Is Oprah Too Powerful?

I think that people look to Oprah for "guidance" because she's had such great success ion her life despite some pretty lofty obstacles. She was one of the first uber-successful women in the overwhelmingly male-dominated world of broadcast television, and not just as an on-air personality, but as a studio-chief of sorts as well.

She appears to have multi-faceted success as well. She's attractive despite her weight issues, she's successful in her multiple business ventures, she successfully engages with celebrities at all levels and is active in their "social networks", and she's successfully contributes to making the word a better place. All this success while still letting us see some (but certainly not all) of her struggles. So, I think that many people see someone who has success in so many different areas and they want to bring some of that success to their own lives by reading what she reads, and using the exercise routine she uses, and eating the Ben & Jerry's Acai Berry ice cream she eats. Unfortunately many of those people also forget that you can't believe everything you see or read, and that there's plenty you never see or read, and clearly the Acai Berry ice cream ain't doing her any good right now.

Mon, 2008-12-15 06:42

I'm like Rebecca, I could count the times I've watched her show on one hand.

Obviously she's powerful- there is no denying that. She's a powerful woman and a powerful black woman at that. So, she's going to draw some attention.

I love her story, she is the picture of rags to riches.

Mon, 2008-12-15 08:39

While I don't watch Oprah personally, I admire her for what she has accomplished. And I don't think that she is "too powerful" but I do believe that people can get a little carried away with how much trust they put in her advice and guidance. But that is not Oprah's fault, therefore, I say "more power to her!"

Mon, 2008-12-15 12:20

I don't watch Oprah, so I can't say much but I will say I feel like she flaunts her money a lot which makes me uncomfortable.

Mon, 2008-12-15 13:40

I'm an Oprah mag reader myself. Don't watch her on TV, but I love the intelligent, uplifting, positive messages coming out of that magazine, with just enough fluff to make it perfect airplane or "I deserve a treat" reading.

What's not to love, really? Yes, she's rich. Obviously. I don't think that talking about it openly = flaunting. What's she gonna do -- pretend she's "just like you and me"? She's not when it comes to $, but when it comes to the stuff that matters, I feel like she just may be.

Mon, 2008-12-15 15:55

I don't think Oprah deserves to be villainized or made fun of. I've never been a big fan of her show, but that has nothing to do with Oprah, it's just a matter of personal interest.

She is obviously an intelligent, driven, self- disciplined woman who has gotten where she is via hard work and dedication. I admire that about her.

The two things that I don't care for about Oprah are a) her picture on the cover of every damn one of her magazines. Something about that really rubs me the wrong way.

And b) I don't care that she's rich, she earned her money and she is very charitable. But it seems to me that more often than not, when she is charitable we are all by God going to hear about it while she is throwing herself a ticker-tape parade.

It's like, woman. You are a billionaire. You help people. Lot's of poor people and middle class people help others as well. That's just what you do in life, you help your fellow humans when you can. You can take off the crown of altruism now.

Overall I'd say what she does or doesn't do is none of my business. She seems like a decent person, and I hope she continues to be successful.

Mon, 2008-12-15 20:55

At some point I decided I was over Oprah, hence my friend coined the term Overprah. Nowadays, I just don't find myself in front of the TV very often, so until Oprah episodes are on the web I will be Overprah.

It isn't like I have anything against Oprah. No. Actually I respect her, admire her, and I appreciate her bringing consciousness to the masses.
A consciousness that I believe is improving life on planet Earth.

Even after I turned Overprah, I tuned into all of her webinar classes on Eckhart Tolle's book, New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose. So what did I think of the webinar?

While, I personally didn't hear anything I hadn't heard before, I do appreciate being reminded of what's important in life. Also, I was thrilled that 1000s upon 1000s of people were hearing all of this enlightening information for the first time. New folders of consciousness were being created and uploaded full of information about being in the moment. The only place to be as far as I'm concerned.

While I wish that Oprah and Tolle would have stressed more breathing exercises as a tool for being in the NOW, I felt at least they were off to a great start, albeit in my book, it's a kindergarten start.

Incidentally, a lot of the listeners kept getting stuck on the notion that they needed to fit their life's purpose into a "job." Wrong people. In my opinion, our life's purpose is to be ourselves. We can all be ourselves by being in the moment, which allows us to truly get to know ourselves. Getting quiet and going within can be achieved by focusing attention on the moment at hand, whether it's doing the dishes or reading a book to our children, combined with a focus on the breath.

The simplest, free-est and easiest way to achieve oneness with the now is to focus on the in breath, the out breath and the spaces between the in breath and the out breath. The transition spaces between breaths are known as still points. I love feeling my breath as it moves through my body oxygenating each and every cell. When focusing on my breath, as I try to do throughout the day, the world around me becomes brighter and more alive. Ironically, it makes my childrens' screams quieter.

Yogis have known about this secret for years. To me, the best part about Yoga is it gets me in my body and in the moment. Yay. I would venture to say most people are not in their bodies and not in the moment. Most people live in their heads in some past or future moment, instead of the right here and NOW.

True I don't always live in the moment, but when I find myself in the past or the future I can snap back to the present by focusing on breathing.

I don't want to mislead anyone into thinking I'm perfect (or worse that I think I'm perfect) or I never make mistakes because being in the moment doesn't magically make life's problems disappear. But I do feel being in the moment gives me insight into unique ways to work through my problems. I feel being in the moment gives me a direct connection to my intuition and guidance from the divine.

This brings me full circle back to Oprah. Though I don't know her personally, whether you like her or not, she is herself and she is fulfilling her life's purpose. How do I know that? Well, her aura colors are green and violet with a enough yellow thrown in to keep her from getting too serious and stiff.

Green is a mental life color. Folks with green in their aura, when in power, are brilliant, excellent delegators of authority and they tend to be perfectionists, which comes with its own set of issues. Once greens make up their minds on doing something, stopping them is futile, so join in and help, or get out of their way, fast.

Violet on the other hand, is from the emotional aura color family and peeps with this color, when in power, are visionary, inspiring and see the big picture. They also tend to be spiritual. They are here to make life on Earth better for everyone.

Put green and violet together, when in power, this team is unstoppable. These are two of the most powerful aura colors. In other words, the green has the ability to carry out the humongous dream of the violet.

Does this remind anyone of Oprah, besides me? I can answer that with two questions. One, is she inspiring people to make changes for the better in their own lives. Yes! Two, is she making planet Earth a better place. Yes!

So whether you agree with her politics or not, anyone can, at the very least, see her as a role model. For many people she provides a pathway to reaching and living their true potential.

Oprah is a very powerful woman. Sometimes, peeps have a hard time with powerful women. Traditionally, in our society, women have been encouraged to take on the role of nurturer, which has been seen as weak, but make no mistake the role of nurturer is the strength and backbone of any country. Mothers not only nurture their children, but they are teachers, organizers, leaders, artists, financial planners, managers of time and so much more to their children.

However, women who don't fit into the Mommy niche are often called man haters or feminists and worse. And this reminds me of one of my favorite things about Oprah, that it's okay to be a non-traditional woman, which is good for men, women, as well as boys and girls, to see.

So, Oprah isn't perfect, but who is? We can all only aspire to be our imperfect selves. After all, we do learn a lot from our mistakes, don't we?
http://www.areyoubreathing.com/

Tue, 2008-12-16 10:48

Oprah rose to power from next to nothing. Such an accomplishment should be praised not criticized. So to all you Oprah bashers out there - take a look in the mirror and ask yourself why you hate her so much. Insecure? Jealous? Or do you secretly think anyone with a v-jay-jay shouldn't have money and power???

Tracy
http://themoxiereport.blogspot.com

Tue, 2008-12-16 14:37

"It's funny that this question came up since my sister and I were talking about this just the other day. She does not like Oprah for some of the reasons that were mentioned in the comments like. She agrees with those who feel that she flaunts it whenever she helps another person and that she is not genuine.

Here is what I have to say about it. Oprah is no doubt very powerful. There is not many people who can recommend a book and have that book immediately become number 1 on the bestseller list. No one can deny the immense success that she has and that she has done it mostly on her own and despite huge challenges. She went from no one knowing her name, to everyone knowing her name.

Does she sometimes flaunt it? Maybe, but look at all the truly successful people in the world. There are dozens upon dozens of examples of celebrities who have gone a little crazy whenever they achieve some degree of success. So if her quirkiness is flaunting her fame a little, then so be it. She has achieved a lot in her life and has a huge influence on thousands of people. She has a lot of pressure on her. She cannot even gain weight without being scrutinized and making the front cover of magazines. So I choose to give her a little break. I don't watch her show often but I have to admire how far she has come from so little. She is an inspiration to all those who dare to want more from themselves.

http://www.conversationswithmoms.com

Tue, 2008-12-16 18:32

I think I lost my interest in Oprah when she introduced Dr. Phil. I don't get much of a chance to watch TV but if I had my choice, I'd watch Ellen. Daphne,,,,,, Why aren't you in the bathroom? Don't ever be the first to let go of a hug, ButtMom

Wed, 2008-12-17 07:36

Also, Heather B., you are not the Oprah of the Blogosphere. You are way more honest and edgy than Oprah.

Wed, 2008-12-17 08:44

More than anything I respect how she has managed her image tremendously. She seems to let people in just enough to trust her, but not so much that she lets it all hang out.

Wed, 2008-12-24 16:06

Com on people...She got our next president elected!!! How can you even ask if she is too powerful?

Mon, 2008-12-29 14:33