Oprah is ubiquitous in 21st-century American life, and so are the O-watchers.
About 30 million catch “The Oprah Winfrey Show’ on weekdays. Others faithfully program it on their TiVos. O, The Oprah Magazine, has a monthly readership of about 13 million. Wanna bet some O-watchers stash issues the way your grandparents stacked copies of Readers Digest or Ebony magazine in their spare closets?
Those outside the O-circle may think all of this is over the top, but O-watchers clamor to hear Oprah’s generous doses of sistah-girl wit and universal she-wisdom. For many, getting a chance to meet Oprah rivals Foley’s Red Apple sale, Neiman Marcus’ Last Call and a day at the spa.
That’s why thousands unsuccessfully tried (and are still trying) to nab tickets for Saturday’s “O, The Oprah Magazine’s Live Your Best Life Tour’ at the Colorado Convention Center. To date, the tour – a day-long event with workshops emphasizing personal growth, a catered lunch and a live presentation from Oprah – has visited 16 cities and attracted between 12,000 and 15,000 people every year, the magazine says.
O-watchers also covet a chance to attend her talk show in Chicago, which alternately serves as therapy session, self-empowerment seminar, Starbucks chat time with girlfriends and makeshift sanctuary.
That lineup is heaven on Earth for O-watchers who get it and wretchedly campy for critics who believe Oprah traffics in emotions for profit.
Oprah, like every celebrity within the media’s transfixed gaze, has a band of naysayers. Some Christians dismiss her comments about God as syncretic theology – a little New Age, a little Bible. Cynics carp about the money she earns, and the uninterested rail against her as another overexposed celebrity who invaded their personal space.
Ever steadfast, O-watchers resist the pull of disdain, even if they don’t agree with everything Oprah says or does. They cherish the way she connects.
Unfortunately, some O-watchers seemingly depend too much on her. They tread the well-grooved path of human nature, deifying her as celebrity. They ignore Oprah’s admonition – cited in the name of her tour and the mission of O magazine – to live their best life.
“‘Live your best life’ can mean something different to every woman,’ says Jill D. Seelig, vice president and publisher of O magazine. “And we’re not suggesting that your life look like mine or Oprah’s. What we’re really encouraging is that women become more of what they are.’
Of course, a star-struck mind-set is not the uncontested domain of O-watchers. Americans love to praise people in places of prominence, then pummel them into disgrace when they disappoint. Beware if you are the celebrity of the day, athlete of the month or couple of the year. Cultivate righteous stamina. Those who vainly hold onto mortals cruelly let them go.
Oprah’s fans haven’t dropped her yet, even after years as a television, film and publishing personality, and after serving as tabloid fodder for those captivated by her weight loss, high-profile friends and relationship with Stedman Graham.
Need proof? Watch the number who are willing to pay more than a few times the $185 face value of the ticket to see her this weekend.
Denver resident Tonya Chaney says extreme O-watchers miss the point. “They do worship her,’ says the 32-year-old hair stylist who won a Pontiac G6 on Oprah’s show in 2004.
“When I came back to Denver, the hype behind that car was crazy,’ Chaney recalls. “I just won a car, but it was a car on the Oprah show that set it off.’
She says she keeps her admiration of Oprah in perspective: “Now I love her, and all that she’s done is fabulous in this world, but she just allowed me to get my life into perspective.’
It’s easy to see why the average O-watcher is charmed. Oprah offers much to admire. She is an African-American woman who made it all happen. “The Oprah Winfrey Show’ has been the No. 1 talk show for 18 consecutive years, according to Oprah.com. Millions have flowed from her to philanthropic projects and stardust careers have blossomed for show regulars. Ask Dr. Phil.
Oprah never may intend to play the game of follow-me, but O-watchers shadow her footsteps anyway.
“Her name has become synonymous with so many different areas. Television. Even film. Magazine. Online. Her talk show … No matter what she does, it seems fail-proof, because she is such an incredible brand, surpassing more than just being a person,’ says Kimberly Speight, who covers television for The Hollywood Reporter.
The fact that she has evolved from talk-show host to a staggering one-woman commercial brand with many facets was apparent during ABC’s March airing of “Oprah Winfrey Presents: Their Eyes Were Watching God.’ Oprah displayed the business muscle usually associated with long-standing companies.
“She has the banner ‘Oprah Winfrey Presents’ in front of these films, and it’s kind of associated with the same quality that people have come to know from the Hallmark brand, where they associate it with taste and class, and it’s something that your family can watch together,’ says Speight.
An Oprah nod easily can entice an O-watcher to consider purchasing a little something-something praised in an issue of O magazine, like an Artecnica bottle stopper for $12 or a Sony DVD301 Handycam for $1,000.
And the reach of her literary recommendations already is legendary.
“You know what? Oprah rules,’ says Margaret Maupin, a buyer at Tattered Cover Book Store.
“She is so sincere and so enthusiatic about things that I think it’s remarkable what she has done. I don’t know of anyone who has more influence on reading in this country than Oprah Winfrey.’
Some bloggers also want to catch the O-train. People who use the Internet to post their views and connect with people recognize Oprah’s range of influence and have contacted her about synergizing their worlds.
“Oprah and bloggers do a terrific job bringing out the human side of an array of topics,’ says Steve Rubel, vice president at the public relations firm CooperKatz & Co. in New York, and author of the Micro Persuasion weblog that discusses new technologies.
“They could work together. If Oprah had her own blog, she could point out some amazing stories in the blogosphere, which could help millions more.’
Maybe. Some bloggers never may have a seat on Oprah’s TV couch – or want one. Some use the Internet to vilify Oprah.
Oprah connects people and ideas, and her talk show topics snap with cultural relevance, according to O-watchers.
Remember the troubling segment about age and fertility? Women who waited to have children found out the biological clock really was ticking. For real. And who doesn’t still shudder thinking about Oprah’s interview with J.L. King, author of “On the Down Low: A Journey into the Lives of “Straight’ Black Men Who Sleep with Men?’ Girl, you know what I’m saying.
Regret was tangible when actress Tracey Gold freely detailed her drunken-driving conviction. Unexpected insight into the California governor’s household was palatable when Maria Shriver disclosed that husband Arnold Schwarzenegger calls home for updates: “I go, Arnold, you’re running the state, don’t worry about the laundry!’
This is soul food for O-watchers, but critics view segments like these as collective therapy and way too much information. O-watchers ignore the digs.
In April’s Vogue magazine, Andr Leon Talley, editor at large, partially credits his efforts to lose pounds to Oprah’s successful weight loss.
After seeing a snapshot of Oprah at a December birthday party for gal-pal Gayle King, Talley, known for wearing a Karl Lagerfeld Chanel coat or a Ralph Lauren maxi coat to hide his frame, says he was converted.
“Oprah never looked better,’ Talley writes. “She looked truly incredible! And what that photo said to me was that she was happy at last, having succeeded in her lifetime fight with weight issues. Her vitality was absolutely inspiring.’
Marsha Simpson, 52, a customer-service representative at Dex Media in Denver, says she understands Oprah’s inspirational impact.
“She is a very caring woman, she does a lot of good for a lot of people,’ says Simpson, who unsuccessfully tried to get a seat at the “Live Your Best Life Tour’ when tickets initially went on sale.
“To me, she’s got all this money, but she spends an awful lot of her time helping people, giving them homes, helping kids and counseling,’ she says. “She’s just one of the few women who have the means to help people.’
Whatever Oprah’s beliefs and personal motivations, O-watchers are right: She carved her place in our pop culture psyche and radiates the delight of blazing galactic pathways all her own.
