Australia’s faith and fury over Oprah | Daily Telegraph Sarrah Le Marquand Blog
It’s the unrelenting enthusiasm, capacity to break into tears at the slightest provocation, effusive public displays of affection and willingness to wear her heart on her sleeve.
We don’t make them like that in Australia. And if we did, we certainly wouldn’t turn them into national heroes.
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Indeed. Why all the fuss about getting Julian Assange behind bars when the real villain is enjoying a BBQ on Whitehaven Beach and cocktails in Sydney?
Hysterical denouncements of The Empire of Oprah are not new. There’s always been something about her deceptively folksy style that rankles the critics.
It’s long been fashionable to dismiss her as lowbrow and portray her slavishly devoted fans as brainless housewives.
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A group of men cheering fanatically in the rugby stands is understandable. But a gaggle of women shrieking with delight at the sight of John Travolta? That’s just embarrassing.
It was a patronising assumption made famous by author Jonathan Franzen when he complained about one of his works being selected for Winfrey’s book club back in 2001, a decision he felt undermined his position in “the high-art literary tradition”.
Nine years on, having realised Winfrey’s reading circle does in fact tackle titles with more literary value than a Jackie Collins novel, a repentant Franzen appeared on Winfrey’s couch on Monday to plug his new book.
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But not everyone is ready to be converted. Particularly in Australia, where scoffing at the celebration of the high-priestess of confessional TV could well rival cricket as our national sport this summer.
Ironically it’s the very same qualities that incite fury among her detractors that are largely responsible for her success.
In a sea of super-slim blondes in their 20s and 30s, she has always proved unique. An unmarried, overweight, black woman rapidly approaching her sixties.
Unashamedly a girl’s girl, she’s fond of peppering her conversation with self-help vocabulary and is ever-vigilant in her quest to empower fans to “Live your best life.”
We’re just not into that sort of thing. In this country only people on reality shows use words like “journey” and “self-discovery”. Talk like that in real life and you’ll attract the kind of stare reserved for the certifiably insane.
But while a 56-year-old who conducts herself with the giddiness and open-mouthed wonder of an 11-year-old might leave some perplexed, it’s obviously a formula that resonates.
Not the most powerful woman. Not the most influential African-American. The most powerful and influential person.
Next year she will launch her own network (named after herself, of course), the first woman to do so.
It’s a rags to riches trajectory rarely seen outside of a fairytale. A girl once so poor she was forced to wear dresses made from potato sacks now at the helm of a media empire.
And it would never have happened had she been born in Australia. Winning a beauty pageant or catching the eye of a Danish prince is a more reliable path to media superstardom in these parts.
A healthy dose of cynicism as the Oprah Roadshow rolls into town is wise. Our culture is very different to that of America – and that’s how it should be.
But let’s not get too smug. That we have to import someone who broke the mould as effectively as Winfrey is actually quite sad.
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I was ashamed by the sarcastic tone used by most of our news reporters when they were talking about Ophra.
Reminded me of girl bullying at school(they surrounded her, sarcastically told her how wonderful her dress was, revolving their eyes and making effort not to laugh- they wanted to make fun of her. Why? She was a nice and intelligent girl, not as fashionable or cool as they were, so they thought. Bullies).
I thought some news readers displayed a self-important and sarcastic attitude. Why? Ophra changed, saved and helped so many people. Just sad...
Where is the logic? Are you blind? Go and take a pick of your recorded program and see yourselves.
Ophra can give our tourism a boost ...not intelligent at all. Who has no-brain, the housewives or the newsreaders?
Lucky the majority of Australians did show Ophra how friendly we are, and how we receive guests.
To the bunch of bullying snobs, get a life, do some good, and stop harming our friendly, easy going Australia reputation.
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