Letters to the Editor: How ‘The Twilight Zone’ predicted the Kardashians

To the editor: I couldn’t agree more with columnist Robin Abcarian’s assessment of the Kardashian enterprise and its strange place in our culture.

When I see how much they apparently rely on cosmetic surgery, especially the changed face of Khloe Kardashian, I am reminded of a “Twilight Zone” episode entitled “Number 12 Looks Just Like You.”

In this show’s dystopian future, when young people become adults, they must go through a “transformation” by choosing a “perfect” body from a catalogue of faces. In so doing, they lose any unique characteristics or traits that lend individuality to the person and endear them to others, and they must wear a name tag to state who they are.

Are we (almost) there yet?

Mary Clumeck, Santa Ana

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To the editor: Abcarian watches “The Kardashians”?

I admire Abcarian, I have looked forward to her columns for years, I even spoke to her on some radio show about 20 years ago. Now I find out she watches that superficial, ubiquitous power family?

My friend for 50 years, now a retired therapist, also watches. Actually, knowing her, that really doesn’t surprise me.

I read something on the Kardashians celebrating 20 years on TV in which someone wrote that they were proud to say they had never seen one episode. I second that — not one!

But Abcarian? It will take me some time to get over this.

Vicki Stern, Thousand Oaks

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To the editor: I’m impressed and encouraged by the keen observation of Abcarian’s 12-year-old niece that the Kardashians “look plastic.”

The reality is that the “cultural force” of the Kardashians is predicated solely on their prodigious narcissism. But what is most disturbing is the superficiality that they represent is emulated and followed by a group as equally self-absorbed. Celebrities proudly and relentlessly displaying photos of their sculpted bodies are a manifestation of this obsessive narcissism.

Let us not denigrate the Greek mythological Narcissus, who only fell in love with his own reflection, but did not desire the approbation of his peers — unlike the Kardashians, who require constant attention.

We cannot condemn the Kardashians; they’re just selling their product. We must, however, be demoralized by the people who obsess over what the Kardashians represent, which is actually too much of nothing.

Giuseppe Mirelli, Los Angeles