Everybody Stop Pretending Oprah's a Selfless Force for Good In the Universe
Lately I've read a lot of Oprah criticism. In the latest news, she spent a chunk of her enormous wealth on a very nice school for African girls, and the school's full of million-thread count sheets and Crate and Barrel furniture, and also the main subject being taught at the school is 'leadership' or possibly 'glowing on TV.' Also, she released a new self-help book/DVD/itune/nano-bot injection, which, it turns out, is crap.
Various critics in the liberal leftist publications I read have a problem with the fact that she didn't build many less costly schools instead of one fairly lavish one. And that her self-help is bogus crap.
I really don't get why anyone's bothering to care. It's always been my understanding that once you become the richest woman in the country, you can pretty much spend the money how you want to, as long as it's legal. If I were the richest woman in the country, I'd probably build a school out of marshmallow peeps. No reason. Just because I could.
Next, the self-help book. First, of course it's crap. ALL self-help books are crap. And yet, what surprises me is that anyone's surprised that Oprah would write a crap self-help book. This presupposes that Oprah is a selfless force for good in the universe. In fact, she's a tireless force for making money. She's worked for it, she's earned it, and she isn't retiring any time soon. And how does one make oodles more money? Ask L. Ron Hubbard.
Also, ask yourself if you're really going to buy a book from someone who inflicted Dr. Phil upon the world. Dude is not a doctor, but he sells psychobabble advice, and dude is not skinny, but he sells diet plans. I do not like the dude at all. He is seriously A-nnoying. In fact, in my head, Dr. Phil did not help Orah through a hard time, inspiring her to bring him on his show to dispense his home-style wisdom to her audience. In my head, Oprah was caught sans cash in a back-alley Alabama poker game, and Dr. Phil spotted her a cool thou to keep the sharks away, and in return she let him launch a career off of her notoriety. That's probably not true but it's the vibe I get from their relationship.
Where did this idea come from that Oprah was some kind of saint? Is it because at one point in her career, she decided to stop doing sleazy 'my brother slept with my girl' kinds of shows? That's admirable, but hardly the greatest humanitarian ever. Was it when she decided to use her show as a platform to campaign to catch and imprison sex offenders? Certainly that was a good thing, although it was a bit creepy watching Oprah mobilize the nation to catch the alleged offenders. What if Oprah decided to turn her steely gaze to another segment of the population? Yeah, I took it to an unecessarily sci-fi place, but that was the tone of the sex offender show.
I like Oprah - if business is based on the 'find a need and fill it' principle, Oprah created the need. She decided that what people need was Oprah, and eventually, she was right. Other than that, I'm not buying the book, or the DVD, or a copy of the magazine. And um, I pretty much believe she's a business woman. A good one, but still.
Various critics in the liberal leftist publications I read have a problem with the fact that she didn't build many less costly schools instead of one fairly lavish one. And that her self-help is bogus crap.
I really don't get why anyone's bothering to care. It's always been my understanding that once you become the richest woman in the country, you can pretty much spend the money how you want to, as long as it's legal. If I were the richest woman in the country, I'd probably build a school out of marshmallow peeps. No reason. Just because I could.
Next, the self-help book. First, of course it's crap. ALL self-help books are crap. And yet, what surprises me is that anyone's surprised that Oprah would write a crap self-help book. This presupposes that Oprah is a selfless force for good in the universe. In fact, she's a tireless force for making money. She's worked for it, she's earned it, and she isn't retiring any time soon. And how does one make oodles more money? Ask L. Ron Hubbard.
Also, ask yourself if you're really going to buy a book from someone who inflicted Dr. Phil upon the world. Dude is not a doctor, but he sells psychobabble advice, and dude is not skinny, but he sells diet plans. I do not like the dude at all. He is seriously A-nnoying. In fact, in my head, Dr. Phil did not help Orah through a hard time, inspiring her to bring him on his show to dispense his home-style wisdom to her audience. In my head, Oprah was caught sans cash in a back-alley Alabama poker game, and Dr. Phil spotted her a cool thou to keep the sharks away, and in return she let him launch a career off of her notoriety. That's probably not true but it's the vibe I get from their relationship.
Where did this idea come from that Oprah was some kind of saint? Is it because at one point in her career, she decided to stop doing sleazy 'my brother slept with my girl' kinds of shows? That's admirable, but hardly the greatest humanitarian ever. Was it when she decided to use her show as a platform to campaign to catch and imprison sex offenders? Certainly that was a good thing, although it was a bit creepy watching Oprah mobilize the nation to catch the alleged offenders. What if Oprah decided to turn her steely gaze to another segment of the population? Yeah, I took it to an unecessarily sci-fi place, but that was the tone of the sex offender show.
I like Oprah - if business is based on the 'find a need and fill it' principle, Oprah created the need. She decided that what people need was Oprah, and eventually, she was right. Other than that, I'm not buying the book, or the DVD, or a copy of the magazine. And um, I pretty much believe she's a business woman. A good one, but still.
posted by walkinhomefromthethriftstore at 10:11 AM
2 Comments:
I think she was promoted to saint-hood when she started her book club in the late '90's. Wow, getting millions of American women to read crappy chick-lit? It's a miracle!
I have to admit that I do have an unholy love for Dr. Phil. Sorry.
I know you do. I know you love him as much as I hate him. It'd be ok if they called him Not A Dr. Phil, and if his diet book was called, "diet advice from a fat guy".
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