Oprah Winfrey

[Mray3460]

Today, I visited the Texas State Fair with my family and found that one of the walkways was blocked by an enormous crowd of people. I asked what was going on and one of the people told me that Oprah Winfrey would walk by there in 30 MINUTES.

I, of course, didn't care and wanted to move on to the car shows, invention/product exhibitions, vendor stalls, midway, and food, but everybody else in the group wanted to wait around for half and hour to see Oprah, and I had to wait with them because I was in charge of my younger sister and her friend's safety.

45 minutes later, Oprah shows up. Everyone in the crowd starts screaming. I saw her face for less than 15 seconds before she was swallowed up by cameramen and local police and proceeded to one of the fried-everything stands. I expected my family, and probably the group as a whole, to move on at that point, but this did not happen. Instead, everyone stayed put to watch the camera crew and police force swirl around Oprah and Gayle trying every-single-fried food that the stand had to offer over the course of a half-hour before she finally waved to the crowd, climbed into a black sedan, and drove away.

Here's my question: What is the deal with Oprah? Why is she so popular, even above other American celebrities?

Now, lets get something straight, I have nothing against Oprah Winfrey personally. This is not an attack on her, her character, her media empire, or anything else involving or connected in any way shape or form to her. I just don't understand how she became so influential and popular that close to three-dozen people, including my family, would wait around for 45 minutes to see her for 15 seconds, and then stand around for another 30 minutes while she ate deep fired Oreos, Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and butter (really).

Note: I asked my family why they cared so much about seeing her, they responded by saying "Because she's Oprah!"

Second Note: I searched and found nothing. If this or something like it has been done before, please link.

Edit: I'm also wondering how she got started, how she became so popular and influential. What made her stand out?

 

[oliveira8]

Because she is Oprah. Everyone in the damn world knows who is Oprah. She does more charity than half the world combined, has a tacky talk show that every TV network has copied and gives away cars on live TV. Oprah is one of the most influential women in the world. She is not just an American celebrity. She is a world wide phenomenon.

And from Wikipedia:

Oprah Gail Winfrey (born January 29, 1954) is an American media personality, actress, television producer, literary critic and magazine publisher, best known for her self-titled, multi-award winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history. She has been ranked the richest African American of the 20th century, the most philanthropic African American of all time, and was once the world's only black billionaire.] She is also, according to some assessments, the most influential woman in the world.

 

[ioxles]

Because in the pit of banal mediocrity, knee deep in pity and filth exist you, the commoner. The plebeian. Peasant as you are you should feel privileged to spend however long is necessary to glimpse, even for a second, what you could become.

At least I think it's something like that.

 

[Sporky111]

Because she is Oprah. Everyone in the damn world knows who is Oprah. She does more charity than half the world combined, has a tacky talk show that every TV network has copied and gives away cars on live TV. Oprah is one of the most influential women in the world. She is not just an American celebrity. She is a world wide phenomenon.

And from Wikipedia:

Oprah Gail Winfrey (born January 29, 1954) is an American media personality, actress, television producer, literary critic and magazine publisher, best known for her self-titled, multi-award winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history. She has been ranked the richest African American of the 20th century, the most philanthropic African American of all time, and was once the world's only black billionaire.] She is also, according to some assessments, the most influential woman in the world.

This pretty much covers the whole point. People want to see her because she's placed herself on such a high pedestal that it's nearly a biblical experience to see her in person. I concede that she deserves all the fame she has, but it is a bit too much for people to waste their own time to watch her eat deep fried Oreos (really?). I pity you for having to go through that.

 

[Mray3460]

Because she is Oprah. Everyone in the damn world knows who is Oprah. She does more charity than half the world combined, has a tacky talk show that every TV network has copied and gives away cars on live TV. Oprah is one of the most influential women in the world. She is not just an American celebrity. She is a world wide phenomenon.

And from Wikipedia:

Oprah Gail Winfrey (born January 29, 1954) is an American media personality, actress, television producer, literary critic and magazine publisher, best known for her self-titled, multi-award winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history. She has been ranked the richest African American of the 20th century, the most philanthropic African American of all time, and was once the world's only black billionaire.] She is also, according to some assessments, the most influential woman in the world.

All of that, I know, but how did she accomplish all of that? How did it begin? What made her stand out from all the other celebrities and made her more powerful than many politicians?

 

[GHMonkey]

careful man, she will find you and destroy you... with love.

 

[PunchClockVillain]

I saw her face for less than 15 seconds before she was swallowed up by cameramen and local police and proceeded to one of the fried-everything stands.

I confess, I cracked up laughing when I read that. It reminded me of South Park for some reason.

 

[oliveira8]

Because she is Oprah. Everyone in the damn world knows who is Oprah. She does more charity than half the world combined, has a tacky talk show that every TV network has copied and gives away cars on live TV. Oprah is one of the most influential women in the world. She is not just an American celebrity. She is a world wide phenomenon.

And from Wikipedia:

Oprah Gail Winfrey (born January 29, 1954) is an American media personality, actress, television producer, literary critic and magazine publisher, best known for her self-titled, multi-award winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history. She has been ranked the richest African American of the 20th century, the most philanthropic African American of all time, and was once the world's only black billionaire.] She is also, according to some assessments, the most influential woman in the world.

All of that, I know, but how did she accomplish all of that? How did it begin? What made her stand out from all the other celebrities and made her more powerful than many politicians?

The rest of the wikipedia article:

Winfrey was born into poverty in rural Mississippi to a teenage single mother and later raised in an inner-city Milwaukee neighborhood. She experienced considerable hardship during her childhood, including being raped at the age of nine and becoming pregnant at 14; her son died in infancy. Sent to live with the man she calls her father, a barber in Tennessee, Winfrey landed a job in radio while still in high school and began co-anchoring the local evening news at the age of 19. Her emotional ad-lib delivery eventually got her transferred to the daytime talk show arena, and after boosting a third-rated local Chicago talk show to first place, she launched her own production company and became internationally syndicated.

Credited with creating a more intimate confessional form of media communication, she is thought to have popularized and revolutionized the tabloid talk show genre pioneered by Phil Donahue, which a Yale study claimed broke 20th century taboos and allowed LGBT people to enter the mainstream. By the mid 1990s she had reinvented her show with a focus on literature, self-improvement, and spirituality. Though criticized for unleashing confession culture and promoting controversial self-help fads, she is generally admired for overcoming adversity to become a benefactor to others. In 2006 she became an early supporter of Barack Obama and one analysis estimates she delivered over a million votes in the close 2008 Democratic primary race, an achievement for which the governor of Illinois considered offering her a seat in the U.S. senate.

Her fame started on her show.

 

[Mray3460]

careful man, she will find you and destroy you... with love.

That's why I included this statement:

I have nothing against Oprah Winfrey personally. This is not an attack on her, her character, her media empire, or anything else involving or connected in any way shape or form to her.