God is dead — bring out the Kardashians!
Between drama on the set of Don’t Worry Darling, the newest seasons of the hottest reality TV show, and the tally of how many tattoos (or brandings) Pete Davidson has recently gotten to track his famous lovers, in this day and age, we are constantly inundated with the hottest celebrity gossip. Why is this the culture every which way we turn, and why do we eat it up by the spoonful?
The Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson breakup is, at this point, pretty old news—the two broke up in August after nine months of dating and a handful of theatrics that seemed to convince a good portion of their fans that these two ex-lovebirds were soulmates. While Kardashian and Davidson have had their own fair shares of respective celebrity breakups, the major headline that looked to break this break-up streak while they were still dating was Davidson’s announcement that he had had Kardashian’s first name branded on his body, rather than tattooed.
While Davidson is known for his iconic and massive plethora of body art, as well as for adding a few new pieces for each major relationship he’s been in, his decision to branch into branding was something that hadn’t breached the cultural mainstream prior. Branding, unlike tattooing, is accomplished via burning an image into someone’s skin so that the image cannot be removed. While Davidson had already gotten a few tattoos with Kardashian to commemorate their relationship, the branding was meant to represent a stronger semblance of permanency—something that may have been lost on Davidson’s fans after seeing him get and remove so many of his tattoos.
The concept that Pete Davidson would brand Kim Kardashian’s name into his skin after nine months of dating is baffling, an action that has not been brought into mainstream media before this shocking event; this was actually how the news was meant to be received. Davidson’s branding was arguably not an action committed out of genuine love, passion, and faith for posterity of the Davidson/Kardashian relationship, but rather a publicity stunt meant to recapture fleeting media attention.
These publicity stunts are not new to the cultural mainstream; however, it seems that in the age of TikTok and other social media, we are apt to forget that much of the news that we receive is laced with a profit-driven mentality. I would not argue that the Don’t Worry, Darling controversies surrounding Olivia Wilde and Florence Pugh are entirely invented, but it seems entirely plausible that the rumors were exaggerated to sell more tickets—perhaps in response to the unsavory reviews upon its initial release. While there may not have been explicitly profit-driven motives for Davidson to have Kardashian’s name branded on his body forever, it’s pretty easy to believe that there might be a couple thousand more viewers tuning in to the next feature either of these stars are in because of the intrigue sparked by this shocking decision.
This is not only to point to the blatant media efforts to turn all participation in current pop culture into more money in the pockets of these stars and their publicity teams, but to note how high the stakes of the public consciousness are being raised in order to maintain engagement. Now that branding’s been used, what might Davidson do to keep his fans excited about his next relationship? As these stars continue to resort to more drastic measures of dragging their fans along, we become desensitized to these extremes.
While we are quick to denounce the monarchy in the wake of Queen Elizabeth’s death, we are continuously sedated by the celebrity worship and fandom that filters through every element of our modern consumption. Are we not the TikTok peasants absorbed with our queen’s rule, as ineffective and futile as it may be? Has celebrity culture not become our most widespread form of modern religion? Folks, welcome to 2022—Kim Kardashian is our reigning deity.