Oprah has done some fabulous things, but she is in severe danger of losing her humility. And some humanity.
Her vicious and very Grand Guignol evisceration of author Jim Frey on her show the other day, after publicly supporting him just days before, was disgusting and should have been an embarassment for her. What Frey did in taking artistic license with some parts of his memoir, has been done by writers to a greater and lesser degree forever. But they had no such witchhunt to contend with when someone decided to spin it as a Dirty Tricks Scandal. The "someone" being a muckraking blog whose job it is to Dig Up The Dirt on whomever they decide needs to be Taken Down A Peg.
And what is with the media bandwagon, heaping laurels on the Grande Dame and calling her "brave"? She was The Terminatrix - with all her million$ and their endless 000's goose-stepping behind her, and the wrath of the She-God burning in her terrible gaze. The brave one was Jim Frey for, 1) not throwing up on the live feed; or, 2) not hauling off and punching her. Or not even raising his voice - just a little. You really got the feeling that he was blindsided; like he knew he was going to get a thrashing, but not tortured and executed.
We thought she was our Earth Mother, but she's evolved into Mother of the Universe, a great swirling mass of power and energy; all-encompassing, but lacking an organic warmth that used to make her less judgemental, more empathetic.
So, Oprah has proved that she really, really doesn't like to be wrong and really, really, really doesn't like to look bad. And if you do something to make the above happen, She Will Kill You.
And it won't be pretty.
Jim Frey found that out. And now we've all been warned.
