“Guess what the Kardashians did this time?”

“You know what? I really don’t care about the Kardashians! I think they’re worthless, talentless, and should collectively jump off a bridge.”

Everyone has experienced some form of this exchange, whether directly engaging in it or being a passive observer. Naturally, we are all filled with a feeling of frustration upon hearing the name “Kardashian.” One can’t mention the Kardashians without getting the following response:

“They’re only famous because of Kim Kardashian and Ray J. They did nothing to earn it. I hate how the media is always shoving them down our throats… no pun intended. I JUST DON’T CARE!”

But hold on. Did they just say that they don’t care about the Kardashians while simultaneously lambasting their fame? Obviously they must care… just a little bit.

When we see a Kardashian on the cover of a supermarket tabloid, we wouldn’t pick it up if we didn’t care. When we see a Kardashian-related clickbait title, we often can’t help but click on it “just to see what it says.” And why would anyone bother mentioning them if they didn’t care the least bit about them. Is it possible that we actually do care about Kardashians and what they do?

If so, why do we care? The Kardashians have virtually no effect on our day-to-day lives, yet we treat them as though they are some kind of physical or emotional burden. Maybe in a way they are. Day in and day out, we put in hours of hard work to make our lives better, yet we see only minimal improvement while those at the top of society reap the fruits of our labor.

Maybe our hatred of the Kardashians is the result of our internalized frustration about our own lives and jealousy of those who are more fortunate than us. Scapegoating them is the easiest way to deal with stress and cope with our own inadequacies. In our view, the Kardashians represent everything that is wrong or unfair about the world and therefore deserve all of our scorn and ridicule.

It is perfectly reasonable to feel this way, but maybe we would all feel happier if we just admitted it. There is nothing wrong with approaching your friend and telling them, “I care about the Kardashians.” If you are a lonely loser with no friends, just find a crowd and scream to the heavens…

“I CARE ABOUT THE KARDASHIANS!!!”