As we've discussed in this forum before, I have pretty complicated feelings about Oprah. On the one hand, I so totally respect what she has done for books, reinventing a literary tradition in this country that every writer with an ounce of humility should be thanking her profusely for. On the other hand, I find a lot of her shows and comments contradictory (the weight stuff as of late has been driving me CRAZY), and I'm a little freaked out about one woman having that much power.
Janice Peck, professor of communications at the University of Colorado-Boulder, is freaked out too. Her book, The Age of Oprah: Cultural Icon for the Neoliberal Era, traces Oprah's rise to unparalleled fame within the larger context of our recent political, religious, and sociological past. Few of us probably remember that Oprah was once seen as just one of many trashy day time talk show hosts--parading a constant stream of dysfunctional Americans on national television to get good ratings. But in 1994, Oprah decided to really set herself apart from the pack. A week before her 40th birthday, she opened the show by introducing a new direction; she would stop "talking about how bad things are" and instead "bring more peace to the world." Oprah, as we all know her, was born.
Peck sees Oprah's rise as directly situated within two rising trends during the 90s: (1) the normalization of therapy and new popularity of new age psychology and spirituality, and (2) neoliberal political, economic, and social philosophies. If this is sounding heavy, it is. This book is not for the non-academic at heart. But it's also totally fascinating and well-written, so if you lean toward the wonky, you're going to absolutely eat it up.
See also:
Oprah and her weight
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"I'm a little freaked out about one woman having that much power."
Courtney, I'm curious what you mean by that. Could you please explain?
The book sounds interesting. To me, one of the most frustrating things about Oprah is that her shows and commentary typically lack any type of gender analysis. I feel like there are so many missed opportunities, and that the conversations often serve to reify, rather than challenge, existing gender relations. Another thing that annoys me is that she is super squeamish when talking about sex and often seems ignorant about LGBT issues. That said, I think Oprah does a lot of great work in the world, and I give her a lot of credit for that.
I think any one person having the power to make or break a book, a product, the way millions of Americans instantly think about spirituality or consumerism or gender is scary. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, ya know?
I totally agree with you Courney. I just think the way you phrased that sentence, saying one WOMAN having that much power, kind of threw me (and apparently at least one other person) off a bit. I would have preferred that sentence to read more as you intended it: "I'm a little freaked out about one PERSON having that much power."
Gotcha. I think I was just a little bit thrown by the wording of it, too.
Good point! I didn't intend to make her gender central to the sentence but I did choose the word "woman."
I really cannot add any more books to my pile! It's out of control already. But this one sounds fabulous.
I think it would be really fun to write a paper about the "confessionary" model of so many talk shows, using Foucault's critique of confession as a means of spreading out and increasing power over bodies. It does seem like there's a power dynamic that makes viewers so interested in hearing people describe their problems and being able to pass judgement/prescribe treatment from their couch.
I'm not sure I can share your views of Oprah. For a bit I did have conflicting feelings, but I quickly got over them. Not only does she lack a gender analysis in her program, as Ruby notes, she lacks any kind of analysis -- class, race, sexuality, ability, etc. This is on purpose. She individualizes each and every issue and, in fact, stifles guests who attempt to provide analyses. Though she is powerful, self-possessed, and smart, she espouses the individual and capitalism, she works hard at perpetuating the status quo, which sure ain't good for most of us. She gives us spin offs like Dr. Phil (shit!!) and frikkin' side bar diet ads for the Oz diet. She is the epitome of the great american dream successfully at work for even the most marginalized and she markets this with zeal and a smile and boots that you can only sit in. Oprah is not someone I admire.
Bought this book after reading this post. Thanks for the tip!