Paris Hilton is a celebrity recognised internationally. I'm not sure what exactly she is famous for, but she is. Maybe she is famous for assiduously creating the quintessential ditzy blonde persona for herself, for her tone-deaf statements and for wearing shirts like the one that said ‘Don’t be poor’? Kim Kardashian is similarly famous for making similarly clueless remarks.
The image is now part of meme legend – Paris Hilton with her arms flung up, wearing a white tank top that (supposedly) says “Don’t be Poor”. So what does Kim Kardashian have to do with this?
The image of Paris Hilton is an old one. The reason it is being recalled now is because of the statement Kim Kardashian made recently – her ‘advice’ for businesswomen to work hard.
Her complete disconnect with reality would be laughable if it weren't so insensitive and tone deaf. People pointed out that people born into wealth start with a huge advantage --- like Kardashian and Hilton.
A lot of people feel that the sort of privilege, self-absorption, vanity and disconnect with reality that one shows is pretty much the same as the other.
The image of Hilton went wildly viral; so much so that numerous people now make and sell the don’t be poor t-shirt.
Hilton herself clarified that her tank top said “Don’t be Desperate”, not “Don’t be Poor” repeatedly. However the doctored image took on a life of its own.
The ‘advice’ doled out by Hilton (don’t be desperate) and Kardashian (work hard) --- all reasonably useless ---- about as useful as this other bit of advice.
Some commented that this is good advice – after all, if you stop being poor, you are no longer poor!
The reason that so many people have a problem with celebs like Hilton and Kardashian is that they seem to be blind to their own privilege. They seem to think that they’ve ‘earned’ what they have through ‘hard work’. Maybe they do work hard – but then so do billions of others on earth who are never going to possess a fraction of the wealth that they do.
People like Hilton and Kardashian are famous for being famous. They are born into privilege, often seen making silly statements. They flaunt their outrageous (and outrageously expensive) outfits. They also typically have a few brushes with scandal – all of this is a recipe for fame and consequently, wealth, feel the tweeple. They make their silly statements mostly because they have no realistic concept of hardship – neither did Antoinette when starving French peasants were crying out for bread and she supposedly said – let them eat cake.
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