Yoko and Oprah
There were a couple of popular culture milestones this week. First, there was the Oprah Winfrey telecast of all the festivities associated with her 50th birthday celebration. Second, this week marks the 40th anniversary of the Beatles first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Each of these has special meaning for me.
When I lived in Washington, D.C., if the television was positioned just right and weather permitting, I could sometimes tune in WBAL on channel 11. Oprah was a television reporter then and I sometimes caught a glimpse of her. Who knew? I’ve watched her career take off and rocket once she left Baltimore and moved to Chicago.
Oprah has had many incarnations through the years; we all have I suppose, but hers are more powerful than most. I remember rooting for her when a chance remark about eating hamburger during a program resulted in her being unfairly accused by the Texas cattle industry of single-handedly stopping people from eating meat. The charges were ridiculous. The lawsuit should have been thrown out. It was frivolous. I suppose someone in Texas wanted the attention.
She won the lawsuit. I was thrilled. But the victory sparked a new Oprah incarnation; one that gives me the creeps. Because she can afford the best money can buy, she acquired a high-priced jury consultant who has become her life coach. And like the cook, physical trainer, and countless other Oprah hangers-on, they’ve all become famous in their own right.
The high-priced jury consultant became Oprah's full-time life coach. No fool, he convinced Oprah that she was endowed with special knowledge. The life coach convinced Oprah that she no longer needed to question anything because she had all the answers.
This incarnation spawned what she termed, Change Your Life TV and oh my G-d, I saw a smart, funny, woman transform into a demagogue before my eyes. To be fair, there were some good things that came out of this. There was the Angel Network, which was helping the less fortunate; and there were all those authors she helped; and the millions she got to read books. Yet, nine out of ten of those books featured themes on betrayal, incest, and violent abuse. Oprah’s Book Club choices are not the kind of books I normally choose to read on a snowy winter’s afternoon. To each his own.
For years, I taped her television show while I was at work to watch later on. I looked forward to watching her. After the trial in Texas and Change Your Life TV I stopped. There was nothing there for me anymore. The life coach, though, has his own television show; a lucrative book deal for himself and his son; and thanks to Oprah he is now a multimillionaire.
The only reason I saw Oprah's birthday is because the cable company to which I subscribe offers hundreds of channels, including a Canadian station that telecasts Oprah at 7 p.m. I was flipping the channels and there it was.
Let me explain why this resonates. When I hit 50, it was a non-event. I have a fraternal twin, Bonnie. On our 50th birthday, we had dinner at our sister Sharon’s. Bonnie’s husband bought me a beautiful gold bracelet. I don't even think we had a cake.
I had moved to New Jersey from Washington, D.C. when I turned 41. After decades of casual acquaintances and a few close friendships in Washington, D.C. my social life just evaporated after the move to a new state. It was as if in New Jersey, I no longer existed. I became invisible to everyone but my sisters and a few childhood friends still living in the area.
I’ve worked in the same university for 18 years. I’ve organized monthly dinners with colleagues; gone out to lunch; invited people to my home for brunch; invited people with no place to go to our family holiday gatherings; invited people to my home for dinner; and yet my social life is non-existent. In all this time, I’ve been invited to two dinner parties…count ‘em….two. For whatever reason, I got the message. I've stopped making the effort. It's easier than always feeling left out or ignored.
In contrast, Oprah’s 50th was an all-day event. She’s got lots of famous, important friends. They were all there. Celine Dion and Tina Turner sang for her; she danced with John Travolta; she was feted by her closest girlfriends ranging from Nicole Kidman and Rita Wilson (Tom Hanks’ wife) to Coretta Scott King and Diane Sawyer. Good for her.
It wasn’t just that it was televised in a perverse kind of boast, but the lavish trappings to furnish that single 24 period, cost millions of dollars. What really ticks me off about sharing all that was the sheer excess in execution. I looked at the perfect bouquets of roses; and the fabulous matching table linens and custom-made dinnerware; and I thought if I had the money they spent, I could build a place that had a fully accessible bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom so my sister Sharon could live at home and not in a nursing home. I thought if I had the money they spent on the individualized portraits and silver frames for each guest, I could hire the round-the-clock attendants to care for Sharon. I thought if I could have the money they spent on the food for the parties, I could buy the latest electric wheelchair that goes up and down stairs for my sister Sharon.
This spectacle was Oprah as Marie Antionette. She was boasting and describing and sharing her celebrations and all the while I am crying that I have no bread and she is telling me to eat cake.
Which brings me to the Beatles. I remember the Beatles. They arrived in America just as my father died; just as John F. Kennedy was shot, right after I saw Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald dead in front of my eyes.
Yoko Ono was interviewed in the British newspaper The Independent this week in a sort of commemoration, I suppose. (http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/story.jsp?story=486861). She destroyed the innocence that was the Beatles. According to the interview, she is aware of the disdain in which she is held but is hard-pressed to understand why. I’ll tell her. It’s because John Lennon’s death enriched her beyond her wildest dreams and she sought to separate him from his son by his first wife. That son had to go to court to get a settlement of his father’s wealth. That’s why Yoko.
I now see a terrible link between Oprah and Yoko.
Each of these has special meaning for me.
When I lived in Washington, D.C., if the television was positioned just right and weather permitting, I could sometimes tune in WBAL on channel 11. Oprah was a television reporter then and I sometimes caught a glimpse of her. Who knew? I’ve watched her career take off and rocket once she left Baltimore and moved to Chicago.
Oprah has had many incarnations through the years; we all have I suppose, but hers are more powerful than most. I remember rooting for her when a chance remark about eating hamburger during a program resulted in her being unfairly accused by the Texas cattle industry of single-handedly stopping people from eating meat. The charges were ridiculous. The lawsuit should have been thrown out. It was frivolous. I suppose someone in Texas wanted the attention.
She won the lawsuit. I was thrilled. But the victory sparked a new Oprah incarnation; one that gives me the creeps. Because she can afford the best money can buy, she acquired a high-priced jury consultant who has become her life coach. And like the cook, physical trainer, and countless other Oprah hangers-on, they’ve all become famous in their own right.
The high-priced jury consultant became Oprah's full-time life coach. No fool, he convinced Oprah that she was endowed with special knowledge. The life coach convinced Oprah that she no longer needed to question anything because she had all the answers.
This incarnation spawned what she termed, Change Your Life TV and oh my G-d, I saw a smart, funny, woman transform into a demagogue before my eyes. To be fair, there were some good things that came out of this. There was the Angel Network, which was helping the less fortunate; and there were all those authors she helped; and the millions she got to read books. Yet, nine out of ten of those books featured themes on betrayal, incest, and violent abuse. Oprah’s Book Club choices are not the kind of books I normally choose to read on a snowy winter’s afternoon. To each his own.
For years, I taped her television show while I was at work to watch later on. I looked forward to watching her. After the trial in Texas and Change Your Life TV I stopped. There was nothing there for me anymore. The life coach, though, has his own television show; a lucrative book deal for himself and his son; and thanks to Oprah he is now a multimillionaire.
The only reason I saw Oprah's birthday is because the cable company to which I subscribe offers hundreds of channels, including a Canadian station that telecasts Oprah at 7 p.m. I was flipping the channels and there it was.
Let me explain why this resonates. When I hit 50, it was a non-event. I have a fraternal twin, Bonnie. On our 50th birthday, we had dinner at our sister Sharon’s. Bonnie’s husband bought me a beautiful gold bracelet. I don't even think we had a cake.
I had moved to New Jersey from Washington, D.C. when I turned 41. After decades of casual acquaintances and a few close friendships in Washington, D.C. my social life just evaporated after the move to a new state. It was as if in New Jersey, I no longer existed. I became invisible to everyone but my sisters and a few childhood friends still living in the area.
I’ve worked in the same university for 18 years. I’ve organized monthly dinners with colleagues; gone out to lunch; invited people to my home for brunch; invited people with no place to go to our family holiday gatherings; invited people to my home for dinner; and yet my social life is non-existent. In all this time, I’ve been invited to two dinner parties…count ‘em….two. For whatever reason, I got the message. I've stopped making the effort. It's easier than always feeling left out or ignored.
In contrast, Oprah’s 50th was an all-day event. She’s got lots of famous, important friends. They were all there. Celine Dion and Tina Turner sang for her; she danced with John Travolta; she was feted by her closest girlfriends ranging from Nicole Kidman and Rita Wilson (Tom Hanks’ wife) to Coretta Scott King and Diane Sawyer. Good for her.
It wasn’t just that it was televised in a perverse kind of boast, but the lavish trappings to furnish that single 24 period, cost millions of dollars. What really ticks me off about sharing all that was the sheer excess in execution. I looked at the perfect bouquets of roses; and the fabulous matching table linens and custom-made dinnerware; and I thought if I had the money they spent, I could build a place that had a fully accessible bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom so my sister Sharon could live at home and not in a nursing home. I thought if I had the money they spent on the individualized portraits and silver frames for each guest, I could hire the round-the-clock attendants to care for Sharon. I thought if I could have the money they spent on the food for the parties, I could buy the latest electric wheelchair that goes up and down stairs for my sister Sharon.
This spectacle was Oprah as Marie Antionette. She was boasting and describing and sharing her celebrations and all the while I am crying that I have no bread and she is telling me to eat cake.
Which brings me to the Beatles. I remember the Beatles. They arrived in America just as my father died; just as John F. Kennedy was shot, right after I saw Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald dead in front of my eyes.
Yoko Ono was interviewed in the British newspaper The Independent this week in a sort of commemoration, I suppose. (http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/story.jsp?story=486861). She destroyed the innocence that was the Beatles. According to the interview, she is aware of the disdain in which she is held but is hard-pressed to understand why. I’ll tell her. It’s because John Lennon’s death enriched her beyond her wildest dreams and she sought to separate him from his son by his first wife. That son had to go to court to get a settlement of his father’s wealth. That’s why Yoko.
I now see a terrible link between Oprah and Yoko.
posted by Ambimom at 11:18 PM
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