From millions of dollars in TV deals to ubiquity across the world, the stratospheric rise of the Kardashians over the past decade has been an enormous benefit to nearly everyone in the family, according to Washington Post.
There’s one very notable exception. We speak, of course, of Rob Kardashian, the 28-year-old reluctant reality star whose apparent downward spiral over the last year has made him the most tragic figure of America’s most fame-seeking family.
On Sunday night’s episode of E!’s “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” Rob received what he desperately does not want: Attention. His avoidance of the spotlight clashes deeply with everything that his mother (Kris Jenner) and sisters (Kim, Kourtney and Khloe) stand for on a daily basis. Therefore, the show had to reconcile the family’s penchant for revealing every small detail – literally, everything — about their lives, and the fact that Rob refuses to even be seen on camera.
The whole episode (which dealt with the family’s attempts to help Rob, who is said to be suffering from depression after gaining a large amount of weight) did little except call attention to the major downsides of stardom. It was a deeply uncomfortable reminder that for the massive number of jokes and snark thrown at the Kardashians, they’re still real people, and at least one of them is truly struggling.
