I’ll just wait for the Oprah, Ellen, Portia sex tape to be released. It’s bound to happen.
About a year ago there was a poll that I’m not bothering to look up that asked which daytime host you’d like to have dinner with. Despite her lower ratings, Ellen wiped the floor with Oprah.
A slow (glacial, it seems) self-outing would work. People are getting too burnt out by them, both from celebrities and relatives, to care. In fact, it’s getting to the point where people have become like me: “Somebody in show-biz is gay? Color me shocked. :rolleyes:”
Oprah just seems like the kind of person who would come out if she was a lesbian, as having someone in her position and with her voice coming out would do a lot of good for the GLBT community.
Ellen is a comedian whose career is pretty much based on a “cute” persona – a little flaky, but sweet.
Oprah is a serious woman with a boatload of genuine power, in terms of money and media access. She’s way more intimidating than Ellen – and intimidating doesn’t necessarily make for an enjoyable dinner experience.
I’d read that poll as “who do you like more,” not “who do you admire more.” Two different dynamics.
That said – I really don’t know what would happen if Oprah came out, and I don’t have an opinion on is she or isn’t she.
Oprah coming out as gay would destroy her career. Only a portion of that would be due to people refusing to watch her show because she was gay. The bulk of her fans would be turned off because in Oprah’s over-the-top manner, the show would suddenly begin to revolve about “How being gay is the most wonderful experience a person could have and every person should be gay and Oprah is not going to stop until every person in America is gay.”
Although there’s still a harsh anti-gay movement, I think we’ve turned a corner on American attitudes towards homosexuals. Young people are more and more tolerant and accepting of gays and the trend shows no signs of stopping. We have two states where gay marriage is legal, and the sky has not fallen. We have a President who’s decided that gay people will be allowed to serve openly in the military, and the blowback doesn’t look like it will be too severe.
In short, historians will point at the first decade of the 21st century and say that this is about the point where we really started getting our shit together with regards to gay rights. We still have a long way to go and many people are still hateful bigoted idiots, but that corner has been turned.
If Oprah does come out, she will lose some viewers and maybe a little bit of influence with her current audience. However, she will gain even more political significance as she becomes one of the defining models of gay women in America, and probably one of the most pre-eminent activists. History books will expand her mention from a footnote to a paragraph (or even a lot more, if, say, she were assassinated).
I think the line would be crossed during her first “My Favorite Things” show after she comes out, when she gives every audience member a free ten-year subscription to On Our Backs.
Oprah is a savvy businesswoman and very conscious of her image and reputation. She would not become a TomCruise-esque lesbian evangelical and only a narrow slice of her audience would perceive her as such (and only because they’re anti-gay).
Hell, I’d like to have dinner with Ellen rather than Oprah. She’s funnier, less preachy, and has better eye candy.
I guess you’ve missed the threads here where people who were fans of Oprah have been turned off by the cult of personality she seems to be creating.
Fair enough, the last time I even caught part of an episode of Oprah was over 5 years ago. Still, Dopers are a minority in many things, and I’ve always thought Oprah was in touch enough that she would know what actions would devastate her reputation. She may make some miscalculations, but she’s had a fairly savvy history with regards to managing her public image. I could be wrong about the current Oprah, though.