The REAL reason to love Oprah

 

I originally posted this  about a year and a half ago, but since this is  week is Oprah’s swan song for her syndicated show, I thought I would re-post.  Let me know what you think.

I am about to make a shocking admission to all of you:  I’m a middle-aged woman who doesn’t worship Oprah.  Hold on……I’m waiting for the lightening bolt….because for a woman to say that she’s not on Oprah’s team, is the equivalent of coming out against oxygen.  But, I have sort of a love/hate relationship with Oprah and full disclosure:  I rarely watch her show anymore, but do catch one once in a while and I pick up her magazine a few times a year.  Having said that, I’m well aware of Oprah’s mission to make us all ‘just great’ and that’s where the problem comes in for me.  Oprah’s a smart cookie, so she KNOWS that if we all begin to love ourselves, as she proposes, we’ll have no use for her and her empire!  Which is where the cynic in me kicks in.  Oprah KNOWS that we’ll never love ourselves enough to dump her.  How does she know this?  Because Oprah, who is worth billions, has houses all over the world, is one of the most famous people in the universe, is hugely influential, perhaps to the point of electing a president, still doesn’t really like herself all that much.

“Oh, Jane, how can you say such a thing”!!!  Well, because, she’s gained back a bunch of weight (again), she is on a constant search for enlightenment, either through some cleansing program, or another spiritual ‘guide’, or she’s buying stuff.  But, even as she tries to fix herself, she realizes that the collective self-loathing among lots of us chicks, is enough to keep her Oprah brand in business for decades and that’s not necessarily a criticism, since many of her followers love that about her; she’s flawed like us!  Well, yeah, but she’s NOT like us and that brings me to what I love about Oprah: She’s RICH, RICH, RICH!!!!  Fabulously wealthy in a way that none of us will ever know.  But we could, if we put in the time, effort, sacrifices and toughness that it takes to achieve her level of success.

Here’s another thing to love about O:  she’s made many other people wealthy (and I’m NOT talking about her BFF, Gayle…that’s a whole other topic).  Oprah’s empire has created literally thousands of jobs, she’s created other empires for her chosen ones (Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, Rachel Ray, Nate Berkus etc.), who in turn are creating jobs and wealth for others.  There is a great show, produced by CNBC, called “The Oprah Effect,” where they actually trace the billions of dollars that Oprah is responsible for creating for others.  Oprah is the pebble, plopping in the pond and her effect and influence, are the rings in the water, radiating out from the pebble.  As her fellow empire builder, Martha Stewart (love her, too) would say, “that’s a very good thing”.

So, while I’m not necessarily buying what O is selling, I’m in awe of her power, her cult of personality and her smarts!  She realizes that her influence is probably at it’s zenith, demographically, which is why she has created these other superstars, to carry on her legacy and grow the cash flow.  I’d be willing to bet that for women under the age of 35, Oprah, is only a blip on the radar and so, her decision to end her show in 2011 is brilliant.  She’s going out on top and will concentrate on her cable channel and create even more ‘little Oprahs’.   Oprah is a one-woman stimulus package and for that, I LOVE HER!