Friday, May 27, 2011

一個亞洲男子的秘密自白:奧花雲費(奧普拉•温弗里) 之影響力 / Confession of a Secret Asian Man: The Oprah Winfrey Effect


Having been bombarded by all the media attention directed towards the Queen of Talk-show's last farewell, I almost feel guilty by whispering to you I am not one of the million who have been touched by the so-called Oprah effect. Despite the ample opportunity to be affected in the last 25 years, I don't recall secretly tuning in to watch her program on TV. Of all the US talk-show hosts, I am more inclined to watch Ellen and Letterman and even then I would readily skip the channels when there are something more exciting such as the UFC, Disorderly Conducts, or other manly shows on Spike TV.

Yet, I can be a touchy-feely type of a guy too. I mean I actually went to watch the movies "Something Borrowed" (definitely a chick-flick) and Water For Elephants (a sentimental love story abt a woman and her beasts). But listening to a woman telling me what she likes, and implicitly what I should read and buy too is just a bit too much for a secret Asian man like myself. You know the type :O

But then there are many, and not just american women, who swear that their lives have been touched and even changed by Oprah. They feel she has given them hope, compassion, and the will to overcome adversity. To them, Oprah is inspirational, motivational and a people-oriented, kind-hearted celebrity. To me, I am just glad she is not a cult leader who would wildly predict the end of the world or make followers drink cool-aid.

In the context of main-stream American culture, I do secretly have a lot of respect for Oprah. There is no doubt she is an iconic trail-blazer in the white male dominated talk-show industry and American show-biz in general. She works hard and excels, not because of but rather in spite of her racial and social background. So, as much as I am not comfortable with the consumerism and blind acolytes that are associated with popular culture and celebrities, I do respect Oprah for showing black Americans and other sectors of our population what one can achieve despite the odds, the stereotyping, and systemic barriers of the mains-stream society.

Good-bye Oprah. Even tho I will not deliberately go visit your shop in Chicago and have no plan to join the OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) any time soon, I do wish you luck and hope the Oprah Effect will bring positive changes and social equity to ppl in North America and perhaps around the world.

Sent from BlackBerry

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Updated / Photo Credit: According to Wikipedia ....

奧花雲費
(英語:Oprah Gail Winfrey,中國大陸譯作奧普拉•温弗里,台灣譯作歐普拉•溫芙蕾,1954年1月29日-),美國企業家和電視節目《奧花雲費秀》的主持人。

早年: 溫芙瑞生於密西西比州科修斯科,是女僕沃內塔•李(Vernita Lee)和一個士兵弗農•溫芙瑞(Vernon Winfrey)的孩子。由於母親不到20歲,未婚就懷了她,加上雙親的工作收入都相當微薄、奧花的童年過得相當清寒。她的出生證明上寫的是奧帕(Orpah),本來是取自《聖經•舊約全書•路得記》一卷裏面的其中一位摩阿布族女人的名字,但是鄰居們在讀寫她的名字時把其中的R和P調換了位置。最終奧花成了廣泛接受的名字。畢業於田納西州立大學(Tennessee State University)公演藝術及語音通訊學雙學士學位。

職業生涯:溫芙瑞19歲開始其廣播生涯。她是納什維爾(Nashville)WTVF-TV最年輕的新聞主播和第一個非裔女主播。其後轉到巴爾的摩(Baltimore)WJZ-TV成為「六點鐘」(新聞)的主播之一。然後又被招募至理查德•舍爾(Richard Sher)麾下成為WJZ的地方脫口秀節目(Talk Show)人們在說(People Are Talking)的主持人之一。

1985年溫芙瑞移居芝加哥取代別人成為WLS-TV的一個低收視率的半小時的晨間脫口秀AM芝加哥(AM Chicago)的主持人。節目在溫芙瑞的主持下在不到一年的時間裡就取得了很大的成功,並重新命名為奧花•溫芙瑞秀(The Oprah Winfrey Show),並擴充時長為一小時在全國首播。最初節目遵循傳統脫口秀形式。在1990年代中期,形式變得更加嚴肅,選題更加偏重溫芙瑞認為對女人至為重要併產生重要結果的問題。溫芙瑞也開始做了大量的慈善工作,她的節目對一些飽受貧窮折磨的人和意外事件的受害者做了特寫。溫芙瑞通常對媒體公開討論她生活的各方面,包括一些不那麼愉快的事情,例如受到性騷擾的童年及因而導致的毒品問題。1990年,她同母異父的妹妹Patricia Lee-Lloyd透露溫芙瑞曾於14歲懷孕併產下一個死嬰。溫芙瑞的體重波動使她成了減肥的精神領袖。在1990年代末,溫芙瑞把她的書友會介紹到了電視上,不管她推薦什麼,那本書立刻成為暢銷書,這已經成為她的影響力的明證。

在1996年4月16日與霍華德•萊曼(Howard Lyman)討論瘋牛病的節目中,溫芙瑞喊道:「這讓我在想再吃一個漢堡時冷靜下來!」1998年德克薩斯州的養牛人起訴了她的節目和萊曼「無端誹謗易腐食品」及「行業歧視」稱溫芙瑞的評論導致牛價下跌,造成牛肉生產者損失了1200萬美元。兩個月後的2月26日,座無虛席的德克薩斯畜牧業鄉間法庭宣判溫芙瑞言行並未惡意,因而無罪,無需為損失負責。事後溫芙瑞收到了來自Rosie O'Donnell的明信片:「祝賀妳,妳戰勝了牛肉!」2007年獲得霍華德大學榮譽博士學位。

事業版圖: 溫芙瑞創辦了天使網絡(The Angel Network),一個每年募集成百萬美元善款的組織. 她出版了自己的雜誌「O, 奧花雜誌」和「O居家」, 並與別人一起成立了女人有線電視網「氧氣」。她是「哈博出品」(Harpo,即反寫的奧花)的董事長, 出版包括托妮•莫里森(Toni Morrison)的小說「寵兒」(Beloved)改編的電視劇等。溫芙瑞也涉足演藝事業,最引人注目的是在電影《紫色》(The Color Purple,她因此獲得奧斯卡提名)和她自己出品的《寵兒》中的演出。她也是一個出版物作者, 2002年艾美獎第一屆鮑勃•霍普(Bob Hope)人道獎獲得者。溫芙瑞主要在伊利諾斯州的芝加哥活動但是在加利福尼亞的蒙特斯托也有一處住宅。據說她最近在毛伊島也置辦了產業。溫芙瑞最近簽約將把節目延伸到2010-2011年度。到那時她的節目已經播出25年了。她也計劃每年主持140場節目,到最後時再回到現有的數字上,130場。根據2004年的福布斯雜誌稱,奧花•溫芙瑞據信身家超過10億美金。奧花最近住在她的42英畝的加州蒙特斯托(Montecito)的住宅里。據說奧花出席前戶主的聚會時愛上了這個房子,結果花掉了她5000萬美元,雖然人家不是準備賣的。她在新澤西州的拉瓦萊特(Lavalette)也有房產。

評論: 奧花因其涉及「擁抱自由主義」遭到了保守派的批評。一個批評是,從1981到2002年擔任家庭類雜誌「女士居家通訊」(Ladies' Home Journal)的主編Myrna Blyth在其新書「紡紗姐妹」(Spin Sisters)中撰文:媒體女人怎樣推銷不幸——和自由主義——給美國女人,「媒體精英女人涉嫌向女人們推銷不幸及吹捧錯誤建議」。她也因為她的書友會及採訪風格收到了許多電視小品節目的嘲笑。

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

My god! Is OW gone at last? Could anyone sing their own praises more stridently, more repetitively, more tiresomely? 'Lady Gaga' creation seems to be taking over OW's throne. These two are just the role models for making sure American females stay dumb, at home and accepting of traditionally lower wages. Now OW can ascend into Clown Heaven alongside Johnny Carson. Wasted celebrity rightfully forgotten.

Anonymous said...

forgot to sign

exile

Haricot 微豆 said...

If you don't want Oprah and Lady GaGa to be the models of young American females, then whom would you recommend?

* Potential US Prez (rep) and Hot tea-party Mama Bear Palin from Alaska?
* Hillary Rodham Clinton, the punctum of the photo from the Situation Room?
* Celeb tarts who call rehabs and police station homes in btwn wild parties or shopping-without-paying?

Hmmmm .....

Haricot 微豆 said...

"And whom do you want to be when you grow up, little Johnny?"

"The Governator of California? Prez Clinton of the US? Prez Emperor of Italy? Managing Director of IMF? ..."

There are no lack of good models for boys !!

啤酒花™_J said...

hey, I never actu sit down watch it also... :P

Anonymous said...

la la la....

you forgot our beloved Miss Snooki & the Situation Dude !

Clown Heaven will be way too crowded for all of them :)

exile

Haricot 微豆 said...

啤酒花™_J:

Then you haven't missed anything.

Haricot 微豆 said...

Exile:

It's more likely Saint Pete will send Miss Snooki & the Situation Dude straight to Dante's Inferno for pretending to be local Jersey Shore "Guidos/Guidettes" !!!

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