I'm sure you've heard by now, but recently Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in Paris by men posing as police. Naturally, because the media is what it is, it became an extremely popular news story to follow, and, because we're who we are, people felt inclined to comment. Comments ranged from speculation that this was a publicity stunt (and wondering if Ryan Lochte had anything to do with it) to people saying that she deserved, or that they wish the robbers had just shot her.
I read through the comments, because I'm a masochist who enjoys being angry, apparently. I was shocked to see how many people were either blaming Kim Kardashian for what happened, but even more so to see that people had a severe lack of empathy when it came to the reality TV star and business mogul. Still, the comments didn't surprise me that much, because I see comments like that fairly often about the Kardashian-Jenner clan, among other celebrities. It's almost become something that I'm desensitized too, and that's a problem.
I am not a fan of the Kardashians, and it has sucked living with the name Kim during the height of Kardashian popularity. I find the Kardashians annoying and ask myself every so often why they became famous in the first place, since their lives became more about drama and ratings than about their store chain, Dash. When I see articles about them on my newsfeed, I don't click them. But just because I don't like Kim Kardashian or her family, I'm not going to sit there and wish that she died or praise people for robbing her.
This is a huge habit in the United States. If we don't like someone, we want to harm them, or to see them harmed. We want them to die, or at least express that on social media. We know death is permanent and we know that harm is bad, and yet we still wish these things for celebrities that we don't like. We want God to give us back Tupac, an exchange we would happily make for Justin Bieber.
The worst part of this isn't that we're doing it. The worst part isn't that we're doing it on such a massive scale, or that so many people 'like' the comments or tweets and push them to the top. The worst part is that we think this is okay. We think that it's fine to wish that these people were harmed or dead, because we think they don't have talent or their music isn't our taste. We hold back empathy because someone is a Kardashian or a pop singer.
I don't know how this became the norm or okay, and I have definitely been guilty of using those "give us -blank- and we'll give you -blank-" memes during my really, really cringe-y phase of life. But the fact that we wish death and harm on people is not okay and is a trend that we need to change.