Iconic Bling Empire Babies: Jadore, Jevon, Baby G

There are so many things to take in while watching Empire bling, Netflix’s latest reality show offering that first reads as an attempt to capitalize on the ‘trend’ of crazy rich Asians who are both crazy and very rich in real life. Apparently he is a slice of life reality show, featuring a group of fabulous friends who are all friends only because a producer suggested he, but also, because they are rich. Like Netflix’s other reality hit, Sell ​​Sunset, conversations, storylines and plots on Empire bling feeling mostly manufactured. But as I watched the drama unfold over a few days, becoming one with the sagging cushions of my couch, I realized that what Empire bling apart from other shows of its ilk, there are undoubtedly babies: the real stars of a show where the family is queen.

I will take care of the babies icon status in a moment, but first, their parents and cohorts deserves some attention. Every main character in this series is a character, seemingly taken from the brain of a brilliant casting director who watched Crazy Rich Asians and naturally understood that real life is often better than fiction. Christine Chiu and her husband, Dr Gabriel Chiu, run a plastic surgery clinic in Beverly Hills and are wealthy enough to shut down Rodeo Drive for a Lunar New Year party. Kim Lee, described as the “Calvin Harris of Southeast Asia,” is a DJ with a bossy mother and loads that make her look a bit like Kylie Jenner. Kelly Mi Li doesn’t seem to have a job that I can immediately identify but is entangled with Andrew Gray, best known for being the Red Power Ranger, and now, after this show premieres, for being a colossal asshole with manipulative and abusive tendencies.

Cherie, heiress of denim, is with Jessey, heir of furniture; their children, a toddler named Jadore and a newborn named Jevon, will be rich in jeans and sofas and lack nothing more. Kane, the show’s de facto narrator, has a bigger shoe closet than most apartments and is wealthy enough to admit to the scribes of Tatler that he didn’t really “need” the show or the money that apparently came with it.

Rounding out this cast are the smartest and least intelligent (no offense) characters, both of whom are also the most compelling. Kevin Kreider is a tall and very sexy model, with the heart and soul of a well-meaning golden retriever, thrown like a fish out of water. (Since he’s not disgustingly rich, technically he is.) Anna Shay, the only person in this program with an ounce of intelligence and common sense, has never had financial hardship because that his father, Edward Shay, was the founder of Pacific Architects and Engineers, a private defense contractor. His mother, Ai-San Shay, exported pearls and silk flowers from Japan. When Anna’s father died, she and her brother inherited the family business and sold it to Lockheed Martin for $ 1.2 billion, all in cash. She’s worth more money than most people will ever get, and eccentric as are very rich people who have never known wrestling. Her hair is appalling, she accessorizes ill-fitting jeans with huge diamond necklaces, and she rides a Segway around Beverly Hills with her “French best friend,” Florent. She is Yubaba from Abducted as if by magic, airlifted out of the Baths for Dirty Spirits and into a massive, possibly haunted, Spanish-style mansion in Beverly Hills. If I can’t be one of the iconic babies we’re about to meet, then I would love to be Anna Shay.

Other reality shows, like the first seasons of Real housewives from New Jersey, focus strongly on the family as a plot point, but on Empire bling, everyone is very concerned about parentage. Baby G, the bouncy, stocky toddler owned by Dr. Chiu and his wife, Christine, is the “heir” that Dr. Chiu’s parents so insisted Christine produce. Dr Chiu is a direct descending of the Song dynasty, and so if the dynasties were still real, their handsome little man would be the next to rule. The dynasties are no longer real, so this immense pressure does not weigh on Baby G’s tiny head. Bringing Baby G into the world was not easy, but the fertility problems that plagued Christine and her husband were squarely placed on her. shoulders – even if it was due to her husband’s “health problems” and not hers. Watching her break down in tears as she admits to lying for her husband to save face for her in-laws is the most real part of the show. It also contextualizes Baby G’s first birthday, which is, according to Anna Shay, a little contrived.

Baby G is iconic because his parents are wealthy enough to literally sponsor an orphan in China for every guest attending their Lunar New Year party, instead of the traditional Baccarat crystal paperweight goody-bag gifts. He’s also an icon because even though he was forced to appear on camera in a video shot by his parents asking his grandparents if it was okay for them to use a surrogate to carry Margaux or London (the two embryos of Chiu on the ice), he again comes out on top, narrowly escaping the fate of being forced to cede the limelight to a sibling.

The other babies on this show, Cherie’s toddler Jadore, and Jevon, whose birth is captured in startling high definition, are also pretty special. Jadore, who deserves more screen time than she has, has my sympathy. “Jadore hasn’t had a newborn photoshoot,” says her mother Cherie, as helpers load up props at their house in preparation for Jevon. However, I don’t agree: I don’t know what a full newborn photoshoot really involves, but this photo of Jadore wearing a Chanel headdress seems like something to me.

What does it matter if it rests on the ground instead of hanging in a place of pride. This is Cherie’s problem, and I won’t interfere. Jevon’s newborn photo shoot is an affair in its own right, with the little angel wrapped in various fabrics like a loaf of bread and tucked away in baskets. Nothing can ever match this look, which features Jevon surrounded by red envelopes for good luck, as if he’s finally found some peace, even though he’s been alive for maybe a month, max.

At one point during the show, Cherie spends time with Tyler Henry, the Hollywood Medium, who confirms Cherie’s theory that Jevon may be the reincarnation of his mother, who died before the show aired. Watching Tyler Henry do what he does, which is doodling on a notepad and making vague predictions that prey on people’s grief, I felt for Cherie. Jessey, her boyfriend, doesn’t want a proposal and seems happy to exist without putting a ring on her finger. That’s all she wants! While this is perfectly resolved by the end of the series, putting together a second season that I would want sooner or later, Cherie’s sadness makes me sad for no real reason other than this year has been long and difficult. Reincarnation as a concept and as a practice is emblematic. If Jevon, his little baby bao, is his mother’s spirit vessel, then he is the past, present and future. What could be more emblematic than that?