How to Find Books on a Budget, article in Oprah magazine.
I get the feeling some don't like or respect Oprah*, but I guess that's probably the inevitable result of her huge popularity. I think she's done so much excellent work. Just the number of books she has helped sell! The publishing industry ought to make her their patron saint.
*Oprah Winfrey. You know, the TV talk show host? Black woman? Used to be a little overweight? Come on, you know! Oprah!
I think one of the reasons so many people dislike Oprah is because of her followers. She has a lot of influence. It's almost like a cult- she says buy something, women go out in droves to buy it. She says boycott something, a company is going to get hit with big losses. Having influence isn't a bad thing in itself it's just that many of her fans don't think before they act.
ReplyDeleteShe also fans the flames of false crises, as many talk-show hosts do. Whether it's blaming video games for a school shooting or talking about the evils of porn, she spreads a lot of ignorance. Given her target audience, though, I can't blame her. That stuff sells.
Something that's both negative and positive is how she exposes people to new ideas, like the law of attraction. That was good because it introduced a larger reality to a mass audience. It could be considered bad because... Well, it was done through "The Secret". Thankfully she did follow up shows to present a more practical version of the principle.
I can't really fault her for what she does. Nobody's going to get everything right. Plus I think she stays fairly true to her own values. No doubt a lot of the resentment comes from the fact that she's successful. It's pretty much a given that if you're good at something someone will hate you.
Me, I'm pretty neutral toward her. Maybe it's just because I know the power of her marketing machine and I'd love to use it someday.
As an aside, Oprah Launches Her Own Reality: http://www.theonion.com/content/news/oprah_launches_own_reality
Ah, yes, Oprah, I remember. She's the main competitor of that highly caring man, Jerry Springer! ;-)
ReplyDeleteI hope she rots in compost heck for stealing Jerry's public.
"It's pretty much a given that if you're good at something someone will hate you."
That's impeccably expressed, well spotted!
BTW, may I have your home address so I can come and gun you dowm? Nothing personal, just a bit of jealousy for your diction.
On second thought, as a true Lebanese maybe I'd better use a car bombing. I so hate sloppy work, don't you?
People hate Hezbollah solely because they uphold our fine Lebanese traditions so competently. Beard trimming tradition, for instance. You have no idea of the amount of work a good islamic mane requires.