Posted on 03/03/2006 4:00:01 PM PST by qam1
There's a growing membership in the I Hate Oprah Club.
A nod from Oprah Winfrey moves best-seller lists. Stocks rise when her name is attached to a company or product. Millions listen when she speaks at Coretta Scott King's funeral, and millions more cheer when she loses 20 pounds.
Forget about her 49 million viewers each week. The real pinnacle of celebrity is attaining single-name status.
But there are Oprah-haters, too: those who speak out against America's most beloved talk show host. They accuse her of materialism, manipulation, power mongering, arrogance and generally being in love with herself.
As her media empire expands and her billions multiply, antiOprah people who resent her wealth and influence are wondering, hasn't America had enough?
"Oprah Winfrey is not quite one of those people that we love to hate, but there's a growing membership in the I Hate Oprah Club," said Dr. Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University. "She was so sanctimonious with the James Frey thing, she lost even some of her loyal followers. I think she skated through this one, but she's got to be careful."
Frey's book, "A Million Little Pieces," shot to the top of bestseller lists with an Oprah endorsement, but questions later arose about the truthfulness of his story, which was an account of his years of alcohol and drug abuse and his time in recovery. Oprah brought the author back on the show for a public scolding when it became clear that much of the "memoir" was fiction.
The anti-Oprah sentiment has been stirring, mostly online, for years. Shoppers wishing to show their solidarity can purchase "I Hate Oprah" stickers. Self-proclaimed "anti-Oprah" book clubs and reading lists offering alternatives to her selections proliferate on the Internet. David Letterman spent 16 years cracking jokes at Oprah's expense until the two talk show hosts finally resolved their feud last December.
"I think of her as the human embodiment of Wal-Mart," said Kevvy Schlaucher, a 25-year-old engineer from Calgary, Canada, who used to watch the show with his mother. "The Oprah Empire is everywhere. She makes sure you don't get out of the system. I think she's got more influence now than George W. Bush does."
In addition to the syndicated talk show, the cable after-show, the book club, the diet tips, the lifestyle magazines (with her image on every cover), the self-help online workbooks and Oxygen, the women's cable network she co-founded, fans can even download audio clips of Oprah reading her favorite inspirational quotes aloud at Oprah.com. XM Satellite Radio recently announced an Oprah and Friends channel for September, boosting the company's stock for a couple of days.
"It's the cult of Oprah," explained Thompson. "Anyone with that much power, who can make a best seller overnight, anybody who's achieved the cultural penetration she's achieved, you're naturally going to get resentment. One is going to inevitably produce the other."
Schlaucher was surprised by the number of fellow Oprah-haters who responded when he posted an online article titled "NOprah" in 2004. He continues to hear from fellow Oprah-haters who agree that, despite her noble charity work, Oprah has an alarming effect on public opinion, particularly among women. Schlaucher refers to her following as a "legion of Oprah clones."
The Oprah-haters abounding on the Internet are mostly young, and of a generation raised not only online, but on Oprah. For the 20-somethings, Oprah's been a cultural institution and a public figure since they were small children.
And she has plenty of fans in that age group. "If you don't like Oprah, there's got to be something wrong with you," said Kelly Cook, a 24-year-old from New York City who calls herself an "Oprah fanatic."
Cook recently purchased Oprah's 20th Anniversary DVD set.
"I just cried all the way through it," she said. "I rarely miss a show and if I do, I tape it," she wrote in an e-mail message. "I read her book club books; I read her magazine; I buy products she endorses on her `Favorite Things' show. She's like family to me. I view her as a moral and spiritual guider and as a model for the way a woman ought to be in the world."
Brandon Renken, a Harvard University graduate who wrote an anti-Oprah column for CampusNut.com, takes issue with this view.
"No matter who you are, Oprah is NOT like you," he said. "The fact that she can convince you that she is should make you even more afraid of her than I am."
The anti-Oprah contingent feels that Oprah's preaching from the tele-pulpit is what draws in viewers, show after show.
The last segment of the program, Schlaucher pointed out, tells her audience "how to get soul. It's like a church following. You don't really have to do anything, but it makes you feel better."
Many disdain Oprah for what they consider vapid celebrity chitchat and gossip.
"The only difference is that her guests jump on the chairs," said Schlaucher, referring to the now-infamous Tom Cruise interview, "and on Jerry Springer they throw the chairs."
Heather Weller, a stay-at-home mom from Worcester, Mass., expressed her views on an Internet message board discussing Oprah's Book Club. "Does Oprah have some sort of mind-control device we don't know about?" she asked. "But I have to say anything that gets people to read is a good thing. It would just be nice if it also got them to think."
Kelly Cook needs a MAN!
I agree. Hi, bentfeather! It's been a while. :)
I think we all need to come up with a funny Oprah limerick:
There once was a woman named Oprah... ;)
let her run as hitlery's v.p,that's what it's coming to anyway.....
Thank ya. :)
I wonder if Oprah is the mother millions of young women never had. When their liberal mums weren't out aborting their classmates, they turned to the TV for comfort. Oprah is "mommy TV." She's familiar, soothing, pandering, has guests with names you'd like to drop, and reaches the population most hungry for it.
I personally don't have positive or negative feelings towards Oprah; I did feel a bit sorry for all the flack she took when she gave her audience new cars and a bunch of ingrates turned on her.
Howdy Proud, good to see you!!
There once was a woman named Oprah
who lugged her tush around in a small cobra
now all that fat was what went splat
when she walked down the aisles in Chicago.
Thin one month, headier the next
she keep us guessing which
would come off next.
LOL
Your turn...
>.....Oprah is my black lab bitch...<
LOL, I love it! How clever of you!
Yes
Had Enough of Oprah?
Yes!
Oprah is Phil Donahue in drag.
I can forgive her narcissism, and I can forgive her shallowness. But I can never forgive her for inflicting Dr Phil on this nation. Sign me up.
Oprah's greatest sin is probably foisting Dr. Phil onto the American public.
I always wondered why Oprah didn't do more with her acting career, especially after she amassed to money to bankroll her own projects. She is a pretty good actress.
Leni
"Women can choose whatever leaders they want."
From your page: "Most of the people in our society are sheep."
I know, I thought it was a way to be insulting without getting very involved or personal.
Oprah needs to borrow a page from Bill Cosby. She has all the $$$, tv time, respect, and adoration that one person could possibly need in a lifetime. And yet, has she EVER stood up on her program and told her audience to STOP THE HELL BEING VICTIMS? It's always everyone else's fault. Society, Republicans, rich people, Bush, blah, blah . She could do a LOT of good. Instead she chooses to keep the Maya Angelous of the world rich writing poems of chains and struggle. She should know better, by now, IMHO.
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