THIS YEAR, KIM KARDASHIAN WON CHRISTMAS WITH “SANTA BABY”
Kevin Gorian
All images Kim Kardashian / Instagram.
For all those hoping to see Kim Kardashian on her knees and in low quality again, we’ve got great news: Christmas came early this year! Just two days before we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, Kim has surprised us by returning to the music world with “SANTA BABY,” a cover of the original track by Eartha Kitt and Henri René and His Orchestra, produced by her Catholic brother-in-law, Travis Barker (of Blink-182 and The Transplants fame).
Leaving aside the copious amounts of autotune you can hear in the streaming version, this early gift from North West's mom stands out for one key reason: its music video, a fever dream conjured up by directors Nadia Lee Cohen and Charlie Denis.
Over nearly five minutes, this (presumably) homage to Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg’s Dogma 95 movement follows Kim crawling through a “surreal” landscape that, if you ask me, is either a faithful depiction of America’s current societal status or just a desperate holiday prank.
With religious figures like the Virgin Mary (played by Ariana Papademetropoulos) and Christ (Ignasi Monreal), what I swear is a The Shining (1980) reference, and a not-so-subtle SKIMS product placement, Nadia and Charlie deliver a twisted Christmas celebration that has divided internet opinions. Some praise Cohen’s work as the product of a genius, others accuse her of ripping off David Lynch (as if no one’s done that before), and still others criticize Kim for participating in something like this given her… religious beliefs: “I thought you were Christian, Kim, and this video is blasphemous,” commented @imgenezys, who seems to have missed a good portion of Kimberly’s career trajectory.
Plumber elves, businessmen, football players, lingerie-clad women playing Twister, cheerleaders, an Asian electrician, vagabonds warming themselves by a CGI fire, a swimmer in a fish tank, a seemingly Latino hairdresser, and a myriad of other colorful personalities—topped off by a surprise appearance from the only Christmas figure stronger than Mariah Carey, Macaulay Culkin—make up whatever this chaotic holiday spectacle filmed by Bobby Pavlovsky is supposed to be.
In case you’re curious, here’s a list of notable (previously unmentioned) cast members you might recognize if you weren’t too busy trying to make sense of the visual overload: Mara Weinstein, Cooper Roussel, Kevin Collide, Malcolm McRae, Zizi Donohoe, Matisse, Delilah Summer Parillo, Kuoth, Ruby Caster, and Paige Elkington.