As the day of Donald Trump’s inauguration nears, the American people need to grapple with what it means to have a reality TV president. How do we better understand media? What must we do to ensure a stable government? In an interview with Variety, Chelsea Handler, who plans to lead an anti-Trump women’s march during the Sundance Film Festival, proposed one solution: Blame the Kardashians. When asked what the media should have done differently in covering Trump’s campaign, she argued that the commodification (kommodification?) of celebrity led to the decline of the media:
Stop covering [Trump] so much. They were treating him as an entertainer first. It was a reality show. We’ve turned into a reality show. I blame the Kardashians, personally; the beginning of the end was the Kardashians. The way these people have blown up and don’t go away — it’s surreal. Everyone is for sale. We’re looking at a man that gets mad at Vanity Fair for reviewing his restaurant poorly. By the way, have you ever been to that restaurant? It’s the biggest piece of garbage you’ve ever walked into. That place looks like a Southwest airport lounge. It’s the worst.
Later in the interview, when asked about Trump’s meeting with Kanye West, Handler responded, “Kanye needs to get on his meds.†Hooray for nuance!