Fresh on the heels of Kendall Jenner’s man-made disaster of a Pepsi commercial, sister Kim Kardashian West has officially decided to Try It. Unfortunately for her but probably not for us, this decision was ill-advised and is going to invoke the wrath of my mother and all 32 of my Titis. How bout yours?
Plenty of people have “revised” (or reappropriated) the vela, the candle integral to Mexican Catholic culture that features the visages of various saints and holy figures; they’ve been cheekily replaced with rappers and actors, and versions have been sold at new age bookstores and Spencer’s Gifts. Other people putting your face on a candle is something you can’t control; putting your own face on a vela and IN THE IMAGE OF LA VIRGEN... FOR PROFIT? Well, you better hope your husband has a spare rosary somewhere among those $11,000 religious medals we get from our priests for free because you’re about to get DRAGGED and the only thing that can save you now is a hope and about 35 Hail Marys.
Seriously, though, the appropriated religious imagery is extremely played. I haven’t been to church since like 1999, but this is something that’s very special and integral to an entire culture, and La Virgen is about as revered as you can get in Mexican Catholicism. (Google “Tonantzin” for a little primer on historical religions and colonialism.) Kim Kardashian has played herself and I guarantee she doesn’t even know how hard. I look forward to seeing all of your tweets!