This is a question that’s been bugging me for years.
As a guy, I don’t see the appeal of Oprah. Sure, I’ve only known about her for about 15 or so years since I was old enough to care about these things, and I realize that I’m not in her demographic, but she started as just a daytime talkshow host. What’s the difference between her and Montel, or Sally Jesse Rafael, or Ricki Lake, or any of them who’s come and gone over the years?
She’s richer and more influencial than the late night hosts, with the exception of probably Johnny Carson. And as far as I can tell, she simply talks to women about mostly women’s issues. How is a billionaire made from that? Things she touches turns to gold. She got Dr. Phil and Oz their own shows, her bookclub picks rocket up the sales charts, and she has her own network. People joke about her being more powerful than the president, and that whatever she says, women do. Why? What’s her appeal?
Question to women: If you’re a fan of hers, can you explain why? What makes you trust or like her to the degree where she’s one of the most influencial people in the entertainment industry? Why her? Why not some other talk show host?
It’s simple. She is very popular and she’s a pretty smart business woman.
People like to be with the popular people, so she get’s the best guests.
Companies advertise with the popular shows (highest ratings).
Popular celebrities have huge fan bases, that happen to follow and do other things she supports (book recommendations, magazines, etc.)
I don’t get why she’s so popular. She’s got to be the most narcissistic person in show business. She has a magazine named after herself with herself on the cover every month. How full of herself can one person be, and what’s the appeal of that?
I have always marveled at how she has been able to get a pass for her past bad behavior, the exact same kind of behavior that she made a career of calling other people on the carpet for.
She has admitted that she smoked crack cocaine heavily for a couple of years, back when she was in her mid-20’s, and she also told the world that she had a yearlong affair with a married man when she was younger (in her late 20’s-early 30’s?) as well, but that hasn’t stopped her from telling her various guests how to live their lives and be their “authentic selves”.
(I understand that apparently she has mostly gotten away from shows on random cheating transsexual couples, obese toddlers with gambling problems and angel-dust addicted housewives, and instead now typically focuses on celebrity guests)
Do you realize how ignorant this sounds? Seriously, what she says resonates with HALF OF THE POPULATION and you don’t understand how that makes her popular and powerful?
I’m Oprah-neutral, but from what I can see she’s got a good “humanity” thing going on - she may be a billionaire, but she has weight issues and other insecurities that are common to many women. She admits the stupid things she’s done in the past and has improved herself, giving women hope that they can do the same thing.
On top of that she’s a shrewd businesswoman. She knows how to market herself as the “everywoman”. She knows how to brand herself. She’s as impressive as Martha Stewart, without the “Ice Queen” baggage.
It’s brilliance, really, and no more or less fluffy or important than what other millionaires and billionaires do to get their money. It’s not like Donald Trump has done some great service for humanity.
I remember her very first syndicated show – she went to some mid-westeren town that had no black people, and the townspeople didn’t seem to see a problem with that: there were no black people, so there was nothing there for them, so no should go there. I didn’t know who to laugh at more, these ignorant racists (racist, ignorant racist, and ignorant of how they sounded on national TV), or the lady who name sounded like a hog call (Op-rah, what the hell was that) that these sort of people would have used.
Remember, this was the beginning of the waning the time of Phil Donohoue. He was real popular, under the exact same format, but his shows were sensationalized crap, wrapped up in his pseudo-intellectual-pseudo-confused monologue. It was a very powerful shtick , reinvented by Oprah, and early Jerry Springer. I don’t really know exactly Oprah did better. She was really good at playing devil’s advocate on just about any topic, even conflicting one’s from day to day. And she was the master of using the commercial break to tease the audience, other people were not so good at it.
This method of TV show is not that hard to do. Consider: Sally Jesse Raphael, the rumor goes, never asked any questions herself – her producers fed her every question through her earpiece, every one. And she had cue cards to remind of the names of who she was interviewing. She was just her look: mild mannered schoolmarm. This format was even parodied on the Simpsons – they fit a tame bear with a headset microphone and set him loose on a studio audience. They perfectly recreated a talk show (till Gentle Ben tried to raid the catering table).
Out of all the talk shows over the years, Oprah’s struck me as intelligent. She had topics of interest TO WOMEN featured on her show about fashion, health, addiction, parenting, you name it… and great guests. Yes, she started out as tabloidy as anyone else, but she got more in-depth and had more serious shows later. I feel like Oprah is my friend. She’s miles above any other talk show host in that she’s almost beyond ‘talk show host’. All others are yakking talking heads, trotting out the flavor of the month. (I also think men don’t like her because she does cater to women’s issues, and she’s not ‘hot’. Being a woman and not ‘hot’ is a crime and they should all just disappear.)
I’m with YogSosoth. Oprah doesn’t instantly resonate with half the population. As far as I’m aware, she doesn’t have some sort of ray gun that enslaves anyone with a vagina. (Oh, wait, did I just answer the OP??:eek:)
Seriously, if anything, she’s alienating half of the population (men) by not dealing with issues that interest them.
I’m trying to think of a man who has made himself nearly as rich and powerful by dealing with mostly men’s issues, and the best I can come up with is Hugh Heffner. One can hardly deny he has lived quite the life, but he definitely doesn’t come close to Oprah levels of power.
Turn it around. Half of the population (women) have not had someone dealing with issues that interest them, unless it’s a man who’s clearly doing it for the ratings. Women had been ignored, for the most part, as men assumed that things that interest men will OF COURSE be of interest to women.
I’m not a fan of Oprah. She’s much too woowoo for me. But she’s had a real rags-to-riches life, and she seems to be a genuinely nice person. Many women would love to be just like her. We can identify with her weight issues, and her love life issues. Me, I’d just want her money and business smarts.
As for her ego, well, there’s a lot of guys who have branded themselves, and who love to see their images and names everywhere.
I think you nailed it. But the reason she turns some people off is because of her aura of self-importance - a magazine named after her, with her on the cover every month, a yearly show devoted to her favorite things, etc. That and she has a reputation for being something of a diva in real life.
Well, ok, she’s not storming Omaha beach anytime soon but she certainly has an army of consumers at her attention. let’s call it influence then, not power. It’s hard to overstate the influence she’s had creating/improving the careers of many, many people who have been on her show, whether they be featured book authors or Dr Phil.
My original point is that saying “how did she do that just focusing on women’s issues” isn’t meant to be sexist. I don’t see any man who wields that kind of influence from focusing solely on men’s issues. I’d argue that Sci-Fi and sports aren’t really that gender specific and other Oprah-level powerhouses, like Johnny Carson, made themselves by focusing on a much wider demographic, not just women or men.
I guess I’m saying that, while I’m not a fan of her work, I’m a fan of her savvy.
Sorry, I didn’t mean anything sexist by the wording of my OP either.
I just find it weird that she doesn’t seem to be any different than those other talk show hosts. Tons of daytime TV shows cater to women, and none of those hosts or celebrities approach Oprah’s level of influence and wealth. What did she do different?
