Meeting the Queen

              When we were busy searching in the Narnia-like shelves of St. Scho library, I found this book  Oprah: A biography and I thought to myself—we were asked to look for books about either media, women issues, environment or arts, by the way—‘hey, this is a good catch, women empowerment plus media; all in one’. And I didn’t let go of it. Against two other books—one about women in movie and theater and the other I forgot—Oprah was chosen. When I presented these books, I was asked; ‘Kilala mo ba si Kitty Kelley?’. I didn’t answer and just smiled ‘cause I honestly don’t know a thing about her. It was only until I started reading this book that I have learned that Kitty Kelley is a well known writer of a number of biographies covering lives of famous people such as Frank Sinatra, UK’s royal family, Elizabeth Taylor, and more. This time, she’s writing about the Queen of talk, Oprah Winfrey and like the others, it was unrecognized by Oprah herself.

                I didn’t know if it’s in Kelley’s way of writing, but this book really put Oprah in bad light. No wonder she did not acknowledge this biography. Kitty Kelley explained thoroughly about her background in writing this biography, saying that every bit of information in this book was carefully quoted from Oprah’s past interviews.

“Free speech not only lives, it rocks.”—that quote, of course by Oprah, introduced the book. I never really paid attention to it at first; I only thought that it was cool coming from someone who made public speaking her way of living. The book covered everything about Oprah—from her difficult childhood, Miss Black Nashville Days to her love life. Turns out, speech is more than just a part of Oprah’s life, because speech is her life. There was even a point in her life, as discussed in the book, where she realized that in order to stay in the industry she lives, all she has to do is to never stop talking. And, well, Oprah is the queen of talk. She was also very influencing, not only in media, but also in politics.

She admire the Kennedy’s so much that she too was offended when Kelley wrote a previous unauthorized biography of them, no wonder she didn’t like when Kelly started writing about her life. And just a few years back, she endorsed Barrack Obama in the 2008 United States Presidential Elections which he won and became the first Black American President of the United States.

But before she became the queen, it was a rough ride for her. She was born to an unwed mother who left her when she was young. She said that this unfortunate childhood made her what she is today. The book, on the other hand, claims that it wasn’t a Cinderella story after all. Unlike what was previously known in the public, Kelley wrote (with a couple of interviews from Oprah’s family) that Oprah grew in her grandmother and actually had a spoiled childhood. She also had a good educational background. One trait that was pointed out in this book is Oprah’s insecurity in her color. I was surprised that the colored nation was divided to groups in terms of the darkness of their skin color. This is actually sad and unfortunate. Oprah showed her deep insecurity when she got into college and befriend mostly white. Being overweight was also her problem then but as she became a person of her own, she has learned to embrace herself despite her flaws. Another thing that she was obsessed at was fame. Ever since she was young, she knew that all she wanted when she grew up is to get rich and famous. And she did.

               

With her inevitable hard work and determination, she reached the fame she always wanted. When she started her career at WVOL, a local radio station and from there, she jumped to local TV stations, to what used to be her home, Baltimore until she finally came to Chicago and there she became a nationwide talk celebrity.

Since then, her journey to the top never stopped. And soon enough, she became one of the most influential people in the world. She influenced not only her audience but also celebrities. Over the years, her show has become the haven of numerous celebrities to promote their shows and themselves. And also a celebrity, Oprah herself befriended a lot of celebrities and it became a mutual relationship—both are benefiting from each other. For Oprah, it’s her nature to befriend famous people, and for celebrities, well, it’s Oprah, what more can you ask for? Being that influential, life has never been easy for her especially when she started her relationship with the then prison guard Stedman Graham—the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome who’s a model by night. People criticize their relationship and accused Graham that all he wanted to the overweight TV host was her money and since then became a joke to the show business. But Oprah doesn’t care, Stedman, on the other hand, learned to accept the world he chose to live in.

Since 1989, Oprah and Stedman have been together and forever in love, but still, wedding bells are not yet hears. Being both wealthy and influential—what she ever wanted—has also a big impact to her family that she never really liked as her own. Yes, she provides for her Dad, Mom, siblings, and other relatives but her relationship with them was never as special as it could be. Blame it her adverse childhood.

It was my first time reading a biography and I don’t know what to expect. And I don’t think Oprah: A biography wasn’t the best first experience. Because I personally didn’t like the way Kelley wrote it. I think rather than a compilation of carefully quoted interviews, it’s more like a compilation of the scandals Oprah faced in her career. Though some of it might be true and most of it are unproven rumors, it looks like this book completely evolved in these issues. I also thought that Kelley sounded bias

ed in writing the book. Besides, since Oprah herself didn’t claim the book, the facts written weren’t exactly proven, right? I wonder if all biographies are written that way, I know it sounded ignorant, but I hope not.

                Oprah was a very public person; every move she makes reflects who she is but at the same time, she managed to hide what she thinks her shameful past. She can easily control media and manipulate what was written about her. Though at some point in her life, the exposure comes from her, just like when she admitted she was sexually abused and that she had an unfortunate teen pregnancy—both were unexpectedly shared on air in one of her past TV shows.

But in fairness to Kelley, one thing she didn’t fail to prove that Oprah is a really powerful woman despite many hindrances like for example being a colored woman trying to prove herself to everyone. That’s double the dilemma. But it never made Oprah less capable of what she can do and even surpass what she can. And I admire her for that. Honestly, at first, I thought that she was too

tacky and some all-talk-no-work kind of person. And I was wrong. Having experienced the same kind of violence, Oprah stood up against women and child violence and even dedicated some of her shows discussing such issues. Though I think that the idea of discussing such sensitive issues on national television wasn’t a very good idea, I thought that her intention of reaching out to them is what matters.

No matter how or whoever wrote about her, one thing is certain; Oprah Winfrey is a pillar not only in media but also in women empowerment. So, after all, I was right in my choice. J