Thursday, October 13, 2005

Why I Hate Oprah. An Open letter.


Yesterday Oprah had Anderson 'I swear I am not gay' Cooper on her TV show talking about Poverty in America.

A host of different TV celebrities were shown ringing their hands over the poor. Oprah even made sure we knew she was down with the Kanye Westian notion that "it would have been different if it were white folks in New Orleans."

Meanwhile it was Anderson Cooper who tried to reassure all those anxious Soccer Moms who watch Oprah religiously that there "might have been a different response" if New Orleans was filled with minivans and Born Again's in trouble, but he wasn't "quite sure how it would have different. "

"I am grateful for Anderson Cooper. He took away my gnawing sense of guilt, and replaced it with something I am more comfortable with... ambiguity."

As always a Kennedy was in tow. Though this time it was only Maria Shriver. She was there to pay homage to rural Appalachia. What's a report on the poor in America without a hillbilly or two?

So what did we discover about these "Unseen Americans"?

Like us most of them make bad decisions, they just don't have any safety net to catch them. Then they are caught in the self defeating catch 22 of the culture of poverty.

"You know, lots of people make mistakes in their lives," Oprah says. "They get a break, and you get another chance, and you get another chance. But when you're poor, one strike, and you're out. "

When you don't have money in the bank, and when you don't have a family who loves you or who can care for you, the only place to fall back on is the street," Anderson says. "And the street is pretty damn hard."

So even when Oprah gets it "right," poor people make mistakes, she goes about asking her questions all wrong.

When you attack the problem of poverty from an Individualist Perspective you will always find causes and solutions for that particular individual. But does it really account for the widespread distribution of poverty?

Why not ask serious questions about lack of social services, education, jobs, rather than view the poor from the microscope of morality. Once you attempt to view the locus of decisions, you notice that they are all contingent.

Poor decision makers are made not born. If the alternative where true, then what could we do as society? Throw away persons won't make for a stable and secure future.

In their final analysis Cooper and Oprah hope to provide the answer to why poverty exists in the U.S. They claim poor people lack "drive."

When Oprah tells the poor they don't have the "drive of the middle class and other successful people" her incorrect analysis hurts poor peoples chances to find favor with the middle classes.

Because Oprah is supposed to be from the 'hood. She represents the rags to riches story. If she places the blame for poverty squarely on the backs of the poor themselves , everyone else will. They will say "If Oprah can rise up to be a billionaire, anyone can do it!"

It wasn't so long ago that Oprah herself was dirt poor so when she forgets it it's a crying shame and hypocritical.

To be fair, during her report Oprah didn't completely forget about her roots. She remembered them when saw herself in the personage of small poor black girl.

"This little girl has star quality." She oozed.

Oprah should realize that just like that little girl, the vast majority of poor are poor through no fault of their own. Most poor are children. Oprah should stop telling children they don't have the heart to be rich. Oprah lost your billion dollar heart a long time ago.

I hate to say this, but Oprah is different. She has a power over millions of people, the power to make them think.

Few people in America are viewed as an intellectual. Because so many people view you that way, you have the power to engage the intellect of the American psyche.

Instead you allow your contradictions to control you. Didn't I see a "tease" about an upcoming show where you will "beautify" ugly women? Don't you profess to hate the beauty industry and the male chauvinists who objectify women? Oprah, haven't you fallen into the same trap? Do you really need supermodels to show "average" people how they should really look?

Oprah you had a chance to correct the sad stereotypes of the poor, but you failed to do so. You had a chance to explain in depth and identify the structural problems which prevent wealth creation at the bottom of the rung, but you chose not to. You could have explained why the gap between the rich and poor is increasing, but you preferred emotional tales of imorality.

The poor don't need your misplaced pity, what we need is for you to engage the anger of the righteous middle classes into class warfare. The rich are at war everyday with the poor of this country. It's too bad their strongest defender hasn't joined with them in the trenches.

Upcoming posts:

A defense of Insanity.--with my apologies to Tom Cruise I do know the history of Psychiatry.

Why I hate Wolf Blitzer and Why Tyra Banks scares the Shit out of me.
The Case for Race in Science.


8 comments:

Unknown said...

Very very well said my friend, except you may have left out that Anderson Cooper is hot.

Anonymous said...

Did you see the dumb-founded look on Oprah's face when Anderson told her the they did find out that the
"BLACK" Mayor did in fact just let the buses sit and get flooded? PRICELESS!!!!

Anonymous said...

I frankly only watched it due to Anderson Cooper being on the show, first time I have watched the super rich, fake and phoney Oprah in a good 4-5 years, and I was just FLOORED to hear her ask the poor woman who had no running water, no money to pay to have the water lines run to her house (I mean, that is very pricey to have that done!!) what she was going to do to 'turn her life around'--hello Oprah, not everyone can afford a $50 million mansion in Calif--WHY were you not at the Govs office DEMANDING to know what he/she was going to do to make sure that those who could not afford to pay for water lines to be run to their houses HAD running water connected? That should be an American right to have running water, the basis of life, instead of some water companies profit margin! But now, she like all the super dooper rich blamed the victim--no wonder I have not watched her and her 5 carat diamonds in each ear earrings for a long, long time, next time even Anderson Cooper being on won't tempt me!

Anonymous said...

I agree, Oprah is a bit much with her hoity toity attitude of better than most and oh-so-cool and caring person. Buy Buy Buy that's what she's all about, and who cares about who is losing as long as it is ivisible, and that she has a good head shot!

Romius T. said...

Not that she gets a good head shot very often. Flat hair Oprah as she is known these days!

Anonymous said...

I really started hating Oprah when she made that big stink about not being about to shop in that whatever expensive clothing store AFTER they were closed. They wouldn't let her in because she was black, there were people in there shopping. I work retail and it's sure as hell not a designer clothing store, but when the clock hits midnight those doors are closed and I don't give a shit who is knocking on them, cuz my ass wants to go home. Maybe the people in there were employees having a meeting, maybe they were customers who were in the store before the doors were locked. Either way, Oprah is a cunt. I still thought she was awesome in the Color Purple, though.

Anonymous said...

Very true! I find it extremely fake and shallow when she has those shows about losing weight, where she puts obese people on the screen and humiliates them, and in the next show she is hunting for the best pastries and cakes ever with her crazy friend Gail. She promotes all kinds of fatty, unhealthy food and then she has a show about how to dress so that you look skinny and how to hide all the fat by dressing cleverly. It is absurd the way the messages in her shows actually contradict each other. Arrrgh, and I hate that psychiatrist Robin who is on her show! She gives people the most ludicrous kind of advice! Well, I think Oprah is a conceited, hedonistic hypocrite.

Anonymous said...

Ho-prah is a self obsorbed nigger that I absolutely hate with a passion! If you've ever caught a glimpse of her show, she somehow always takes it back to how the darkies are being kept down by the Man! Get over it already!! Look at her protoge Tyra Skanks- everytime my TV passes her show she's saying how we as hard working Americans should lend a helping hand to the lazy, baby factory niggers who suck up all of our dollars...I don't think so Trya Skanks. Ho-prah spends millions on an all girls school in Africa of all places!! What about the children going without adequate housing and education right here on our homefront. Way to go Ho-prah. Thanks for taking a big shit on your own country. If you people love the "motherland" so damn much, then take you black asses back over there...PLEASE!!!