as an extension of said TV show and as yet another avenue
for which she can use her influential personality to rake in more money. This
day in the life is less
about vlogging and bringing her followers along in a normal day and is more
about showing the beautiful life she lives and adding content to another
platform; she has no real intention of connecting and interacting with her
followers. All she wants is to entertain them long enough for them to forget
that she just wants them to buy her products, consequently commodifying her
audience (Fiske, 1989).
YouTube as a new technology has innovated art both in the way in
which we produce it and distribute it (Benjamin, 1936); anybody is allowed to
access the platform and create their own unfiltered content which is then available to everybody
with a computer or a device with access to the internet. This gives each and
every one of us an immense amount of power and contact with art, and, when
Kylie Jenner takes YouTube and turns it into just another money-making
endeavor, it is disappointing. So, if you love YouTube as much as me, I beg you
not to watch this video because, although entertaining to watch, it will leave
you with a bad taste in your mouth.
References
Benjamin, W. (1936). The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical
Reproduction. pp. 217–251.
Fiske, J. (1989). Commodities
and culture. In Understanding Popular Culture. New York, NY: Routledge. pp.
23-47.
Jenner, K. K. [Kylie Jenner]. (2019, June 3rd). Kylie Jenner: A Day In The Life [Video
file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhM0BYCHL00.
Oullette, L. &, Murray, S., (2009). Reality
TV: Remaking Television Culture. In Introduction. New York, NY: NYU Press.
pp. 2.
Sender, K. (2005).
Queens for a Day: Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and the Neoliberal Project [PDF
version]. pp. 137. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/07393180600714505
Olivia, I loved your commentary on Kylie Jenner in general, and the videos on her channel. I, too, have watched the video. I do admittedly find myself infatuated by influencers like Jenner, even though I agree that the culture industry built around her and people like her also leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I think my knowledge that the world created around these realities stars is fake, yet I can’t help but feel compelled to watch it relates a lot to the concept of the entertaining real that we learned from our reading by Ouellette and Murray. Even though people like Jenner, who claim to have full glam teams that get them ready day giveaway $20,000 birthday gifts during a regular day in their lives, aren’t likely being truthful with their followers, we tend to ignore this truth temporarily so that we can be entertained by them. While I’m aware of the fact that Kylie Jenner is exploring and making money off of people like me watching her videos, I can’t help but watch them because I find myself intrigued and entertained by the content that she produces and the glamorous, unrealistic life she seems to lead. I think influencers like her demonstrate P. David Marshall’s concept of the celebrity becoming a prophet figure in modern society that represents something more than themselves. At this point, Kylie Jenner is more than a beauty and skincare line owner, she represents a life of luxury and glamour that most people will never actually be able to achieve. It’s for this reason that I, and probably others like me, can’t look away even though we’re being used. We want a peek at a life that’s too big to be real.
ReplyDeleteWorks Cited
Ouellette, L., & Murray, S. (2009). IntroductionPreview the document. In L. Ouellette & S. Murray
Marshall, P. D. (2014). Tools for the analysis of the celebrity as a form of cultural power (Links to an external site.). Pp. 51-76 in Celebrity and Power. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Olivia- I absolutely loved this post. Your slightly comedic rhetoric made this piece feel dynamic and fun. I love how you poke fun at the fact that she picked out a “simple” outfit of Alexander Wang and Chanel sneakers. That in itself unveils her privilege and her ignorance.
ReplyDeleteI will admit, I am a huge fan of Kylie Jenner and all things reality TV. Your point about Oullette and Murray strongly pertains to me. I know that her life is fabricated, but I still feel the need to contribute to her financial success. Not only do I watch her youtube videos, but I also watch her on Keeping up with the Kardashians and I have bought her KYLIE cosmetics products. If we had more time, I think it would have been interesting if you talked about Kylie Jenner and the parasocial relations that people have to her.
Abidin talks a lot about how these relations enable people to cultivate an extensive knowledge of a person, yet there is no reciprocity. There are numerous fan accounts for Kylie and I bet she doesn’t even know the majority of them. I mean, how could she. I think your point about Kylie having a cult of personality around her life relates to this. There is an obsession with her and you can see this in fan fiction and fan pages.
Overall, I think you did a great job of unpacking how Kylie Jenner’s privilege and status in society gave her a youtube platform. I don’t even think Kylie comes up with her content, let alone has any involvement with the editing of her videos.
Works Cited:
Abidin, C. (2015). Communicative <3 intimacies: Influencers and perceived interconnectedness. Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, & Technology, (8). Retrieved from: http://adanewmedia.org/2015/11/issue8-abidin/
Oullette, L. &, Murray, S., (2009). Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture. In Introduction. New York, NY: NYU Press. pp. 2.
ReplyDeleteOlivia, I very much enjoyed every second of reading this blog post. I believe the way you talked about Kylie Jenner’s role as a “Youtuber” was intriguing and comedic to say the least. I will admit, though, I am a fan of Kylie Jenner. I have “Kept up with the Kardashians” for years and have even bought makeup from Kylie Cosmetics. But, as much as I am a fan, I am completely aware that a majority-if not all- of Kylie Jenner’s success is due to the fact that she was born into fame. My favorite part of your blog post is the paragraph in which you spoke in a sarcastic tone when describing the “casual luxuries” that Kylie Jenner indulges herself in. I admit that the “entertaining real” that Oulette and Murrays once noted of is one of the reasons I find myself watching Kylie Jenner’s videos. Furthermore, the way you mentioned Kylie Jenner as having a “cult of personality” was spot on. I would like to add that many fans of Kylie Jenner are involved in a “parasocial relationship” with her. Abidin once noted of “parasocial relationships” when audiences are able to cultivate an extensive knowledge of a celebrity, without any reciprocity involved. In the case of Kylie Jenner, I believe many of her fans watch her Youtube videos not because they think they are good in any sense, but simply because she is the star in them. Overall, I think you did a great job bringing awareness to the artificial platform of Kylie Jenner.
- Madison Leal
Olivia, I really enjoyed your blog on Kylie’s Youtube channel. I am definitely on your side and was a bit irritated that celebrities are now creating Youtube channels to promote their own brand. There are some that get a pass because they actually make Youtube videos for the joy of it like Jack Black and his gaming channel. It is disheartening to see, though, a platform with so much potential be used to promote brands more vividly.
ReplyDeleteI feel like we can deduce that this phenomenon is only going to continue expanding. Micro-influencers like, Alice Marwick explains, are special because they directly cater a persona to a consumer (Marwick, 2015). This is a more profitable model being that you can monetize your videos, promote a brand, and promote yourself. Hollywood celebrities have this aura of mystery and awe because we only see glimpses of them from the tabloids or TV shows and movies. Youtube serves as another tool for them to give audiences a look into the backstage and develop a relationship with them.
There are certain effects to having Hollywood celebrities imitate this style of marketing. First, like you described their replication takes away from the aura of traditional Youtuber influencers making its distasteful. Youtube will be less interesting because of all the promotion and advertisement going on. I am personally tired of minute long monologues telling me to go buy merch. It is becoming clearer that I am more of a consumer that I am a loyal fan.- Ashley Blanco Liz
Hello Olivia!
ReplyDeleteYour blog post was super fun to read — it was witty and very well written overall. Although I have never watched Kylie Jenner’s YouTube channel, I immediately was able to connect what you were talking about. Showing off her lavish and extravagant lifestyle through a vlog format brings the audience ever closer and establishes a false sense of connection between the celebrity and consumers; hence forming parasocial relationships.
It is through these parasocial relationships that Kylie garners that she is able to sell her cosmetic line. Even after the scandal of her “washing” her face (that showed that the face wash did not really work), people still bought the product and many influencers reviewed the products as well. There were many problems that the new line of Kylie Cosmetics had, however, people who felt a strong connection to Kylie defended her.
I also think that in general, all of the Kardashians are able to leverage the concept of cult of personalities to another height. To be fair, the Kardashians aren’t famous because they have specialized professions (such as singing, acting, dancing, etc.); they became famous by chance because they were entertaining to watch. Especially because they are able to perform their very distinctive personas through the screens.
I think saying that Kylie does not really care about forming real relationships with her fan base can come off a bit harsh, especially because we won’t ever know how she truly feels about her fans. However, I completely understand by what you meant by writing that (and I agree with it too, to an extent). I truly enjoyed reading your blog!
— Jamie Lee