Zeitgeist: Kendall Jenner and the complications of being born in the spotlight

Kendall Jenner attends The 2023 Met Gala Celebrating "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 01, 2023 in New York City. Photo / Getty Images

OPINION:

Kendall Jenner would like you to know she’s not like the other [Kardashian] girls. She’s a cool girl, you know. She’s just like you and me. Except she said this in an interview with the Wall Street Journal Magazine, who would never speak to you or me, and she said it wearing an outfit that I’m pretty sure costs more than my car, so you can forgive me for not buying the “relatable girl” vibes she’s selling.

I have complicated feelings about Kendall Jenner. On one hand, I don’t love to see a person willingly benefitting from fame while at the same whingeing about that fame. On the other hand, Kendall does have a point: she did not choose that life.

The second youngest of the Kardashian-Jenner clan, Kendall entered the spotlight when the Keeping Up with the Kardashians cameras started rolling non-stop in her home when she was just 11 years old.

“Since I was really young, I felt out of place in my family,” she told the WSJ Magazine. “I was born into this life, but I didn’t choose this life. I’m not built for [fame] by any means . . . I’m not good at it. I do it, and I’ve learned how to do it.”

She also went on to say that some of her other siblings, particularly Kim, were born for the spotlight, whereas she struggles with it.

“I obviously understand I fall under the umbrella of the Kardashian sisters [but] it’s just weird to me … because I am just like my dad in so many ways,” she said. “I’m such a Jenner, in my opinion.”

None of this is news to anyone who’s followed the Kardashian-Jenner family. Kendall has never hidden her troubles with feeling like an outsider in the clan and even tried to hide her surname at the start of her modelling career. Her own mother and manager, Kris, admits Kendall has always seen herself more as a secondary character, on the sidelines, rather than a protagonist.

In the past, Kendall has also made headlines for saying that the Kardashian name actually hindered her modelling career and she had to “work even harder” because of it, which is ... well, it’s a point of view she is entitled to, I guess.

While I understand that Kendall had no say in the direction of her family and the level of fame they have achieved, and I am not naive enough to think there are no downsides to this level of astronomical fame, there is no denying that she hugely benefits from standing under that “Kardashian umbrella”. She might not “feel like a Kardashian” but she sure seems to enjoy living like one.

However - and I honestly cannot believe I am defending a 27-year-old millionaire who can’t even chop a cucumber - I do feel like Kendall’s recent comments can be a cautionary tale for anyone with a decent following putting their kids in the spotlight, which feels particularly common among influencer circles these days. It might seem like a great move and they might even play along with it but they are not choosing this lifestyle for themselves, and they will not be able to extricate themselves easily from it if they want to one day.