Nickole CaballeroENC 1101Ms.HumphriesJanuary 19, 2015Television As A Role ModelTV is a very popular form of entertainment for people from all over the United States including myself. According to the A.C. Nielsen Co., Americans spend 250 billion hours watching television annually. This is a very high statistic for the American people. Mainly through my dedication to watching Keeping Up With The Kardashians, I am included into these statistics. Although I got caught up in the materialistic and dramatic ways of the Kardashians, their close-knit family and work ethic taught me many valuable lessons. Keeping Up With The Kardashians is an American reality television show series that focuses and revolves around the lives of the Kardashians and the Jenner families. These families were born in the upper class system of the United States and they do not know any other type of lifestyle. The words struggle and no do not exist in their vocabulary. Although the show is American based, people from all around the world are tuning in to this so called amazing and intriguing show. People from other countries who watch the show as well get the idea that every American acts and thinks the same way as the Kardashians. This is giving bad reputations to many innocent Americans. With the United States being one of the most diverse and prestigious countries in the world, people from other parts of the world look up to Americans. Despite the close-knit relationship between one another, this reality television show portrays the wrong idea to viewers from all over the world of a typical American family. This very well known sitcom is spiraling up with success with its ratings. Many people look up to this family and want to be just like them including myself. For years, my main goal and focus have been on this television show. There are many interpretations to the inner meaning of this show. Over the years, I slowly have been getting a wrong perspective of the typical American family. What has escaped from me is that this show is not at all realistic to any extent. All of this time I have felt the need that being like the Kardashians is the best way to be, and that is wrong! This show is also setting a horrible example to many young adults who watch it. Viewers like myself believe the best way to be happy in life is to live like the Kardashians, but this view is definitely flawed. Caballero 1Caballero 2

When I was in middle school, Keeping Up With The Kardashians was THE show to watch. If you did not watch this show you were considered an outcast. This show significantly changed my life to the extent where my future was only defined by their actions. If I didnt become like the Kardashians, was there any purpose of living? I would sit during lunch and look around me watching all of my friends get sucked into this sitcom that seems to have given our town life. At first, I started watching Keeping Up With The Kardashians to fit in and not be the outcast from my friend group, but eventually, I got caught up in the moment and found myself starting to imitate everything the Kardashians do. According to a study called the Chameleon effect done by Chartrand and Bargh, This effect is the natural tendency to imitate another persons speech inflections and physical expressions. I immediately would tell my parents that I must have all of these certain kinds of clothing and if not life was not worth living. I would also beg and plead for a phone that looked identical to the Kardashians. All of my friends had this trendy bracelet at the time that symbolized the Kardashians in a way. Everyone had this bracelet. My crush at the time was in our circle of friends and he would pay more attention to my friends because they had the bracelet and I didnt. I was determined to get his attention and fit in so when I got home from school that day, I told my parents that I must have this bracelet or else I wouldnt seem cool at school in front of all my friends. I ranted on and on and my parents wouldnt budge. I cried and stomped my feet and still did not get my way. I was upset for months over the bracelet. This phase got a little excessive. I did not notice how much of a fool I was making of myself and how much I was getting caught up with the materialistic things of life, which is not worth it at the end of the day. Eventually, I let myself get sucked into the world of the Kardashians. I was young and nave; I thought they were my idols, my heroes. Although this family is very snobby and caught up in nothing but the materialistic way of life, the Kardashian/Jenner family is a very loving and close-knit family that does everything together. In that aspect, they exemplify the ideal American family. They exemplify a strong family bond, which should permeate through everybody in the world. For example, every summer, the Kardashians/Jenners take a family vacation. Even though they travel to exotic countries, which a typical American family most likely cannot afford, the purpose is for their bond to grow and expand. They are always trying to be there for each other in the good and the bad times. This shows the connectedness and togetherness that they have developed between each other. Many people might not see the good side of the Kardashians. But the only thing that the typical American Family and the Kardashians have in common is that during disastrous times, they will always stick together. Their way of being with family made me want to spend that much more time with my loved ones and go on spontaneous vacations with my family. After one of the episodes, I immediately ran into my parents room and gave them a huge hug. I realized that they are the best people in my life and I have to cherish every single moment with them. Caballero 3

Another amazing aspect I saw from the Kardashians show was their amazing work ethic. One morning I came to school and everybody was talking about the Kardashian Brand. I was confused as to what it was. I had not recently caught up with the most recent Kardashian episode, which I thankfully recorded on my television to watch on a later time. I sat down with my bowl of ice cream and was so eager to start the show especially when I could skip through the commercials! The Kardashians mentioned that they had recently opened a branch of stores called Dash. I got really excited because they said one of the stores was going to open next to my hometown! Back at school everyone could not stop talking about how wonderful the clothing line was. I got very inspired by them. On the show, the Kardashians mentioned how heavily criticized they were by Americans and how everyone was doubting their business abilities. That did not stop them from pursuing their goals of opening a chain of stores. Their management skills and successful marketing techniques have proven to the public how successful you can be when you set your mind to it. They started from the bottom and just continued to build on the empire and will continue to expand in the future. This inspired me to be able to take on anything and to not let others influence my decisions. People will always try to put you down but you always have to keep pushing through and who knows, you might end up becoming the next Kardashian. Aside from the business aspect of their lives, the Kardashians exemplify strong independence and confidence, both personally and professionally. This show inspires girls from all around America to be anything you want to be as long as you work hard for it. Caballero 4

In the end the bad aspects about the Kardashians taught me many valuable lessons. The Kardashians influenced us to be the better version of ourselves and it was pretty incredible. Their ability to take risks and make decisions that would put their lives on the line was just indescribable. For example, the Kardashians original father who sadly passed at an early time period of his children lives was a lawyer. He was involved with the OJ Simpson case which in the end spiraled out of control. The whole world was blaming him for the case going against and not in favor of OJ. Since then, the Kardashian family started to get much hate and criticism brought upon their lives. The Kardashians wanted their family name to be known for something positive and not negative. They decided to have a reality television show in hopes of proving to the world that they are not bad people. The Kardashians would not let this case define who they are as individuals. This shows the amount of risk they were about to take by putting themselves into the spotlight. Although people would not stop criticizing their every move, the Kardashians decided to keep moving forward and to not let the tabloids and random people get into their head. The main goal was to clear their fathers name and permeate positivity. The Kardashians actions made my friends and I realize that we should live life like there is no tomorrow. We need to take advantage of every situation because you never know what is going to happen in the future. I have turned into a mature woman over the years and have come to terms with this show that I used to watch in the past. I have come to realize I could not compare these shows to my personal life. The Kardashians would just give false expectations to little girls and their futures that lie ahead of them. Caballero 5

I was able to see the good and bad sides of the television world. From imitating the materialistic and dramatic nature through which the Kardashians live, to being inspired by the close family ties that bind the average American family, I have come to terms with my own life. I plan to pursue my own dreams always learning from my past, living my present to the fullest, and planning my future using my internal moral compass for guidance and love. I have learned many things about myself throughout my wonderful life that I will cherish forever and I cannot wait to live my future and never stop learning.Caballero 6

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Works Cited

"Chameleon Effect." The and Chartrand & Bargh Experiments. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 July 2014.

Herr, Norman. "Television." Television. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2015.