Richard (almost rhymes with 'Picard') Brodie wrote:
>The Oprah Winfrey Show episode I was on that first aired January 21 is being
>replayed tomorrow, Wednesday, March 10, 1999. I am on for about 11 minutes
>starting about halfway through the show.
Ok, I gave in and miraculously managed to see the re-run of your guest appearance. Pretty smooth how they weaved memetics into the current topic of 'marriage'. I really don't have any particular commentary on your guest spot, other than that it was interesting to see a CoV'er interact on television, especially I haven't met any of you in person. It's already been established that my beef is not with RB, but with Oprah, so on that note...
Before watching that show segment, I merely disliked the Oprah Winfrey Show, but now I all-out HATE it, and she's definitely not on my list of favorite people either. When I did tune in that day, what was the first thing I heard and saw? It just happened to be Oprah and her psuedo-therapist sidekick pontificating about the 'proper' age to marry. I stood in front of the tele- aghast- at the nerve she had to inform her viewers that 19 is far, far too young to get married, the marriage is doomed to fail, and her central point which seemed to be that a 19 y/o is not responsible enough and does not have the mental capacity or understanding to do so. Basically, that they are somehow lesser and inferior when it comes to making important decisions. This she asserted in her typical "I'm every woman" knowing way, as her phoney counselor and audience (whom resembled nothing more than a bunch of barking, trained seals) nodded in agreement.
Well, guess what. I am now nineteen. I'd like to proclaim that contrary to what Oprah believes, I do in fact have a mind of my own and am capable of thinking for myself. I don't need my values dictated by her ridiculous media clan or a scary "mind virus" and other "mems" perpetuated by socieity. The last thing in the world I would want to do is get married, but even so, I'm mature enough to handle it if I chose to. Also, my mother was the same age- 19, when she married my father. She gave birth to me at 26, and my parents are still married. Were I privileged enough to hypothetically dine with Oprah, I would probably remark, "Just because you both are old hags that can't even remember being a teenager, it doesn't make you wiser or morally superior- just seriously out of touch." So much for wanting her show to encompass all females under the pretense of some kind of self-helping, wishy-washy sisterhood.
Please don't give me any psycho-analytical retorts with crap about how I misinterpreted everything she said and the point of their hypocritical judgments. I saw the show myself, heard what I did, and was genuinely offended and downright insulted by it. I maintain that I STILL think her show is pure..."arse dribble", to put it nicely.
~kjs
ps: But I really did get a kick out of the irony of Oprah warning her viewers about the possibility that they may have a "mind virus" from what they see on TV, but never implying the truth that she's the most dangerous of them all. Hahaha!