The
end of a staple in American pop culture culminated last
week with the Oprah Winfrey show calling it a day. After
25 years, pop culture icon, Oprah Winfrey, decided to end
her daily talk show and concentrate on her cable channel,
the OWN (Oprah Winfrey) network. It
wasn�t just the end of a talk show. It was the end of an
era. People want to talk about Oprah just being a talk show
hostess. In fact, they called her the �Queen of Daytime
Television.� But was it as sample as that?
What
made the Oprah phenomenon an �effect� on society in and
of itself? The Oprah Effect made people instant stars, bestsellers,
box office hits and her last miracle, a President of the
United
States. Oprah Winfrey�s �favorite things�
made product fly off the shelf. Her generosity changed lives.
Her candor challenged our sensibilities beyond what we were
often prepared to venture. Oprah Winfrey wasn�t just entertainment.
Why was America so emotional last week about saying good-bye
to a talk show hostess? And why are experts now saying our
mania about Oprah will turn to depression (a deep �O�-pression
around 3 pm)? Is it that serious? Obviously, it is. The
O effect has a grab on us all. Even men (more on this in
a minute).
No
other television personality, with the possible exception
of Walter Cronkite, who was called �the most trusted man
in America� during his 19 years as the news anchor of the
CBS 6 O�clock News, had (has) the American trust like Oprah
Winfrey. Winfrey is to our generation what Walter Cronkite
was to our grandparents� and parents� generations. Cronkite
made the dinner news the prized reporting job in America. When Cronkite
teared up on the air in announcing President Kennedy�s death,
the national mourning period began. When Oprah teared up
over the years, no matter whether the tragedy was public
or personal, America cried with her. Oprah reinvented daytime
television. So much so, daytime soap operas didn�t stand
a chance. She outlasted them and her talk show competition.
Popular Culture scholars as well as sociologist, psychologists
and historians are analyzing this in serious context. While
Oprah�s following is largely women, even men are part of
this mania that makes all stop and pay attention. Many a
man has gotten into an argument (or intense discussion)
with his woman, or women-PERIOD, over what �Oprah Winfrey
said.� So many of us had to start watching Oprah for ourselves.
Largely to defend ourselves. What made this woman such a
powerful social (and political) force?
Popular
culture in our society reflects social norms that are adapted
by most in our society. From language to music to behavior,
pop culture sets the tone for Madison Ave. and Wall St. In America, we are free �to be.� Oprah Winfrey was
us. From the start, she made it popular to just be yourself.
Or just �to be.� Oprah challenged our views about marriage
and relationships. Oprah challenged our views about sexuality.
And starting with her own relationships (Stedman and Gail),
Oprah left you wonder whatever you chose to wonder. Her
relationships were what they were, and what others thought
was left �to be.�
The
pop culture buzz for �just being oneself� is being �authentic.�
Oprah presented authenticity on her show everyday, giving
authentic people the opportunity to be themselves, and challenging
anything that appeared to be inauthentic. Oprah embraced
the sick, the poor, the abused, the abased, the aggrieved
and rationalized with the arrogant, the decadent, the disturbed
and the disgraced. Whether it was majesty or misery, Oprah
found the silver lining that made us all feel better by
the end of the show. Even her dissatisfaction with herself
became a study in self-acceptance. Oprah even challenged
Rap, and kept it real as real could get. In fact, Oprah
was �keepin� it real� before it became a pop culture term.
She defined it.
People
make jokes about Oprah�s money, but rarely is one of her
wealth so commonly accepted - another phenomenon hard to
explain. She is of the people, but not of the people. She
built schools, sent over 64,000 students to college and
found creative ways to share her wealth. A constant demonstration
that she was of the people, and when the people were looking
for a leader of the nation, so was she. Oprah Winfrey had
never peddled her influence for political gain in the past,
but she did not resist weighing in on the future of the
country at a critical juncture, at the risk of alienating
her audience. Some thought they would �boycott� Oprah. Guess
what - like Teflon, Oprah walked away without a scratch.
It was then that we understood the power of O. While she�s
not going far, America is going to miss answering that daily
question everyday. What question is that?
�What
was Oprah talkin� about today?�
BlackCommentator.com
Columnist,
Dr. Anthony Asadullah Samad, is a national columnist, managing
director of the
Urban Issues Forum
and author of
Saving The Race: Empowerment Through Wisdom. His Website is AnthonySamad.com. Click
here
to contact Dr. Samad.
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