When Infamy is Fame

So the other day I saw some item in the Washington Post about Kim Kardashian...and then on Monday there was a Keeping Up with the Kardashian's marathon on E! And, I have to admit, I let my curiosity get the best of me. I found myself watching the show like a Beltway fender bender rubbernecker.

Is it just me, or are reality shows getting really bad? Besides the alarmingly inane events on the show -- manager mom pimping out her daughters for Playboy shoots and brokering deals with Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis (who's in jail), 12-year-olds pretending to do pole dances, yay-I'm-not-pregnant-inspired Vegas family vacations, etc .-- the most troublesome aspect is, Who the fuck are these people?

I mean, I consider myself fairly up on celebrity happenings. I indulge my shallow self by perusing through People magazine while waiting in line at Safeway...and always buy an US Weekly, OK! or Life & Style when traveling. (Make no mistake, though, I'd NEVER actually subscribe to any of these magazines. Still, finding comfort in a trashy magazine is a lot less fattening that finding comfort in a pint of Ben & Jerry's.) I even find myself watching E! News while I'm feeding the baby. So why don't I know who these people are, and why they'd qualify to get their own reality TV show? Don't you have to be somewhat famous to have a reality show?!

Well, I broke down. Yesterday, I went and Googled the Kardashians. I found out (thank you wikipedia) that the mother, Kris Jenner, used to be married to Robert Kardashian, who was lawyer and friend to O.J. Simpson (nice!), and is now married to Bruce Jenner, some Wheaties Olympian athlete from the 70s that my husband has heard of but I haven't. Kim Kardashian is infamous famous for a sex tape she made with Ray J. (Nice!) Her sisters and step-brothers are some mix of Hollywood socialite, celebrity stylist and reality show "star" -- Kourtney Kardashian of Filthy Rich: Cattle Drive and Brody Jenner of The Hills. Even worse, the show's executive producer is Ryan Seacreast. Blech!

So now I feel dirty. Dirty like I need to take a hot shower. Hopefully I can feel better and get back to watching more wholesome shows...like Girls Next Door.