Kim K. Came to The Bay: And this is What She Said
On Tuesday June 30th, Kim Kardashian West was interviewed by Judge LaDoris Cordell (ret) Independent Police Auditor, City of San Jose, for the Commonwealth Club, Inform speakers’ series at the Castro Theater in San Francisco.
Castro Theater
San Francisco, CA
In 2015, this production has presented dignitaries like Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary, and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Visionaries, educators and business women like Kimberly Bryant, Founder of Black Girls Code. Authors, artist and performers such as Judy Blume and Molly Ringwald. But on this night, the selfie queen took stage, first snapping photos while signing copies of her new book Selfish (Rizzoli, New York), which is a 445 page book of nothing but you guessed it –SELFIES of Kim K.
Selfish
Kim Kardashian West
2015
There were very few empty seats at the Castro. I observed just as many middle aged men and women as teenagers and twenty something’s. I sat next to a gay couple. One partner bought his sweetheart a ticket for his birthday. Bae promised to faint when told that Kim wished him a happy birthday while signing the book.
Some club members and other intellectuals took issue with the attention being paid to Mrs. West; feeling that her social status does not equate to the accomplishments of others who accept the invitation to share on this platform. The National Public Radio audience experienced the same dilemma when Kim made an appearance on Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me, a quiz show that uses current events in news and entertainment to challenge public figures that play on behalf of contestants. Seems Kim K. would fit in here, right? Not by the standards of some in the NPR audience. I’ll admit that as a Commonwealth Club member, I held my own opinions about the relevance of Kim K. in this setting, but at the end of the day I’m willing to let her live.
Kim Kardashian ranked #33 on the Forbes 2015 Worlds Highest Paid Celebrity List at $52.5 Million. Not to mention that she’s put her entire family on. In the new paradigm of the social media market place, that’s relevant like a mother fucker. I was curious as to what she has to say.
Judge LaDoris Cordell (ret) interviews Kim Kardashian West for the Commonwealth Club June, 30 2015.
On how people see her:
“It is harder when people want to put you in a certain box. Or just because I post so many selfies I can’t be good at some other business venture. I do think there is that stigma still, but I don’t really pay that much attention to it. I’m always focused, and I do what make me happy and what I need to get done. I really don’t care as much as I used to.”
Why the title “Selfish”?
“My husband said to me, – you have so many pictures on your computer folders.”
“I’m very big on memories and organization; I have a camera with me everywhere I go. He said, you should do a book of selfies called “Selfish”. And then he connected me to Rizzoli, they were interested in doing the book.”
So, he came up with the title, He came up with the idea and you didn’t?
“Yea, he’s kind of the creative.”
And you listen?
“I do. I know when it’s a good idea, and I know when it’s something I can really take on and execute. So, I defiantly take his advice.”
What’s the secret to taking a good selfie?
“The key to a good selfie really is lighting.-If you’re not feeling yourself you can make it more moody with darker lights. (Laughter) “But, lots of bright light and if you do it in a mirror you can see your reflection. Don’t put it on yourself, facing yourself, you can look at it through the mirror and see your angles.”
Do you think that the media objectifies women?
“Absolutely. I do. But I also think that, you know – if you have the power, cause women do themselves. You know, but I think that you really can take that power, and put out there what you want people to look at, what you feel is beautiful, and what you want to portray about yourself.”
Do you think your selfies objectify you?
“Yes!
Is that a good thing / a bad thing?
“I don’t think it’s a bad thing. I’ve taken them, I’ve chosen to put them in there, I like them, I’m proud of them.” (Applauds)
Regarding the recreation of a photo of an African –American woman in the same pose that was denounced for degrading or objectifying the Black female body:
The original photo was from a photo book titled “Jungle Fever”.
“Carolina Beaumont” / “Champagne Incident.”
Jean-Paul Goude
Were you surprised by the reaction to that photo? And were you aware of the earlier photo of the Black woman?
“Yes, I was aware, it was the same photographer. He had shot that 30 years before, and wanted to do a 30 year anniversary of that. To me he is a genius. Jean-Paul Goude he’s one of my favorite photographers. –I kind of heard more like, gossip about the nude cover that I did instead of that one. So, I could see how someone would think that, but that wasn’t our intention.”
If you had it to do it again, would you pose for that photo?
“Absolutely. Anything that I do, even though my decisions for some people might not be, the smartest decision, I always learn from my mistakes, so I never really make the same mistake twice. But, something that I willingly do like a photo shoot, that to me, I would never regret.”
Regarding Kanye’s BET Honors, Visionary Award speech, and Racism:
How will you and Kanye prepare your children racism rears its ugly head?
“Well I did have an awful experience on a plane back from Vienna with my daughter. This woman was screaming racial slurs at me. I was in such disbelief. “
“This Indian man stopped me and said-she’s so not worth it. She’s so ignorant she’ll never understand she is so racist, just don’t say anything. ” -“So, I have experienced it.”
“Kanye and I together, we have such great open communication.”
“He’s very vocal about issues especially racism and everything that he’s dealt with in his life I think will be really helpful for our children. I’m pretty sure that my husband will talk to, {and I will too} our kids the way my dad talked to us. He had a lot of friends in bi-racial relationships. He explained to us a lot of the hardships that they went through, and they had mixed raced kids.”
“I think he was pretty certain when I was a teenager that I was probably going to end up with a Black guy.-He did give me a lot of pro’s and con’s.”
“We didn’t even look at race in our household, that wasn’t even a topic of conversation until I think he knew that we would have families of our own, and even being Armenian and his family coming to the states wasn’t the easiest.”
“All of our friends were all different races, there was no discrimination that I ever grew up with, and that’s how my parents wanted to raise us. – And Kanye’s very vocal so I’m sure he’ll have a lot more to say on the subject. I think communication is the key.”
Then the host read questions to Kim from twitter that she graciously answered.
Here was mine:
It wasn’t asked, but that’s o.k. I can’t say that Kim K. led me to any ah-Ha moments, or intellectual breakthroughs, but I did gain respect for her hustle. Kim is everything that you say she is, and everything that you think she’s not, all at the same time and she owns it- literally.
