Before being labeled a blasphemer, let me point out that I do believe in Jesus; I don't, however, think he is a billionaire TV hostess. Yet, at the top of every show Oprah gets a reaction that might also greet the second coming.
"We've got a special treat for the audience too-daaay. Look under your seats. Everybody gets a bottle of wine that used to be a bottle of WAAATTTER!"
When Oprah walked onto the Ellen show today(yes, I was that bored) the audience wigged out- women with mouths agape, weak kneed, hands over mouths, looking at each other. I'm pretty sure some were weeping. This show, in addition to feeling the Oprah Effect at work, made me think about Oprah's influence and my divided feelings about her. She is sort of a polarizing figure; I suspect there is a firm balance between those that love her and those who are Oprah-weary. My co-workers disparage Queen Oprah and the lemmings that rush in for whichever book she is pushing this month. This brings me to my first point on the Oprah plus/minus scale:
Plus: Most of her book club books are actually good books worthy of praise. But even the bad ones turn to gold when she lays hands on them. What some of my co-workers fail to realize is that this means our numbers grow as her recommendations fly off the shelf. I wish she'd plug a book every week.
Minus: The trancelike state customers in search of her books seem to be in is a little creepy.
Plus:She is a starmaker whose influence and exposure brought us Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz and Bob Greene.
Minus: She brought us Dr. Phil.
Plus: She is an example that proves a poor, black woman can rise from tough circumstances to become incredibly successful (and wealthy).
Minus: She continually bashes us over the head with this info. Her humility is often fleeting; today she referred to herself as "the mother of all talk shows".
Plus: Humble or not, Oprah uses her incredible reach and resources in an attempt to, pardon the cliche, make the world a better place. Her philanthropy extends beyond simply writing checks. Her leadership academy for South African girls seems like the real deal. She also uses her show to illuminate the important work that others (including "regular" people) are doing.
Minus: There really isn't a minus here, her generosity is beyond commendable.
So, I guess I'm no longer on the fence. I figured I'd have a few more minuses. Despite the fact that she's often smug, completely overexposed and kinda annoying, I'm siding with Oprah's screaming, weak kneed, weepy admirers. Just without all the screaming, and weeping. Oh, and it'd be great if we could keep this our little secret.
Thank Phil Donahue, without him she'd still be on 'People are Talking' with Richard Sherr's hair. OK, that is a bit of an exaggeration. There is no denying that she works hard, and that she cares so much about improving the world. I just wish she did a little less self-promotion.
ReplyDeleteShe is an awesome individual, if you don't believe it, just ask her.
Self-promotion? c,mon Rob, all she has with her name on it is a TV show, 2 magazines, a TV network, television specials and a channel on satellite radio. whatever do you mean?
ReplyDeleteAnd a letter of the alphabet too.
ReplyDeleteI just hope she doesn't expect a royalty payment for the 7 usages in this and the first sentence.
Was this post was inspired by my black-female-messiah reference, by any chance? That would make my day.
ReplyDeleteOprah, Harpo, Marx, Lenin... doesn't that scare you a little bit?
Oh, and the Leadership Academy is great, but it strikes me that she's trying to go after a higher-level need before lower-level needs are met (not to get all Mazlow on her). It's like the focus on AIDS drugs for Africa when they still have inadequate nutrition and more people die from malaria... or the $100 laptop for kids in Kenya when they would probably benefit much more from $100 worth of water-filtration equipment. Am I alone in this frustration?
There's no denying that her money might better solve more pressing needs, but as we all know celebrities need to make a splash and water filtration systems aren't gong to garner headlines or network specials.
ReplyDelete