Maybe she’s a part of the Pentaverate, having replaced Colonel Sanders after the whole “not a real chicken” debacle.
Oprah’s root flaw is that she implicitly endorses every topic or presenter featured on her show. She has shot her credibility (for me) in the foot by taking on the mantle of “journalism with a conscience”. She’s peddled so much new-age crap by now, that I now reflexively throw up my “time-share salesman warning” mental shield for everything she says. It’s a shame, because her human-rights philanthropy alone should make her above reproach. But it’s hard to hear “you, and medical science, have the power to cure all disease in Africa” said in the same breath as “how dare you try to cure disease in America, that causes autism!”
Other hosts (Larry King, et al) are able to objectively present and discuss a topic or guest, without being sucked into the guest’s nutjobbery.
If it’s snotty, so be it. I dislike everything she represents and have for years.
Good catch!
But Oprah doesn’t have anything to do with the actual books. Obnoxious people are allowed to like good books. Does Oprah having attitudes you don’t agree with make Toni Morrison a terrible writer?
I suspect you’re gonna want to do a quick google on that, pal! 
Those suspenders are much more important that one would assume upon casual inspection…
I have an intense dislike for Oprah. There is no way that she can speak for the common man (woman) any longer. She’s a gazillionaire. She needs to go away now.
But I will not let her endorsement of a novel stop me from reading it if it’s something I think I’d like. There are many of her picks that I have enjoyed very much. I definitely would not ever purchase something in the ‘self-help’ realm on her recommendation.
As has been said, the woman keeps finding the new ‘it’ that will supposedly solve all of your problems. Not gonna happen.
I lost respect for her when she ran an episode about hoarding. Oprah never seemed to understand that it was not about being dirty, but about having a mental problem. Her “shrink-of-the-day” had a better grasp on it, and tried to help the hoarder woman. Oprah just looked disgusted by the woman throughout the whole show. It pissed me off that she had so little compassion.
I’m not even aware of her current “cause.” She has lost all touch with real people, in my opinion.
We have talked about it before, and I’d again suggest you go ahead and read the book for the specifics of what it says. It says that people attract negativity from the Universe, including illness; that you can think yourself better; and that ill people should be avoided because their energy is inherently negative because they’re sick. It’s not actively malicious – far too woo-woo for that – but it is the implications of it that are IMO pernicious and disheartening.
I first realized the extent of how evil Oprah is when she was shortchanged at a KFC and deliberately set in motion a “botched” coupon frenzy as she unleashed mobs across the nation to endanger the lives and employment of every KFC in the nation. Curiously, she had also just invested in Popeye’s and a series of chicken farms in the midwest.
There’s much to admire about Oprah - coming on the scene dominated by one guy (Donahue) and establishing herself as a talk show host. Wonderful role model for women, people of color, plus-sized people, etc.
But I stopped watching her show a long time ago, probably after the time she lost the weight and had the wagon of all the stuff she’d lost. She started to transcend human in the eyes of the audience. The Oprah I used to watch would have done something to say, “No, actually, I’m pretty human.” Not this time. She kind of went with it.
I suspect her wealth by that point was at such a level it became impossible to be normal. And when you consider some of the sacrifices she made in her life, that many of her audience have managed to achieve - a lasting relationship, children - maybe you start to believe you are otherworldly. Like, “I don’t have these things that I really want, but I’m here to do other more important things - like tell you how a kook hawking a book/diet/lifestyle change can make your life better!”
My wife watches Oprah and whenever she mentions, “Hey, I saw this on Oprah,” you can bet there’s going to be an argument. It’s partly my wife’s fault, but Oprah has this way of presenting an issue with very little examination of evidence, or alternate explanations. So if Oprah endorses it (usually preceded by a fellative interview of said huckster) I instantly distrust it.
But I agree with some others - just because Oprah endorses it, doesn’t mean it’s necessarily junk. I discovered Gavin de Becker’s work through her show and I think that guy’s a straight arrow. Obama lost HUGE points for me with the Oprah endorsement - so I actually think it was a wash. It got his name out there, but a lot of folks suspected his depth with the full-throated Oprah endorsement.
I had the misfortune of having her seated at a table of mine when I was waitressing 20 -25 years ago, just when she was starting to make it big. She and her entourage kept me standing by their table for close to 5 minutes before they paused in their conversation and acknowleged my existance. I was a new waitress and barely 21 at the time and she felt it necessary to humiliate me.
I’ve never watched her show and never will.
“I’m a huge believer in the law of attraction, but within very defined limits.”
What are your defined limits?? I’m honestly curious about this statement…
I agree. I recall her picking one of my favorite Faulkner books (A Light in August, IIRC) and, while I was terribly surprised, I thought: “Hey! More people reading Faulkner. I can get behind that.”
It’s “The Secret” and Jenny McCarthy pimping that moved me from tolerating/ignoring Oprah to openly disdaining her. The latter could do serious, serious damage.
Let’s not forget the big hissyfit she made when she tried to get inside a store (anyone remember which one it was) about ten minutes after closing time and got pissed when they wouldn’t let her in. And then claimed it was racism. (Rather than, duh, hello, we’re closed, we want to go HOME!!!)
As someone who worked retail all through high school and college, I wanted to find the manager of that store and shake his/her hand. Finally, someone who stands up for his/her employees – even in the face of some spoiled celebrity!
Yes, it was Hermes. In Paris, I believe. I love France. My work day is done. $*@& you, I’m outta here, I don’t care WHO you are!!!
Agreed. I don’t follow her book of the month club or anything, but it’s not like stupid people can’t like good books. And Toni Morrison, William Faulkner, and Joyce Carol Oates don’t become bad writers just because Oprah chose them. It’s not as though they get consulted.
Is that really her fault, though? She agreed to partner with KFC, so it’s not like she just sent ppl off with coupons. Or is this a whoosh?
I didn’t say that. I said that I dislike everything she represents. She is an intellectual lightweight. I get e-mails (that go directly to junk) a couple times a week saying (paraphrasing) “Lose 20 pounds in two weeks,” “Lose two clothes sizes in two weeks.” Why I get them, I don’t know. But this is the stuff she pushes on her show. She panders to all this new agey, take-a-pill-and-be-skinny crap. She is not credible, and she is not the intellectual she pretends to be. She is a Talk Show Host. Maybe, once upon a time, she broke through barriers. Those days are long gone.
I think my ah ha moment with her was when she went on that Optifast diet. Someone earlier referenced it, where she pulled a wagon onto the stage which contained a quantity of butter (I believe, or lard) that represented the amount of weight she lost in some obscenely short amount of time. It’s probably why she still has weight problems now; she likely ruined her metabolism.
And she is boring. On the unlikely chance that I am home when her show is on, which is very remote since I work full-time, I turn my TV off.
This sounds grossly urban-legendy to me. I don’t find a credible mention of her intent to destroy KFC because of an investment in Popeye’s.