For years, Kim Kardashian has gone to great lengths to protect her kids.
That means shielding them from their father’s antics and insulating them from her hyper-visible fame. Up to a point.
The fact of the matter is that, wherever they go, photographers will hound this family.
7-year-old Saint West has clearly had his fill. He flipped the bird to some paparazzi who got in his face.
For a decade and a half, Kim Kardashian has known that almost everywhere that she goes, photographers and fans will get as intrusive as they can.
Of course, in the time since Kim rose to fame, she has had four children: North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm.
Her kids have grown up in this world of hyper-visibility. And they never signed up for it. Also? As kids, coping with it can be a little trickier sometimes. They don’t have an adult’s perspective.
So, on Friday, Kim and 7-year-old son Saint were walking towards a restaurant, Islands. It’s a burger joint with many locations.
They weren’t alone. They had some friends with them, along with a number of Kim’s security team.
And, as always, the paparazzi were there to snap their photos — all but ambushing them in the parking lot to snap pics from mere feet away.
Saint chose to express exactly how he (very reasonably) feels about the constant monitoring.
As TMZ reports, the 7-year-old threw up his middle finger at the paparazzo.
Most 7-year-olds reserve that particular rude signage to vent their fury at a toxic parent or a school rival, if they use it at all. Saint’s public display is, frankly, hilarious.
Similarly, Kim’s response is deeply momcore.
She tries to muzzle Saint, reminding him that he doesn’t need to engage with photographers.
Saint isn’t exactly experienced in what gives photos value. The days when photos with a middle finger were entirely useless are long gone, because we’re not talking about supermarket checkout line covers anymore.
Some fans think that Kim was genuinely unhappy with Saint.
But frankly? That’s not the vibe that we’re getting at all.
Saint’s reaction was age-appropriate. (Heck, I’ve seen kids who pick up that type of “sign language” from their parents at much younger ages) And it was also fairly appropriate for the situation.
Kim is a public figure. She absolutely signed up for constant photography. There are also situations in which anyone might reasonably appear on video (recording police at a traffic stock is frankly a civic duty in many cases).
But even with someone as mega-famous as Kim (someone who deliberately became famous, no less), there should be some limits, right?
And Saint is a 7-year-old child.
Our nation fails so many children in countless ways.
Maybe the US could set limits on photographing kids in public? Even if it just hinders the sale of pics taken within a certain distance.
That could benefit much more than just celebrity kids.