The Oprah Winfrey Show
Without a doubt “The
Oprah Winfrey Show” is one of the most successful TV shows of the 1980's. From
being aired on September 8th 1986, to becoming one of the longest-
running daytime television show in history whilst receiving 47 daytime Emmy
awards.
Well According to Tom Geoghegan who posted
an online article of “Oprah Winfrey: 10 moments that made her.” Concluded that one
of the moments was her “Sexual abuse claim” in 1986, in which the topic of the
show was about sexual abuse, where Oprah confessed candidly that she was raped
as a child. Oprah confessing and discussing this topic on live television, made
America aware that rape is still happening and it’s not something to be
ignored. Especially since rape was very high within the 70's to 90's.
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Another moment was "The Wagon of fat of 1988", were Oprah
Winfrey pulled and displayed a wagon of fat onto the stage which represented
her loss of weight over the course of four months. Tim Tee man correspondent
for The Times newspaper stated that “Oprah will be remembered for anything,
it will be her body shape, which mirrored America's obsession with its own body
shape.” "You could say it doesn't give out the right message but it does
give out the real message. The way Oprah did weight is a real reflection on
people's own struggles with it."This represents a time within the 1980's
where the way you looked represented the way you eat and how you wish to be portrayed,
notably within reference to the Yuppies of this era.
The Oprah Winfrey Show represented female power, as that was
the era where women exchange roles with the men and embody the true definition of
power within a female with artist such as Madonna. Whilst Oprah, was the third
women in the American entertainment industry to own her own studio named Harpo
Studio in 1988. Plus being recognised within 150 countries internationally, and
receiving more than 40 million viewers a week within the United States alone. “Her
daytime television talk show turns Winfrey into one of the most powerful,
wealthy people in show business and, arguably, the most influential woman in
America.”
Not only did Oprah Winfrey represent success for women’s
within the era but also a role model for African Americans. Within the sense
that her identity was not defined by the area or place she was born into. Which
took her away from her stereotypical background who was a child born in rural
Mississippi to a poor unwed teenage mother.
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