“I Am Seeking, The Fullest Expression Of Myself”
This Week ABC aired “Oprah The Next Chapter” a special on which Barbara Walters sat down for an in depth Interview with the media mogul herself Oprah Winfrey. The special detailed on Oprah’s life after the lights go down and the audience disappear from the most watched talk show on American television “The Oprah Winfrey Show”. For 25 years Oprah has been in the homes of over 6million viewers each day, but now Oprah has taken the well over due step of owning her “Own” television network. In reality who could create their own network of quality television out of their own pocket but Oprah?
The idea of owning her own network grew while having a conversation with her long time partner Stedman Graham about the state of quality programming particularly talk shows. Stedman then suggested she create her own net work, but at the time Oprah caste out the idea as ridiculous. Now 15 years later those ridiculous ideas have come into formation in a joint venture with the president of the Discovery Network David Zaslay to create OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) Network . The feeling of failure something that most people would never remotely think would enter the mind of a woman that seems to sore an everything she puts her stamp on and reportedly earning over a million dollars a day. The pressure of delivering on her aim of producing mind full television is a prospect that admittedly has kept Oprah awake at night. With such a legacy behind her she expects as much of herself as the public has come too.
Production has already started on programs for the network with In-depth documentaries, realities shows, a series that follows Oprah in her daily life, the search for the next big talk show host and one of the most interesting shows Master Class a show that focuses on the minds of the leading thought leaders. From the previews, Master Class is really set to expand your way of thinking further than the box that we see. I believe if you have one seedling of inspiration, as long as the mind is exposed there are no longer any limits and there are no boundaries.
It is always interesting to see an interview between two journalists because there is nowhere to hide. Oprah has always said that Barbra Walters is one of the journalists she studied when starting her career almost 30 years ago. In this trusted environment Oprah also opened up about her charity work, personal life. Including the first graduate class of “The Oprah School For Girls” in South Africa and the joy of watching them search for University in the United States.
Oprah also touched on the persistent talks about her best friend of 30 years Gayle King and the basis of their relationship, saying that if they were in a romantic relationship she would have no reason to hide. On her controversial decision not to marry her long term partner Stedman she said that the huge expectations of being in a marriage would be too much for them , and if they had gotten married they would have divorced by now. She has never once regretted her choice not to have children because she didn’t want to be face with a child that one day to turn to her and said “Mum you neglected me for your career”. The most notable point of the interview was when Barbra asked Oprah about the abuse during her child hood that she openly talks about. She details going to school every day in the 5th grade worrying whether she was going to have a baby or not. That was a heart sinking moment for me because when a person is exposed to that experience as a child that is something you have to carry for life and the effects never go away.
I am excited about these new ventures Oprah will be bringing to television. OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) Network is set to debut 2011
Quote of the day:
“Just Keep On Using Me Until You Use Me Up, That’s What I Say To God All The Time”
No comments:
Post a Comment