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Culture is how people express themselves. It is also how people become legible to one another. Culture can be distinguished into two kinds: high culture and low culture. High culture “distinguishes culture that only an elite can appreciate, such as classical art, music, and literature” (Sturken, Marita, and Cartwright 444). In contrast, low culture is the “commercially produced mass culture presumed to be accessible to lower classes” (Sturken, Marita, and Cartwright 444). In essence, low culture is favoured throughout Western culture. This is because the West is identified as being ocularcentric. Ocularcentrism is the immediate favouring of vision over any other senses. Western culture’s ocularcentric tendencies come from living in a world saturated with images. Living in a culture that is visually literate comes with its difficulties. One difficulty is the naturalization of the nonsensical. Philosopher Roland Barthes suggests that culture tends to naturalize the nonsensical characteristics and behaviours of individuals. This can be seen throughout the media and particularly in what is called “reality” television. Reality television allows for “… easy and relatively inexpensive programming decisions” (Sturken, Marita, and Cartwright 410) that typically follows an individual as they live their life and go about their daily routine. In addition, reality television has become a form of mediation and “reality” is now a type of style. A reality show that clearly focuses on this idea of “reality” is “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”. “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” follows a family of high celebrity status as they deal with the trials and tribulations of their celebrity lifestyle. Initially, the main character of the reality television show was middle-daughter Kim Kardashian, who rose to celebrity after releasing a sex tape; an industry move that has become naturalized. As the reality show gained popularity, it began focusing more on the family dynamic and the instant celebrity each family member experienced as a result of this popularity. In essence, it has turned the family dynamic into a spectacle. The reality show’s instant popularity comes from its appeal to Western culture’s ocularcentrism. As a point of reference, characters from the reality show “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” can be used to discuss this appeal to low culture in the Western world. Almost directly connected with Western culture’s ocularcentric tendencies is what philosopher Sigmund Freud identifies as scopophilia. According to Freud, scopophilia is the pleasure an individual gets from looking at others – referred to as voyeurism – and the pleasure an individual gets from being looked at. This pleasure often results from making a “spectacle” of the self. This scopophilic identity that Western culture allocates to reality television appeals to characters from reality television shows, such as those from “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”. The characters from these reality television shows know that their actions will eventually be seen by millions of viewers. This preconceived knowledge of scopophilia can sometimes cause a character to push boundaries in order to get a certain reaction from their viewers. These actions can incite a pleasure from the reactions of the viewers after the episode has aired. For example, in an episode of “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”, middle-daughter Kim agrees to do a spread of semi-nude photographs for Playboy. Assuming the viewer knows about her past, Kim anticipates the reaction from viewers will be – at whole – negative. This negative reaction will be eventually broadcast throughout various media outlets, continuing the Kardashian’s ascent to fame. In turn, the initial actions and the end reactions incite a pleasure: a yearning for higher celebrity status. Likewise, the branch of scopophilia referred to as voyeurism appeals to viewers of reality television shows, such as “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”, because viewers gets an “inside” look at celebrity. This inside look shows what it is like being afforded the luxuries that celebrity can provide. In addition, it also incites pleasure in the viewer being able to become voyeurs into another realm that was once previously inaccessible to them. The relationship between low culture – as the viewer – and characters from reality television shows emphasizes what French Structuralist Louis Althusser identifies as interpellation. Interpellation is when culture and the images from culture speak directly to the viewer. Althusser’s theory of interpellation emphasizes the relationship between viewers and characters from the reality television show “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”. Although in reality the characters do not specifically relate directly to their viewers, the portrayal of the Kardashians as a “normal” family trying to live their lives just as any lower- or middle-class family amidst the sudden propulsion into fame appeals to viewers. In addition, it is the appeal of the Kardashians sudden propulsion into fame that speaks directly to their viewers. A common feat of low culture is the want for this “instant” celebrity and the advantages that come with it. For example, “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” has created spin-offs such as: “Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami”, “Kourtney and Kim Take New York”, and “Khloe and Lamar”. These spin-offs have created instant notoriety and wealth for characters for the lesser-known Kardashian family members.An important aspect to reality television shows and their characters is what French philosopher Pierre Bourdieu calls fiscal, social, and cultural capital. Bourdieu says that fiscal capital explores the economic value of an object or individual, while social capital is the value of individual connections. That is, who you know, who knows you, and who knows them. Likewise, Bourdieu says cultural capital is the value of an individual’s cultural knowledge. Bourdieu’s social and fiscal capital is important to characters from reality television shows, and the characters from “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” are no exception. Bourdieu’s social and fiscal capital are important to reality television show characters because it illustrates – at the most subdural level – in order to become a reality television star – at the celebrity status such as the Kardashians – it is who you know and who knows them, that allows for them to obtain the luxury that they have come to be accustomed to. Likewise, low culture’s level of what Bourdieu says is cultural capital is important to reality television characters – such as the Kardashians – because it is the cultural knowledge of the Kardashian family that continues to propel them into higher celebrity status. The Kardashian family’s public entity extends back to the O.J. Simpson court-trial. One of Simpson’s defence lawyer’s was Robert Kardashian – the ex-husband of Kris and father of Robert, Khloe, Kimberly, and Kourtney. Mother Kris is also connected – as a friend – to one of the murder victims involved: Nicole Brown Simpson. It is often argued that the live news coverage of O.J. Simpson being chased by the Los Angeles Police Department is the quintessential depiction of Western culture’s love of what is considered “reality” television.Susan Sontag’s idea of camp and kitsch aesthetic is at the core of why low culture in the Western world love reality television shows such as “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”. Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy that is “… concerned with judgements of sentiment and taste” (Sturken, Marita, and Cartwright 431). Camp aesthetic, according to Songtag, is essentially an object or individual that is so bad that it is good. Songtag’s idea of camp aesthetic celebrates the excessive. Reality television shows, like “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”, appeal to camp aesthetic because they are so bad in terms of concept and originality that viewers celebrate them for their bad and excessive qualities. Likewise, reality television shows such as “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” appeal to kitsch aesthetic. Kitsch aesthetic is an object or individual that is “… judged to have little or no aesthetic value, yet has value precisely because of its status in evoking the class standards of bad taste” (Sturken, Marita, and Cartwright 446). “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” appeals to kitsch aesthetic because of the bad taste acquired by viewers that the reality television show has come to embody.  The reality show has essentially become a medium for advertising products produced from or endorsed by the show’s characters, such as dietary-product “Quick Trim”. The reality television show also breaks away from the original idea of being an unscripted “reality”. Some events in episodes are allegedly scripted, rehearsed, or planned for greater viewer effect. For example, in an episode of “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”, the DUI arrest of daughter Khloe that aired was actually a rehearsed dramatization of the actual event. This event also shows the pleasure – the schadenfreude – Western culture gets from watching someone such as Khloe Kardashian “screwing up”. The camp – “so bad its good” – value and kitsch – “… standards of bad taste” (Sturken, Marita, and Cartwright 446) – personifies low culture’s love of reality television, the ‘k’amp, and “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”.