The Importance of Being Oprah

OK, I admit I rather like her and the book club. I do skip her celebrity shows (big yawns) and the tear jerkers, but I have read a few books with the club. I think part of what works is similar to what happens when you get a really great teacher in a topic you didn't think you were interested in. She finds good people who make you think in new ways. The on-line club is so large that you get fresh opinions on what might be an old topic. I would recommend at least her book club to anyone interested in literature.

I think she has had a huge impact, even outside of the book club.

She started off airing opposite Phil Donohue, a tough act that had dominated the medium for years. She was the first serious female talk show host, breaking new ground for women.

She quickly moved away from the "whose your daddy" and "My sister slept with my husband" stuff and got serious. She addressed more of the average daily struggles that so many could relate to and probably otherwise wouldn't have thought about beyond the surface.

I also think she has had a profound effect on millions because she allowed herself to be seen from the inside out. She wasn't afraid to reveal herself, her own growth and development, which made it easier for the rest of us to do the same.

We basically were given a window. Over the years we have watched her deal with her own weight, spiritual growth, aging, love life and we saw and were inspired by someone quite graceful in these life endeavers.

I think we looked in that window and eventually found it to be a mirror.

Now that she is in her 50's, she has moved away from the heavier stuff that dominated her shows in the 1990's. She has more celebrities now than in the past, likely because she has grown more comfortable with taking time to have fun and enjoy life. I think a look at the issues she has addressed over the course of her career would show a corrolation with stages in life to which so many can relate.

Opera is like a cult.

Interesting view, Squinney, as ever.

There IS a cult feel. Unusually so?

My favourite film is the Color Purple, not coz of Oprah, just the whole caboodle.
It has everything, drama, love, humour,violence and that cool 'sister, you been on my mind' song.

I saw Oprah and Maya Angelo (sp?) at a women's leadership conference. They were great. They spoke about mentoring and of course some other things. I really have not watched much of the Oprah show, but found the two of them fascinating. Never sat through the whole of a Color Purple, but read the book - loved the book. Also, liked "I know why the Caged Bird Sings."

Cult feel?

If so, I'd say it's more of a following based on the goodness seen in her and those she surrounds herself with (such as Maya) and that people would like to emmulate. That's not a bad thing. If more people look up to her for her kindness, charity, efforts to educate and humanize, that's a world of good being done by one little lady.

Cult leader? She doesn't project a godlike, better than others, worship me image that I've noticed. That "I'm a normal person and you can do good things too" probably adds greatly to her likability. I've seen a lot worse and she certainly wouldn't serve kool-aid.

Hmmm, I think you are misunderstanding the nuances of how I, at least, am using the word cult.


I sense a kind of worship of her, and I have seen the kind of shining eyed noddings and tears I do tend to associate with evangelism.


I am not saying that she is an evil cult manipulator, but i do wonder if she has a cult following, and if her influence is not a little cult like?

Sorry, I meant to convey that as far her "following" it may be true in that people feel better about themselves when they hang around people like her. I'm sure there's a name for this phenomenon of sorta latching on to the good works of another and feeling one can take some credit just by association no matter how minimal, even if it's just by being a fan.

Does that make sense?

Like the agreement with her, feeling like her, crying about the things she finds sad makes those that follow her feel like they are doing something about the issues she addresses, when in reality they are gonna go home, fix dinner, and continue their own lives, but will do so feeling better about themselves cause they agreed with Oprah that XXXXX is really sad and touching.

Yeah.

I guess I am most interested in her role as popular culture icon, and what actual real influence, if any, she has had.


Apart from on book and beef sales!

Here's kind of an Oz example....



Back when AIDS first hit, some genius in the Australian health system decided to use Ita Buttrose to educate the place about AIDS.

Ita is (or was) a kind of icon here. She ran a very successful women's magazine (that was read by men) and had a kind of wholesome, but way smart, decent and pretty all round popular persona.


Anyhoo, using her to educate about AIDS kinda took the hysteria and homophobia away, and also made it something that could be talked about, and accepted. It is likely that using her, and a very alert public health system, meant that the AIDS response in Oz was way more successful than it might have been. (There were other factors, too, of course, like the responsibility the gay community took, and the sense of the government in making needle exchange highly accessible)

That is an example of the power of pop iconhood to effect change.



I do not mean has Oprah fronted any big campaigns, I just wonder has she actually changed the US in any real sense?

I wish I'd been an Oprah watcher and read Faulkner with her book club...

Here's what I think:
She's the neighborhood success story. So all-encompassing that viewers forget she is black. I've seen her remind her audience more than once; a smile and a quick look down at the color on her arm. I assume she must be both nice and ruthless to maintain that amazingly huge presence in American culture. She's our Princess Di, as all the best royals are... a Conscience for society. We expect that she will know the moral high ground.

I've read or someone told me she was a recluse when she started out. I think she worked really, really hard. And she's both clever and intelligent.
To me, she seems amazingly genuine. Whether she has the charisma of a person like Amachi... well. No. No worship. The shining-eye noddings show she's found not (just) the pulse, but the heart of feminine America and continues to dance on it. She is sometimes heavy-handed or, at least, over the top. But then, that's her job, isn't it?

I'm glad to hear she's gotten happier in her 50's. Maybe that's why I don't immediately change the channel anymore. I've never sat down to watch an Oprah show nor have I ever seen one from beginning to end. I've seen parts. Lately, I've seen a couple of interviews with the two UK fashion women who (I think) are great. And I saw her give Kirstie Alley a gorgeous kitchen. I'd recently been to an Ann Sachs tile store and knew those tiles. They cost a fortune.

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Deb, I can't speak for the entire US of A, but I never watch the woman. Yes, of course she has a following, and as already noted, people everywhere like to rid themselves of "things undone".

I watched Beloved, and it was really an odd movie. Everything seems to be drama, here in the US.

I like what squinney and Piffka had to say. My quick answer before I'd read everything is that she is self-help incarnate. She came to prominence along with self-help, and has glided along with it and shaped it.

Oprah is the devil.

In fact, if you pull on her face hard enough, it will come off, revealing the titanium skull powered by gears and levers.

She only causes American women to be fat, making them sit on the couch for hours on end listening to her bash the male gender.

She also put together that group of celebrities to help the victims of Katrina. Yes, walk around with a camera taping these people crying over lost family. THANKS OPRAH! Give her one thing, she knows how to cash in on a tragedy.

Oh wait, I forgot. That group of celebrities she put together donated a total of 1 million dollars! WOW, you're talking about 10-20(?) people who are loaded beyond belief(especially Oprah), and they collectively donated what a lot of other celebrities are donating themselves.

LOL... Slappy watches Oprah!!!!







Who knew?

Where does it say I watch Oprah?

I read about her Katrina "efforts" in an article.