I don’t know if you’ve heard, but Oprah has ended her daily talk show after 25 seasons. I know, right? Shocker! The Big O has closed her (metaphorical) doors and trotted off into the sunset, never to be heard from again. Right! If you believe we won’t hear from her again, you are living under a rock.
I have had myself quite a love/hate relationship with the Big O over the years. Here is the LOVE. Feel it…feel the love:
Without that 4pm fix every day, the nation would have been lost. Whether you are willing to admit it or not, O has touched your life in some way. Everyone at one time or another has heard about, talked about, or watched what Oprah did yesterday. A typical week of shows ran the gamut of emotions: Mon. – Tom Hanks chats up his new movie; Tues. – Donna Summer, Peeeoooplle! Disco is not dead!; Wed. – Discrimination in the Deep South, has anything changed?; Thurs. – surprise makeovers; Fri . – Victims of abuse confront their predators. Just your normal, typical lineup of shows. Only O could get away with such a variety and not be criticized. Because, “oh no you don’t!”, you don’t criticize the Big O. Ever!
It never mattered to us what the topic of the day was going to be. If it was 4:00 – Oprah was on. Period. We welcomed the variety. We marveled at her versatility, and we loved watching her weight go up and down. It was our guilty pleasure; our water cooler talk; our “aha moments.” I learned a lot from O through the years. I laughed and cried with her and her guests. I marveled at her success. I will always admire O for what she came from, and all that she has been able to achieve.
However…
Now for the hate part of my love/hate relationship. Well, hate is a very strong word. Let’s just say Extremely Aggravating! I will absolutely agree that Big O is THE number one expert in marketing herself. I admire that in a person. To have the confidence to “go for it” is something I have always been lacking. But really…must we? Let’s begin with her interview technique. I can sum it up in one sentence. Ask a question and then interrupt as much as possible to get the focus back on ME. Look at some of the old tapes of her show. The “interrupt technique” has grown to an epic proportion over the years. She never lets a person finish a sentence. NEVER! I scream at the television, “SHUT UP, O!” I want to hear the answer.
Then there is the name dropping. How she works the names Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou and Chris Rock into a conversation about buying the right bra is both annoying and genius. We know you know people, O. You don’t need to remind us every second of every show.
Let’s talk about the Magazine. You knew it was coming, didn’t you? I’ll start with this – I do enjoy the magazine. Some of the articles are very inspiring, informative, interesting. I love looking at the O List (a section of favorite products of the month), however, can a normal person afford anything on the O list? Sorry, O, uh…we don’t make the money you do! $150 for bath salts is a little pricey for the normal American!
And then there is… you know what I’m going to say. That one thing that makes me think twice about buying the mag in the first place. Even my daughter noticed it. We were in a grocery store back when she was about 5 or 6, and we were looking at the newsstand. She said “Mom, why does Oprah ALWAYS HAVE TO BE ON THE COVER?” AAAHH. Good question my child, and how very observant of you. I guess because it is HER magazine and you can’t forget it!
As if a magazine cover every month wasn’t enough, now we have the ultimate. We have our OWN network. How fortunate that the initials of Oprah Winfrey Network are OWN. How in the heck did she work that one out? It’s MY network. Just like it’s MY magazine. MINE. MIIIIINNNNNEEE, PEEEOOOOPPPLLLLEEE! I decide the shows that go on. I decide what America will watch from here on out. Me. It’s my little way of controlling the world. Until I can, actually, control the world. Which will come, mark my words.
