I’m Catholic, and I actually agree that it’s pretty woo. I draw my woo line at giving people medical advice, though. Talk about spirituality and psychic power and whatever all you want, but when it comes science, don’t tell me that I’m fucking manifesting my cancer and I can make it go away with my mind (hypothetical, I don’t actually have cancer), and don’t tell me that vaccinations cause autism. That shit is dangerous and irresponsible.
Since there are hundreds of videos on her website, I’d love to have someone produce a couple examples of this.
I advise going to those videos, selecting a few at random, and watching them. There’s no doubt in my mind you will see several examples.
I did. That’s why I want someone else to find it, because I couldn’t.
It’s in the parts where Oprah opens her mouth.
Just take a look at the Frey videos. He barely finishes a sentence before Oprah interjects one of her feelings. This isn’t Oprah hate, Oprah envy (well, maybe, she does have some cushy digs) I think she has just become her online persona.
Okay, I found a clip. Even Oprah’s trusted staffer complains about Oprah’s attack on Frey: “It was also about You, You redeem people you don’t eviscerate them.”
A: That’s from “Behind the Scenes”, not the Oprah show, (and it never even aired) wherein she was talking to her producers about the subject of the Frey interview, which was:
B: Oprah apologizing to him for the way she reacted to him previously.
Therefore, this is not an example of Oprah
Nope. Saw it on television the day it aired.
So the only thing that anyone has specifically referred to in this accusation has been the Frey interview. You went and looked on her site, ignored all the clips from the ACTUAL interview, and picked an unaired segment from Behind the Scenes as proof.
Yet there were many clips from the show where she asks him questions, listens to his answers, asks follow ups and never talks about herself at all.
In fact, the only clips from that interview where she talks about herself are the ones in which she is talking specifically about her apology and how she had treated him.
And it is therefore likely that that is what you are twisting into “she makes it all about herself!”
Okay… that clip aired. The show was in two parts, over two days. That clip was the intro, and not just “behind the scenes”. How did I know what to look for if I hadn’t viewed it on the air date? But I could view any of the 30 recent videos and point out interruptions, interjections, and "I feel this/I felt that/ I believe this and you will still argue that she is without flaws. You can’t bully me into believing Oprah is humble and selfless.
If her style resonates with you: great. Some of us find her style egotistic and disagreeable, and a little rude.
Having said that, I’ll reiterate what has already been said: the woo and the egocentric behavior are off-putting, but her message and output is generally positive. Not un-deifying Oprah; just making a general complaint that I would have enjoyed her show if her guests had been allowed to speak more than the host.
Your credibility just dropped to absolute zero.
The caption under that clip:
Yep. I read that caption. It is incorrect. (Impossible, I know, since Oprah is infallible. And yet: true.) When the Part I was introduced at 4:00pm Eastern Time, Oprah said she at first had no intention of airing that clip, blah blah blah some personal epiphany in the shower… and then the clip rolled.
Let’s ask the other posters here, shall we? Did the segment showing Oprah’s producer complaining that Oprah was too hard on Frey air on network television?
Regardless, my credibility isn’t related in any way to the OP. My *opinion *of Oprah’s behavior, just like yours, is subjective. YMMV and all that.
“Never before aired” implies that it WAS aired, just never before it was aired.
Oprah’s “me” habits hardly rest on that one episode anyway. This is woman with a whole magazine about herself after all. The amount of ego it takes not to be ashamed or embarrassed that is beyond my imgaining.
That is the most thoroughly meaningless sentence I can recall reading in a very long time.
Your ever-expanding inventions are beginning to sound kinda desperate.
In the same way you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about in terms of the television show, you are clearly entirely ignorant regarding the magazine, which is about all the usual stuff that general-interest magazines directed primarily at women are about: relationships, food, clothes, books, celebrities, health, beauty. Pretty much nothing about Oprah at all except for her monthly column, which isn’t really about her either, she just writes it.
Your credibility is very much related to your ability to report facts accurately. You have had boatloads of time to offer up a SINGLE clip from The Oprah Winfrey Show in which she behaves in the manner you and others have described, turning the conversation back to herself.
You and others brought up the Frey interview repeatedly. Her website has at least half a dozen clips from that interview. You ignored all of them and selected a clip that does not feature her talking over his replies and making the conversation about herself, as you have repeatedly accused. You offered up a clip from her Behind the Scenes show wherein she is having a discussion with her producer about her harshness with Frey the first time he was on her show, after she found out his book wasn’t true. She’s being taken to task for her behavior in unique circumstances. Look at the quote you pulled!!
You opinion of Oprah can be anything at all. But objective fact is not a matter of opinion. You and others have made untrue assertions about the way she actually behaves and your attempt to prove the truth of your assertions not only fails to prove them, but your choice to completely ignore clips of her actual interview is, to be kind, less than impressive evidence of your credibility.
I haven’t seen the Frey show, and not having the least bit of interest in him, I’m not going to spend the time needed to watch all the clips looking for an example of what I’m talking about. Especially given that these are self-selected clips on her own website, and I’m sure her producers are going to pick the ones that are the most interesting and least likely to show Oprah being obnoxious.
I actually don’t dislike her, as I said earlier. Some of the woo stuff irritates me, I think there’s a lot of irresponsible “telling the other side” in the media these days, and Oprah is only one example of that. But in terms of Oprah herself…I think she’s an amazing person, and there’s a lot to admire about her. She’s obviously brilliant, she’s charismatic, she knows how to connect with people and I think she does so genuinely. She cares about people. I’ve been very impressed with her “Behind the Scenes” show…she’s not vain, she cares about presenting a quality product and her staff is not afraid to stand up to her when need be. She is funny and has a sense of humor about herself. She respects her audience, and the process of producing a show like hers.
Here’s the thing, though…she made a commitment years ago to promote positivity, to teach people a better way of thinking and living, to help people strive for a more authentic life. That’s a bit of a strange position to be in, to constantly be searching for that, and to think that you are someone who is in touch with it enough to promote it to the world. It’s not a bad thing, but it’s something that requires a lot of confidence. A lot. And she’s clearly thought and thought and thought and thought about it, which is also cool. Given that it’s where her head is, it would be surprising to say the least if that didn’t leak through in her interviews…hell, she WANTS it to leak through…it’s her Purpose in Life, after all. One of the things I’ve seen in the past 6 months or so of watching her show is that she seems to look for things to discuss with her guests that illustrate her philosophies. And it would be strange if she didn’t, because that’s the point of her show. I, personally, find it a bit annoying, because I’m more inclined to watch the show more for the guests and less for her, and she DOES interrupt people. That’s, actually, something she’s known for and is mentioned all the time on message board threads about her. I noticed her interrupting Ralph Lauren the other day. It’s just part of her interviewing style, and yeah, I think it has to do with a bit of self-importance, which may be well-earned, but is certainly part of her personality at this point. I can see where it might grate more on someone who doesn’t relate to her woo-iness than it would on someone who does. I lean more to the former, and it kinda bugs.
Besides the Frey stuff the biggest example I can think of was her Africa special. I was expecting to see the African girls story. You know: this is Africa, this is a day in the life of an African girl, she struggles with this, these are the obstacles she faces, this is how we helped her, this is how her life will improve, this is how she feels about it, this is where she is today…
Nope. It was a complete Oprah narrative telling Oprah’s story about her journey to Africa, what she saw, how she felt about it, how she connected to it, what she wanted to to about it, how she felt after doing it, more about how she connected and related to it, what her role currently is in it, how the experience changed her…
If you like Oprah that much and are into her thoughts on everything and want to live vicariously through her have at it.
I found it to be very off-putting and distasteful even.
Hampshire, I think maybe some OprahWinfrians don’t try to live through her experiences, but instead, become inspired by her. When they hear her wax philanthropistical* about her experiences in helping others, they want to also help. They want to create little Angel Networks of their own, in their own little towns.
But, I’m just guessing. I have no idea what those dreamy eyed followersare thinking when they are shown in close-up on the show with their little trusting faces upturned toward their leader.
*Yeah, I made that up.