My experience with television programming has changed over time. Since I was of age, television programs have come and gone. However, while some television programs have had short-lived impacts, others have remained influential for a number of decades. An example of a television program that has had a major impact on my life is the “Oprah Winfrey Show.” Oprah Winfrey is the personality behind the “Oprah Winfrey Show,” and I have been observing her since I was very young. Consequently, I consider Oprah to be one of the most intriguing people in my past and current communities. Oprah Winfrey has run a talk show for over three decades, and she has been a television personality for a longer duration.
Since I first became familiar with Oprah Winfrey, I have witnessed her undergo and engineer incredible transformations. Oprah is also considered as one of the most influential women in the world. Her position as an African American of great influence is not in doubt. Personally, I have known and have been observing Oprah Winfrey for the last fifteen years. Over the course of that period, Oprah has done things that have prompted me to rethink my earlier understanding of the human race. This paper is about Oprah Winfrey, the outstanding talk show host, philanthropist, and businesswoman.
One of the most intriguing factors about Oprah is her humble background. Unlike most of the people in her position of influence, Oprah shares a remarkably poor background. Oprah was born in 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Oprah’s mother was a single teenager at the time of her birth. As a child, Oprah changed residences a number of times when she was living with her mother, grandmother, and father. Oprah also confesses to having been abused when she was a teenager. Another remarkable fact about Oprah is that of all her guardians, only her grandmother encouraged her to develop her natural abilities as an orator. However, her natural gifts still flourished even under unfavorable environments. After digging through her past, I found that Oprah’s breakthrough came when she revived a morning talk show in Chicago’s “WLS-TV.” After her stint as a morning show host, Oprah gained momentum to achieve the influence she had by the time I became acquainted with her in the late 1990s.
When I first started watching the “Oprah Winfrey Show,” I was only a teenager, and I found the show to be quite irritating. During that time, my mother would religiously watch the show, and I had no option but to do the same. At first, I could not understand how, as a respectable talk show host Oprah would be more emotional than her guests or her audience. During the show, Oprah would often breakdown in tears or break into emotional chants of condemnation. My mother often told me that I would one day understand the concept of the show. However, I have spent fifteen years observing Oprah, and I am yet to become one of her ‘diehard’ fans. From the onset, I was skeptical about Oprah’s show because I found the host’s display of emotions pretentious and coerced. Nonetheless, over the last decade and a half, I have realized that my initial assessment of Oprah might have been wrong. There are several aspects of Oprah’s life and actions that go beyond the norm and redefine personalities.
Oprah Winfrey is an ordinary African American who has captured the attention of more than one generation. When I was growing up, my mother considered what Oprah said to be the final word on any matter. Oprah’s talk show has captured the attention of women viewers across the world. Consequently, Oprah’s voice has prevailed upon women in both the United States and the rest of the world. The most intriguing aspect of Oprah as a talk show host is that unlike other female television personalities, she did not capture the attention of women or men using her refined looks and fashion choices. Oprah was able to draw audiences even though she had the looks of an average African American woman.
Today and in the past, the television platform has favored women with above-average looks. Furthermore, most female television personalities embrace trends that are beyond the reach of ordinary American women. My mother often reminded me that Oprah first inspired her when she (Oprah) lost an incredible amount of weight and managed to maintain her new form. According to Oprah, her weight loss was motivated by her personal choices as a woman as opposed to conforming to a particular body image. In the course of her work, Oprah has focused on inspiring individuals to overcome their life-hurdles. In addition, Oprah has often championed the rights of minorities through her various media platforms. Oprah’s influence started on television, but it has since spread to books, radio, magazines, charity programs, and websites (Miller 1).
It is important to note that even though Oprah has amassed a lot of personal wealth in the course of her activities, she has done it quietly and with grace. In her biography, Oprah says that the decision to syndicate her show nationally opened her to several freedoms, financially. Unlike most other televisions personalities, Oprah’s salesmanship is almost undetectable. Oprah advocates for products that she believes in and those that have a direct impact on her personal life (Winfrey 84). However, Oprah’s sales influence in America and around the world is unrivaled. In addition, Oprah has not been involved in any financial scandal in the course of her career, as is common with other billionaires. The number of lawsuits that Oprah has handled is quite low, considering her stature.
Oprah has broken several records in the course of her existence. Oprah’s record-breaking tendencies started back in 1986 when her talk show became the most popular one in America at the time. The show remained popular until the time of Oprah’s retirement in 2009. The ability to maintain a prime position in television rankings is a testament to Oprah’s superior personality, given that almost all the shows that were popular in the 1980s have since become obscure. Oprah has also made several record-breaking financial milestones. For instance, Oprah was the first African American billionaire in history. In addition, her savvy business attitude prompted a university to formulate a business course that was aptly named “Oprah Winfrey, the Tycoon.”
Oprah is also said to have brought in more than one million votes for Barrack Obama when she supported him during the 2008 presidential elections. There are few other media personalities who have a charity outreach that can surpass that of Oprah Winfrey. Among Oprah’s extraordinary actions is establishing a luxurious girls’ school in South Africa. In an epic television moment, Oprah once presented her entire audience with brand new cars (Nagle 85).
Oprah is an outstanding personality because her career has been original throughout. In addition, several other people have modeled their actions in accordance with her life and teachings. Although human beings are susceptible to errors, I have not witnessed Oprah making any mistakes that are worth mentioning. Therefore, I believe that Oprah is the most outstanding and intriguing personality that I have ever come across in my community.
Works Cited
Miller, Matthew. The Wealthiest Black Americans. 2009. Web.
Nagle, Jeanne. Oprah Winfrey: Profile of a Media Mogul, Chicago, IL: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2008. Print.
Winfrey, Oprah. What I know for sure, New York, NY: Macmillan, 2014. Print.