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Oprah Winfrey - I'm not going to talk about her bio or anything like that, because it's all out there. Instead, I'm going to talk about Oprah now, about how she seems to be working very hard to keep her show firmly in one of two categories. She has the celebrity shows, where she promotes actors and actresses, up and coming movies, various friends, and keeps her foot firmly in the powerful people's list. Then, there seem to be more and more of the serious issues. She's been tackling teenage girls self esteem issues, the schooling issues in america, spouse abuse issues, feminist issues, and large human interest issues like Katrina.
Some people go off about how they hate Oprah because she always grandstands. But I'd like to say good on her for doing so. As a fat black actress, she had no hope of success. But, well, I guess she found her one in a million chance and took it for what it is worth. Oprah has a daily audience of millions and millions of women, and I think that what she is doing with the two types of shows she does shows just how brilliant she is. She's keeping the power by doing the populist shows, and weilding her power to show us what she sees as injustices. And, you know, people will whinge because she might spend a few grand on a silly issue, or raise a few million for something more weighty but not the *right* issues.... and well, you know, I think it's brilliant she's actually out there putting her face and herself in our way and occasionally saying "Hey! THIS is wrong. We gotta fix this somehow!"
So, go Oprah. Good on you. You've got the power, and I think you're very aware of it. Long may she rule! :-)
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Date: 2006-06-10 09:46 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2006-06-10 10:29 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2006-06-10 11:49 am (UTC)From:Oprah is a symbol, and just like any other symbol, is made up of aspects, and you can choose any aspects you like to look at. I don't agree with her christian based ideals, but I do appreciate the fact that she is doing anything. I've had to decide, time and time again, how much I can do. Having children has meant I could never do the things Oprah does, although I believe the potential is there in every one.
I like Morgan. She seems like fun.
:-)
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Date: 2006-06-10 01:03 pm (UTC)From:*smile* OK, fair point, I concede. I just happened to have read the linked item a day or two back without having kept up with Oprah recently. It pushed one of my grr buttons :)
how much I can do
Deciding what battles you can take on is always challenging!
She seems like fun
Yes, yes she does. The shopping trip in NYC was a great anecdote!
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Date: 2006-06-10 04:38 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2006-06-11 12:56 am (UTC)From:I do concede that I was being overly harsh for judging her on a single show in isolation. Sorry all!
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Date: 2006-06-11 02:06 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2006-06-11 02:41 am (UTC)From:this page (http://www.swop-usa.org/Veronicablog.php) has more on the show in question (not sure for how long though; it looks like an extract of recent entries from a blog I've not managed to find a better link for).
The episode referred to sounds more like sloppy sensationalistic journalism than any kind of deliberate demonisation of the profession, but no less grating for that.
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Date: 2006-06-11 02:16 am (UTC)From::-)
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Date: 2006-06-11 02:46 am (UTC)From:I was worried about taking over your positive entry with my ranty gripes about an incident that it seems was far from representative. I'm feeling a little hypocritical given how irritated I get with people who censure films and other media they've not seen :-/
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Date: 2006-06-11 02:47 am (UTC)From:Oprah's done more than one that's annoyed me, I just don't get cranky about it.
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Date: 2006-06-11 04:51 am (UTC)From:Hey, even Doctor Who's had episodes that annoyed me :) I should kill my internet connection whenever I've got a cold... Eep! I should be downloading!