I have written a few times since September about Oprah. I fear there is only more weirdness to come. I think Oprah really needs to retire. What good she once did for many is at risk of being overshadowed by the turn her show is taking. Between odd behavior, sensational interviews worthy of Jerry Springer and the fact Oprah has lost touch with her core viewership, is turning her show into an odd spectacle of something once great....that gone horribly gone wrong.
Last weeks two (yeah not one but two) appearances by Mike Tyson was the final turning point to Oprahs hitting the gas on the road down to trash tv. I am not sure if she is running scared of dropping ratings, or like the daytime soaps, her show has become a dinosaur no longer able to grab the viewers (whose attention spans appear to get shorter and shorter). Oprah's attempt at staying relevant is rather disconcerting to watch.
If Oprah wants to 'scoop' family incest with MacKenzie Phillips, talk about Whitney's drug use and provide a platform for Mike Tyson maybe she should just work for Extra or Entertainment Tonight. Oprah's best show this season was Chris Rock plugging his movie 'Good Hair'. Too bad Oprah had nothing to do with it, Rock led the way taking Oprah along for the ride. When Oprah leads the way she heads to the sensational, the sound bite to plug into the commercial. 'Extra Extra' 'Oprah Oprah' Pretty much the same thing these days.
The reason Oprah bothers me so much is how haphazardly she throws around the influence she has. Whether it be her politics, her backing the Olympics or her having on Mike Tyson, many people, especially women are watching and listening. Oprah, who once took this seriously, seems to have abandoned her role as advocate in favor of pushing her own agenda. Too bad many of her viewers have not yet picked up on this.
5 comments:
Right on!
Oprah needs to rest for a while - she is tarnishing her own reputation for trying to keep things classy in the daytime talk arena.
Excellent post!
Like you, I have back and forth issues with her. She has for years been a combination of "best intentions though horribly misguided and out of touch." Her personal "battles" have been going on for years, and yet for all her money, time, multple opportunities to learn and grow--she falls into the same patterns in many areas of her life. She surrounds herself with projects yet, she seems to learn nothing from them. And after all these years I still don't feel like I know anything about the "real" Oprah. Other than that she has in many ways had a charmed life, cares a lot--but then moves on to pampering herself until another project comes along and then starts the pattern all over again. She points out and indicates the direction "we" should all move towards but, she floats about---with no direction of her own. Yet, whatever she's into---good or bad, she thinks we should be into too. Unfortunately, I know one of the main reasons her lack of direction drives me crazy is because I see my own lack of direction mirrored in her at times. Ugh, I guess this what they'd call the break through moment. And I reached it without interviewing JOOOOHN TRAAAAVVOOOOOLLTAAAAAAAAA! :)
Oprah cares about one point of view.....HER OWN.....I gave up watching once it all became about HER...not her guests.She talks at people now and that gets old fast.If she has someone on I'm interested in,I'll try to watch but usually give up in disgust halfway through the show.I watched most of the Witney "interview" and it was pathetic.When it looked like Whitney may actually say something interesting,Oprah did what she always does,just blurted out another comment of her own instead of shutting her big yap and actually listening!
Great comments Guys!
Sarah Palin will be a guest on Oprah in November. She's promoting her new book. That's where I draw the line.
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