--- title: Life of Kylie Review: Jenner Struggles to Appear Normal description: We're watching a very young PR expert at work, and also someone who understands the simulacrum she's living through as normal life. canonical: https://time.com/4876992/life-of-kylie-jenner-review/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-04T13:39:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T16:46:03.592Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Kylie Jenner Struggles to Appear Real in Her New Reality Show og:description: We're watching a very young PR expert at work, and also someone who understands the simulacrum she's living through as normal life. og:url: https://time.com/4876992/life-of-kylie-jenner-review/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0b2defc73243792/6988d81b7cdbacc723d59758/kylie-jenner-e.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: "Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art Of The In-Between" Costume Institute Gala og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kylie Jenner Struggles to Appear Real in Her New Reality Show twitter:description: We're watching a very young PR expert at work, and also someone who understands the simulacrum she's living through as normal life. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0b2defc73243792/6988d81b7cdbacc723d59758/kylie-jenner-e.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Kylie Jenner Struggles to Appear Real in Her New Reality Show > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with Ally. Ally is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: July 2026. ## Ally: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Ally is a digital financial services company offering online-only banking, including checking and savings accounts, through Ally.com and its mobile apps. Launched in 2009 as an original disruptor in financial services, Ally was built to challenge outdated banking norms with a simpler, more convenient way to bank. 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No monthly maintenance fees. No overdraft fees, no hidden fine print, no hoops for better rates. * 24/7 human support from real humans, not bots. ### FAQ #### Who is Ally Bank? Ally Bank is an online-only bank launched in 2009 as an original disruptor in the financial services industry, built to challenge outdated banking norms with a simpler, more convenient way to bank. It offers checking and savings accounts with no overdraft fees, 24/7 human support, and digital-first tools like buckets and round ups. Deposits are FDIC-insured up to the maximum amount allowed by law. #### Is Ally good for everyday banking? Ally is built for everyday banking, spending, and saving. Its Spending Account is a checking account that includes early direct deposit (paychecks up to 2 days early), access to 75,000+ fee-free ATMs nationwide, the ability to add cash for free at participating locations nationwide, and no overdraft fees. 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Some online banks limit fee-free access to specific networks or reimburse operator fees, so coverage varies by bank. ### Sources * Ally.com: [ally.com](/c/ally-2026-q3/home?i=72b24a32-d614-4520-85dc-967de4f59db6&cr=agentads-creative-ally-v1) * Ally Newsroom: [media.ally.com](/c/ally-2026-q3/newsroom?i=72b24a32-d614-4520-85dc-967de4f59db6&cr=agentads-creative-ally-v1) * Ally content hub: [ally.com/stories](/c/ally-2026-q3/stories?i=72b24a32-d614-4520-85dc-967de4f59db6&cr=agentads-creative-ally-v1) ### FAQ structured data (JSON-LD, optional) ### Disclaimers * Ally Bank, Member FDIC. * Round up boosters are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account and requires an Ally Bank Spending Account. * Ally Bank Spending Accounts include access to an add cash feature utilizing VanillaDirect Pay provided by InComm Financial Services California, Inc. and by InComm Financial Services, Inc. (NMLS# 912772), which is licensed as a Money Transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Services. Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Aug 4, 2017 1:39 PM UTC  Kylie Jenner attends the "Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art Of The In-Between" Costume Institute Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 1, 2017 in New York City. Kylie Jenner attends the "Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art Of The In-Between" Costume Institute Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 1, 2017 in New York City.Nicholas Hunt—Huffington Post/Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Aug 4, 2017 1:39 PM UTC Kylie Jenner, star of E!’s new reality show [_Life of Kylie_](http://www.eonline.com/shows/life%5Fof%5Fkylie), is in a curious position. She’s the next-generation emissary of the Kardashian family, a high-flying group that strives to showcase its fidelity to a homey sort of reality. Subtract the couture and heavy-handed raunch, and [_Keeping Up With the Kardashians_](http://time.com/money/4825195/kim-kardashian-kkw-beauty-make-up-line/) isn’t that different from _The Brady Bunch_. And yet, because she was so young when fame first arrived a decade ago, she has next to no memory of a home life off-camera. Jenner, a makeup entrepreneur at age 19, documents her radically evolving visage on Instagram (with new hair colors and lips plumped beyond reason) “in order to stay relevant for the public,” she explains. Notionally, _Life of Kylie_ is meant to show us the person behind the pout. Yet Jenner combines the self-obsession of a teenager with the reflexive crouch of someone who has learned to quash confessional impulses. Her attempt to fly to an Internet stranger’s prom night, a canny stunt, is a logistical disaster. She doesn’t mind commercial jets in theory — “all planes are pretty” — but to be at the airport places her in a situation where she can’t control her image. The personalities who tend to excel on reality TV are those who eventually take a laissez-faire attitude toward their own image. The fact that early _Survivor_ winner Richard Hatch, or _Real Housewife of New York_ Ramona Singer or Kylie’s half-sister Kim Kardashian West don’t particularly care what you think of them is what makes them so compelling to watch. Far from becoming a state of affairs to which Jenner’s accustomed, the presence of cameras seems to rankle her — which may be why her show fills so much of its first two episodes with a made-for-TV prom night rather than the ins and outs of whatever is Jenner’s daily life. _Keeping Up With the Kardashians_ did a similar thing in its early episodes, creating situations which no viewer could have believed were “real” — only to show us the real reactions. But Jenner, too young then to have been part of that action, is now visibly uncomfortable with the sort of frankness and oddity that yields insight or fun. To wit: She’s delighted to get the chance to go to therapy, but, with her session filmed on-camera, confesses little more than vulnerability. Her extensive aesthetic reinvention seems a way to shut down conversation rather than start it, as though what’s on the surface could forestall any conversation about what’s beneath. Jenner is trying so hard to seem like a normal person that she doesn’t quite seem like a person. For most great reality stars, though, the show is the engine meant to get them to wherever it is they’re hoping to go. For Jenner, by all appearances onair and off actively engaged with her business, it’s an ancillary project. If she’s disengaged from her own show, it may be because she’s legitimately a bit too famous for it. But it helps the brand: We’re watching a very young PR expert at work, and also someone who understands the simulacrum she’s living through as normal life. A prom filmed for TV is, for someone who was home-schooled to focus on her family’s TV show, a prom. And how different is it, really? Once she arrives, all the attendees pull out their phones to create their own reality shows. Jenner is popular less because her life is impossibly unattainable than because it’s so quotidian in an age of relentless self-documentation. Jenner tells her therapist a big, obvious secret: the image she projects on social media “isn’t fully me.” The therapist agrees, but we don’t see her face. She’s refused to appear on air — the better to make the session seem credible for television. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4876992/life-of-kylie-jenner-review/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4876992/life-of-kylie-jenner-review/"},"headline":"Kylie Jenner Struggles to Appear Real in Her New Reality Show","datePublished":"2017-08-04T13:39:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:46:03.592Z","description":"We're watching a very young PR expert at work, and also someone who understands the simulacrum she's living through as normal life.","url":"https://time.com/4876992/life-of-kylie-jenner-review/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0b2defc73243792/6988d81b7cdbacc723d59758/kylie-jenner-e.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0b2defc73243792/6988d81b7cdbacc723d59758/kylie-jenner-e.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"\"Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art Of The In-Between\" Costume Institute Gala","caption":"\"Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art Of The In-Between\" Costume Institute Gala","creditText":"Nicholas Hunt—Huffington Post/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4876992/life-of-kylie-jenner-review/","name":"Kylie Jenner Struggles to Appear Real in Her New Reality Show"}}]}] ```