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And what of Oprah herself? What do we know (or think) about her? ?

(151 Posts)
Urmstongran Sun 07-Mar-21 18:30:52

To be honest I didn’t know this much.

(Quoted from the Sunday Telegraph today).

Yet part of Winfrey’s mass appeal is that she walks the walk, her dramatic rags-to-self-made-billions the stuff of distinctly American fairy tales. Born into rural poverty in Mississippi to a teenage single mother, she lived with her grandmother until the age of six, was raped by multiple family members and got pregnant at 14 as a result of sexual abuse, only for her baby to die soon after birth.

At school, however, she flourished, and won a scholarship to Tennessee State University. At 19, she dropped out of her degree when she was offered a job as the youngest, and first black female, news anchor at Nashville’s WLAC-TV. Her emotional style, however, did not go down well on a straight news programme and she was transferred to an ailing daytime chat show, People Are Talking, in 1978. When in 1984 she relocated to Chicago, to take over a morning chat show, its name was quickly changed from AM Chicago to The Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah had found her “alignment”.

As any good interviewer knows, the best way to elicit a confession is to offer one of your own. The British photographer and writer Carinthia West, who first met Winfrey on the set of the 1985 film The Color Purple the year after her move to Chicago, believes the Oprah effect stems from exactly this: her own willingness to show the uncomfortable, ugly side, on everything from her sexual abuse to her struggles with her weight.

‘Though she has huge wealth and power, she’s still very much that down-home girl’
“I think of her wheeling that 67lb of fat onstage [in 1988, to visually represent the weight she had recently lost] and I can’t think of anyone else who would be prepared to be that open,” says West.

When she returned to the US to interview Winfrey in the early 1990s, by which time the chat show host was world famous, West was “welcomed with open arms”.

“Though she has huge wealth and power now, she’s still very much that down-home girl,” says West. “She was seriously hurt in her own life, so she’s attracted to other people who, rightly or wrongly, feel they have been hurt in their own.”

NellG Sun 07-Mar-21 20:48:04

Wouldn't it be interesting if she ran for President? She's probably far too sensible, but wow, it would be quite the twist.

ShelaghALLEN Sun 07-Mar-21 20:49:50

In Canada we see Oprah to be powerful maybe less then the RF but I don't think Oprah is someone that the RF or British Media can easily push around. Oprah's star power is so grand that she single handedly picked Obama to be president. The Sussex have chosen a strong force to be their ally and the RF could be worried that this interview will ruin their international brand.

FannyCornforth Sun 07-Mar-21 20:51:03

NellG that ship has definitely sailed.

foxie48 Sun 07-Mar-21 20:55:14

OW is one smart cookie, she's being paid a fortune for this interview as it's being syndicated all over the world. I understand that M and H are not getting anything for doing it (happy to be corrected on that if I'm wrong) but they might get more than they bargained for.

NellG Sun 07-Mar-21 20:55:26

It is highly likely I wasn't paying attention at the time Fanny haha. "I see no ships" wink

NotSpaghetti Sun 07-Mar-21 20:56:04

She apparently asked for this interview before Meghan and Harry married but was turned down. They had only met once when she was invited to the wedding.

Also, she has been promoting the business that Meghan is either a shareholder or partner in (or maybe even owns) - the one that makes non-dairy smoothies. She was referring to Meghan in non-advert adverts some little while ago.
I'll come back if I remember what it's called.

ShelaghALLEN Sun 07-Mar-21 20:56:37

The American media talk show the View has just recently critcized the RF for investigating bullying investigations against Meghan. The talk show hosts have also agreed that the British Media has pushed and supported racism against Meghan. Finally, the View hosts stated the RF should focus on the Andrew scandal and not Meghan.

Lucca Sun 07-Mar-21 21:53:30

NellG

Can't see it on Iplayer, but it's on Netflix and Amazon Prime movies.

Hi. Just to say it’s not on Netflix. Possibly Amazon prime but I don’t have that.

Lucca Sun 07-Mar-21 21:53:52

Sorry that should have been for Alegrias.

nanna8 Sun 07-Mar-21 22:11:41

They have to investigate Meghan because those people were their employees, completely different to Andrew who is their own son and what he did or didn’t do didn’t occur at the palace. I think Oprah is a very talented and intelligent woman and I hope she manages to show something of the ‘real’ Meghan rather than the actress bit.

ShelaghALLEN Sun 07-Mar-21 22:15:50

I have a sincere question for anyone who is British and dislikes Meghan. If Meghan was loved and supported when she married Prince Harry then how come when she was his girlfriend Prince Harry had to issue a Royal Statement condemming the press for the racism Meghan has recieved from the press. In my opinion Meghan was criticized from the very begining as never being good enough for Prince Harry. Her mixed heritage has made her a target and for that she has my sympathy. Finally, I wonder if Oprah supports Meghan because as a women of colour she can understand that life isn't always fair.

Callistemon Sun 07-Mar-21 22:23:34

And what of Oprah herself? What do we know (or think) about her? ?

I'm too tired to read and inwardly digest tonight but this is a very interesting thread, Urmstongran, she is an extremely interesting woman, and I'll try to come back to it tomorrow. Thank you.

In the meantime, I do hope it doesn't get derailed.

Smileless2012 Sun 07-Mar-21 22:26:29

I don't dislike Meghan Shelagh I dislike the way she has and continues to behave.

Regarding you wondering "if Oprah supports Meghan because as a women of colour she can understand that life isn't always fair" thanks to this thread, I know a lot more about Oprah's life than I did and can't help but wonder, as I posted earlier, what she must really think.

NellG Sun 07-Mar-21 22:36:16

I don't think anyone here can account for the press Shelagh. We don't drive their reporting. Some of us aren't influenced by it either. She had a massive amount of acceptance and support from the public for a long time.

Smileless2012 Sun 07-Mar-21 22:38:58

Yes she did Nell.

Ellianne Sun 07-Mar-21 22:41:29

I think the questioning of Meghan by Oprah will outperform Harry's contributions. Meghan always looks quite calm and professional, but I don't think Harry will be able to hold back his anger if Oprah touches a nerve. That's the bit that concerns me, whether Oprah can direct his obvious bitterness away from his own family or whether she indeed attempts to build on it for more effect.

Jane43 Sun 07-Mar-21 22:44:09

I worked with an American lady who was a huge fan of Oprah so I watched her show a few times. I particularly liked her monthly book choice and her discussion of The Pilot’s Wife by Anita Shreve made me buy the book and it was the first of many books by Anita Shreve that I bought. Some of her shows were quite mundane but once a year, it might have been around Thanksgiving, she had a huge audience give away and one year she gave a new car to every member if the audience. She produced a Netflix docudrama When They See Us which was about the five young men who were wrongly imprisoned for the rape and vicious assault of a female jogger in Central Park and it was one of the best Netflix programmes I’ve seen. She did a follow up interview which featured some of the cast as well as the five young men and it was very interesting. She also produced a Netflix series Greenleaf, I watched a couple of episodes but it wasn’t my thing. She’s undoubtedly a very talented lady as well as being very rich but her fortune is a result of her own hard work and talents.

silverlining48 Sun 07-Mar-21 22:46:59

I heard that OW is the highest paid woman on American tv. Or it might even be the highest paid person....either way she doesn’t need the money.

maddyone Sun 07-Mar-21 22:48:34

Thank you for the information Urmstongran. I already knew that Oprah had a difficult start in life, but you have provided more details than I knew. I admire anyone who has such a difficult start in life and goes on to make a successful career for themselves, and remains a decent person. I don’t know what kind of person Oprah is now as an adult, but she has certainly been very successful.
It was reported that Oprah approached Meghan with regard to an interview before Harry and Meghan married, and Meghan has let it be known that courtiers told her it was not possible to do such an interview. It has also been reported that Meghan only met Oprah once before the wedding. It would appear that Oprah had an eye on a possible interview with Meghan for some time if these reports are true. I suspect that she knew that such an interview would be extremely big news, but whether she foresaw the incendiary nature of such an interview is debatable.

ShelaghALLEN Sun 07-Mar-21 22:49:05

I also wonder what Oprah thinks. She has interviewed Sarah Ferguson so she would have had some knowledge about the RF before this interview. I wouldn't be surprised she had her own agenda. What would she need from the Sussex. What do the Sussex want in return. The Sussex could have done this interview with anyone and it would have been watched so did they need her to magnify their voice.

MerylStreep Sun 07-Mar-21 22:57:04

Lucca
Get a months free trail with Amazon. Then you can watch the film.

ShelaghALLEN Sun 07-Mar-21 23:26:45

maddyone: the fact that Meghan rejected an interview with Oprah the first time around shows she was trying to tow the line. Finally, the witchhunt against Meghan is something that is not going away regardless whether she does the interview with Oprah.

M0nica Mon 08-Mar-21 08:52:31

ShelaghALLEN When the engagement of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was announced, almost everyone in the UK was quite openly delighted, and that includes the British press.

There was no hint of racism, of course there will always be a few racists in any society, but the majority of us took a lot of pride that ou and that the royal family would soon be as culturally inclusive as its society. Their marriage started on a the crest of the wave and most people were delighted that someone who seemed so troubled had found happiness.

While I understand Prince Harry's fear and hostility to the press. To be finding all this hate, racism etc etc he constantly talks about he must have had teams reading every word every paper published and metaphorically leaving no stone unturned, to find it. I think also, which again I do understand, he is inclined to see insult and offence where none was given or intended.

I am sure there was an outpouring of hate on social media, which is uncontrollable, it must be deeply unpleasant, but that happens to anyone in the public eye and such deeply unpleasant people will focus on race, sexual threats if you re a woman, and anything they consider a 'weak' point. I am not defending it, but that is not something the media have any control over

That we have now fallen out of love with the pair, followed their decision to withdraw from public life. It was not the decision itself irritated people. That was their prerogative, it was the way that hey did it.

The couple's decupling from Britain reminds me of Brexit. In both cases, one entity wanted out, but only on their terms. 'We want to go, but only if you give me this, that and the other', and inevitably it ends in arguments and bad feeling.

If they had said they were leaving and had gone, leaving royal privileges, honourary roles and demands for this that and the other and retreated into private life it would have been fine, but they didn't, they wanted to keep all the bells and whistles, Royal patronages, honourary roles as colonels of regiments, etc etc. And of course once they crossed the pond their 'private' life was open to everyone willing to pay for access. It is their desire to have their cake and eat it that annoyed many, including me.

As for the accusations of bullying, I doubt that surprises anyone. It was quite clear from the start as newspapers constantly reported changes in the staff of their private office, that it was not a happy place to work and since the tone of someone's private office is set by the principals, in this case the Royal couple, it is clear that they must be the cause of the unhappiness.

I have no interest in last night's interview. i would only be so if I knew it was their swan song and that they now intended to retreat into private life, to be happy and enjoy their family and stop demanding privacy and hogging the limelight.

foxie48 Mon 08-Mar-21 09:15:09

I subscribe to a number of newspapers both in the UK and US, if I read the same story in each paper I can pretty much guarantee that it's impossible to say which I believe. The press feeds it's target readership the stories it wants to hear, we don't seem to be interested in truth anymore so I take everything that I read with a large pinch of salt. My only comment on the M and H story is that if H wants to heal the rift with his family and they both want to live their lives without press interference etc, going on the OW show to present their grievances is probably going to be counter-productive!

Alegrias1 Mon 08-Mar-21 09:15:10

Thank you for all the information about finding the films on Amazon Prime etc, I'll be checking that out later.

And thanks Urmstongran for starting such an interesting thread about Oprah. Its good to read about successful women, especially on International Women's Day!