What Kimye Versus Taylor Swift Made You Forget

So just a fore-thought: doesn’t this whole debacle between Kim and Kanye West and Taylor Swift, bring anyone all the way back to the beginning? Like, when Kanye first plucked Taylor’s mic out of her hand and declared her award Beyoncé

So, I’m not gonna fib. I was one hundred percent on top of this when it happened. I looked up the original tweets and what Kanye’s new song was about and how Kim revealed the recorded phone call. I also got caught up looking into even more shade thrown at Taylor Swift (people hate a lot of other people on Tumblr, I’ve realized). And then I got tied up looking up other people in the past who suffered similar callouts.

For instance, after Julie Andrews won an award for her film Mary Poppins, she thanked (shadily) Jack Warner who didn’t cast her in "My Fair Lady" as Eliza Doolittle (who everyone and their mother knows Audrey Hepburn played) so that she had the opportunity to play in Walt Disney’s film and win a Golden Globe. Guess what other film was competing for a Golden Globe that year? Yep, "My Fair Lady"; the same film Andrews wasn’t cast in.

So I easily spent a large chunk of my time looking into the Taylor Swift debacle, then when Julie Andrews threw shade at Jack Warner, and then even more things that didn’t entirely line up, but were basically themed, All Time Best Shade Thrown Ever. And looking it all up was simple to me not only because celebrity feuds are easily accessible to the media because they are usually fought very publicly (and also sometimes not, which makes the story even better, but worse because I know I shouldn’t look into it) which is then, in turn, very accessible to me. But also, very largely because, I wasn’t exhausted by it, in fact, I was intrigued.

This is something I feel many people get caught up in: the lives of people that are not ourselves, people living lives that are not our own (Bo Burnham would shout, “synonyms!”). We’re able to detach from these situations because they aren’t ours to stress over or act upon. But then, something like the Syrian Refugee Crisis occurs and suddenly less people are interested or not even paying attention because one celebrity just dragged another on Twitter. Or maybe it has something to do with your political point of view, which is stressful on a whole other level, like the twenty-six story variety, that I can't find the will to argue with here (if this is you, feel free to call me a bleeding heart liberal, also know I'm shaking my head at you). Or maybe you're like me and you researched the latest celebrity news instead of something far more imperative.

But maybe we've detached ourselves from so many serious celebrity/social media/news debacles in the past, that it is becoming easier and easier to remain motionless, to ignore it, and to change the channel to something less. . . scary.

So many maybe's here, gosh golly.

The hardest thing to accept, I believe, is that the reports on the news about unclean water in cities nearby or hunger in the bellies of the people around us are occurring during the same moments we are living and breathing. They are occurring in the same place that we live. They are the cause of fear that shake us into discrimination, into bomb-shelters as the past has shown. We don't have to say, "Oh my gosh, if I hadbeen there" or "I would've taken action" because we are here, we can take action.

The shots that ring true as police brutality can be heard in your very own city, or the shots that you believe are just a sign of citizen unrest (which is of course true sometimes, but come on). Or shots that just take the lives of the innocent in general.

Sometimes, we do need to take a breather, watch someone throw a fit because they weren't invited to their seemingly best friend's garden party on the housewives of Mississippi (or wherever), or watch Kim Kardashian beat the hell out of her sister with her expensive handbag.

But we should also face what's happening around us, even if it's as simple as not changing the channel or not scoffing as another person shouts, "Black Lives Matter" (I don't think they're saying yours doesn't, I mean maybe some do, but don't let a guilty few ruin a potentially progressive movement). Maybe even take action, make it a little easier for someone else to wake up in the morning. Maybe (again, lots of maybe's) with all this in mind, we'll be a little less likely to Keep Up With The Kardashians, or probably not. I'll probably keep up a little, if I'm being honest, but just until they make Keeping Up With Queen Bey.