Oprah Brings It
Not that it’s necessarily geek news, but fantasy writers beware! Using your eighth-grade trauma to inspire your superhero’s journey? Think again! You can’t mix fiction with non-fiction, or you will get a taste of Oprah’s wrath. Well, let’s be honest. That’s if you claim that you actually were that superhero, and while we all know you’re prancing around in those blue-lined yellow action hero underpants on your own time, at least you’re not on national TV saying that it’s real, or bouncing on couches, like some numb nuts out there.
Today in 2006, James Frey, author of A Million Little Pieces, was ripped into a million little pieces by Oprah when it was found that a detail in his so-called autobiographical experience was shall we say, embellished. Let that be a lesson to all writers out there: when presented with the golden calf of Oprah’s Book Club, tread lightly. No detail shall be exaggerated, no recollection blurred, lest her wrath be set upon you and your stories.
Oprah can take it.
I have no respect for Oprah. She is so self-centered it is rediculous. She has done some good in her life, but it isn't to see other people to be helped, it is to make her look good. Take her school in Africa for example. She builds a girl's school in a very poor section of Africa and several months later it comes out that head-master was molesting the girls. When this came out, what did Oprah do? Did she applogize for making a mistake? Did she appologize to the girls or their families? No, she just talked about how it made her feel. Oprah, this isn't about you. Now we see why you do your public service. It isn't about the betterment of your fellow humans, but it is all to stroke your ego.I did not see episode where Oprah "Brings it" but I bet she made it all about her. I am not saying what James Frey did was right, I mean it should not have been sold as a nonfiction, however every writer exagerates their own story. I am sure if Oprah would write her own story, it would be about how great she is because she gave away cars to her entire audiance.
I feel your pain, J.A.W. And while I doubt Oprah would consider this a defense, she's hardly the first teevee entertainer — or teevee talk show host — with a massive ego.I've been to Letterman twice, and I didn't get a car or even a make-up kit. However, I did get the best damn rock concert I'd been to in Manhattan. They should tape the warm-up hour.
Letterman never seemed, at least to me, pretended to be anything more then just an entertainer. I am sure that Letterman does do charity work, but he doesn't brag about it. I just tried to look up online and I found nothing on this. Oprah has tried to make sure that she is known as a humanitarium before an entertainer. Take Paul McCartney for example, as he is probally the only celebraty even close to the mashine that is Oprah. McCartney is a humanitarium, and in charge of a media empire. The difference is, when he does charity work, he does it because he wants to help people. (Now Heather Mills on the other hand is closer to Oprah.)I myself have gone back to school because I want to be an art teacher. There are several reason why I would do this. The main reason is, that I enjoy passing on the knowledge of what I have learned in my life. (Spelling is not one of those things, I am sure as an editor my spelling is making your hair stand on end.) Without the passion for doing a job like that then you will get burned out. I guess what I am saying is that I enjoy helping people, and I will never exploit the people I help.
Well, it's not just the spelling but the interesting words you come up with. McCartney is, for example, a humanitarian. The ium ending means a place (stadium, auditorium, etc.), so a humanitarium would be a place for humanity. Ha! There is one!http://www.humanitarium.org/
I had a client once said that I "Don't spell badly, just creativly" Of course it doesent help that I am a phontetic speller that is deaf in his left ear sence childhood.
Oprah has a hold on the american viewing public that we haven't seen since…I wanna say Arthur Godfrey. Literally everything she touches turns to gold. Her Book club has gotten more people reading than all seven Harry Potter books combined. Dr. Phil would still be trying to get his first infomercial if he hadn't linked up with her. The cattleranchers of texas had to sue her for fear of what her offhanded comment about not eating beef would do to the industry. As many pieces I've seen in the Star about her breaking up with Steadman, finding out Steadman is gay, fining out SHE's gay, I honestly don't recall a single legitimate story about her doing anything untoward. She may be a wolf in the boardroom, but I don't see any way that could be a bad thing. That's the ole Martha Stewart scenario – if she successful as a business woman she has to be a hell-bitch on wheels.I really don't have a problem with a celebrity being more interested in getting their face on TV than they are about the charity they're hawking. I don't look to these people as role models, so if their puss gets a few million more people to care about eliminating yeast infections in our lifetime, so what. Most large companies donate so they can get free publicity, I don't see the bad to it. Mark Evanier once did a piece about how the reason a large company will make three donations on the Jerry Lewis telethon instead of one BIG one is that way the get on television three times.
No, the problem with Martha Stewart is that she makes things look easy when she actually has many assistants to do them for her.