Oprah Winfrey: Phenomenal Woman, Phenomenal Endorsement
You cannot deny the power of Oprah. It exists as incontrovertible fact, able to be independently verified by an objective outside source. In this case, I'm that objective outside source, because until recently Oprah has been my one glaring pop culture blindspot. I had never seen even a clip from the show until recent months; I even missed the famous James Frey episode because my cable was out. I had obviously seen her on other programs, but never her own, which meant I never really got Maya Rudolph's imitation on "Saturday Night Live." I'm old enough to remember being confused as to how Sophia from "The Color Purple" was suddenly a talk show host, but even then she was eclipsed in my attentions by my bewilderment at how heart-wrenching Celie was suddenly this hilarious comedienne starring in "Jumpin' Jack Flash." Seriously. In 1986 that was very confusing.
Recently, though, I've been exposed to Oprah via my colleagues at the Huffington Post, who count amongst their daily duties to watch the show and glean its newsworthy bits. So I've seen obese people who dropped tons of weight and the YouTube skateboarding dog and Jessica Seinfeld gifting her with a trust funds' worth of shoes and an audience of people in Macon, Georgia winning a ridiculously pimped-out refrigerator. (Previously, the concept of "Oprah's Favorite Things" had to be explained to me.)
None of this prepared me for the Oprah I saw on Saturday afternoon speaking from Iowa, speaking on behalf of Barack Obama. On Fox, which broadcast the full speech live and uninterrupted — yes, live and uninterrupted on Fox — they spoke over Michelle Obama but when Oprah took the stage they wisely left the talking to the chyron, which even then was about as respectful and straightforward as can be, lest Oprah somehow reach through the telly and strike them down if they dared to make any allegations phrased as a question. "Oprah speaks!" it proclaimed, joyously, letting the audience know in turn that this wasn't about being partisanship, that she had been compelled to speak about man "who has vision," and that Obama would "bring statesmanship to the White House." Yes, this was the Fox chyron. Such is the power of the Oprah.
She was, in a word, electrifying — you could see it in the faces of the crowd but more than that you could feel it in your own living room. Though she started out as Oprah Winfrey, television personality (and even got in a plug for that darn fridge), very quickly she morphed into Oprah Winfrey, preacher, holding sway over the crowd, thrilling them with her ringing voice and the power of her conviction. The podium was suddenly a pulpit as she preached to her flock — fine, they were already the converted, but the televisions viewers beyond could not help but be affected. (Mike Huckabee could learn a few things.) "I am not telling you what to think, I am asking you TO think.," said Oprah, who went on to share that SHE thought that Barack Obama was the best and most inspiring person to take the White House at this critical, critical juncture. "I'm here because of my personal conviction about Barack Obama and what I know he can do for America," said Oprah, who invoked his "ear for eloquence, and a tongue dipped in the unvarnished truth." That line sounded like it could have come from Revelations. "Let's dream America anew again by supporting Barack Obama!" At times, she seemed to sound a lot more Southern than she ever did on her show, but then again, I did miss that James Frey episode.
She had a few self-deprecating moments, sure, but they weren't that self-deprecating, really: She only dismissed her celebrity in the form of books and cars and fridges to emphasize how much more urgent and transporting her current message was — and no one doubted that it was a message she was qualified to deliver. She said she felt "out of her pew" but that was only because she was leading the sermon. And she owned them, and us, for the duration, as she declared that someone had to do something about school, and health care, and knocked the experience meme flat by declaring that time spent in Washington was only worth what you did with it, dammit. No doubt her 8.6 million-strong viewers — 75% of whom are women, and largely older ones at that, which is coincidentally Hillary Clinton's sweet spot — would gladly agree.
Wherefrom comes such a presence, that ringing clarity, that rock-solid conviction, that air of bone-bred authority, more palpable than that of the man she was endorsing for the nation's highest office? Last night I was reminded of the poem "Phenomenal Woman" by Maya Angelou, and suddenly it seemed obvious (you know it, come now: "Pretty women wonder where my secret lies/I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size...It's in the reach of my arms/The span of my hips/The stride of my step/The curl of my lips/I'm a woman/Phenomenally/Phenomenal woman,
That's me.")
There's more, in the same vein, but all of it could easily apply to a woman who only needs to go by one name. I don't mean to be trite here, but if ever there was a woman who embodied that poem, and the mysterious and intrinsic womanly powers it describes, let's face it, it's Oprah. A woman utterly in command of her audience because she was in command of herself, despite professing to be nervous. She may have been, but there was never a moment when she doubted that she belonged on that stage, based simply on the power of her conviction. Now, Oprah's personal conviction has moved a lot of merch in her day (two words for you here: William Faulkner) but the stakes here were higher, and that was reflected in a demeanor that was less the smooth, honeyed demeanor of her show and more clarion call with a raised fist. One of the memes preceding this weekend's appearance on the stump was, "Sure, Oprah can hock books and fridges, but is she ready for the big-time, you know, out here with all of us wonky politico types?" Oprah turned that on its head by airily leaving that nattering to the pundits — she had more important things to worry about. Or, in other words: "Now you understand/Just why my head's not bowed/I don't shout or jump about/Or have to talk real loud."
Oprah doesn't need to apologize for any of it, just as she doesn't need to apologize for having Criss Angel on her show today. (Though he should be apologizing for that hair.) Whether it carries over to the campaign remains to be seen (though historically-huge crowds would suggest that, yes, it will) — either way, this moment was Oprah's, ascending serenely from pop-culture tastemaker to political heavyweight. Who knows — it may yet go down in history as the day a phenomenal woman endorsed a phenomenal president. In the meantime, though, there are plenty more fridges to give away.
Oprahpalooza in South Carolina [NYT - The Caucus]
Related:
Marty Kaplan: "If You've Lost Oprah, You've Lost Middle America" [HuffPo]
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Huffington Post | Rachel Sklar | December 10, 2007 01:52 PM