I do enjoy the complexity, Melinda. Andrew makes a great point.

Thanks Anne. I guess I was kind of hoping it would lead readers to both Chandrasutra's blog and I Blame the Patriarchy's.

(I'm not familiar with Andrew Riddles' blog but his comment certainly motivates me to nose around it a bit...)

Melinda
Sour Duck

Oprah is a blessing and a curse. There is no denying her business savvy and she stands as one of the most successful businesswomen in this country.

At the same time, she definitely plays to what she thinks her audience is on both her show and in her magazine- it reads like a typical "women's magazine" (I hate that characterization myself) with very stereotypical articles with some more substantive bits of journalism tossed in here and there.

This may be a little OT but as for the James Frey controversy, I just have to pipe in on that as it relates to Oprah. As a nurse I have worked with substance abusers in many different settings over the years and for Oprah to not read the writing on the wall shows a naivety (sp?) that is stunning. She and her staff also seemed to play off the "women as enablers" stereotype as they pushed this book with a ferocity and passion that they denied other books chosen for her book club. Interestingly, she also really sold James Frey as a person to their largely female audience.

I find it interesting (and instructive) that women have bought this book in far, far greater numbers than men.

I wasn't at ALL surprised to hear that Frey had made up much of the more dramatic aspects of the book- many of my former colleagues in substance abuse treatment also weren't the slightest bit surprised and we all read the book as people familiar with substance abuse and noted some of the character traits that Frey exhibited, including an obvious narcissism, pension for dishonesty and possibly a wee bit of sociopathy. But that was just our take and it is certainly NOT a generalization to all folks struggling with substance use/abuse- instead just a comment on what seemed to jump off the page with respect to James Frey.

But I find myself interested in the fact that Frey gets hundreds of marriage proposals from women a month and most of his "fans" are women- there is something about Frey that was appealing to so many woman- what exactly? How much of that was due to Oprah? Did women find it appealing that he needed/needs saving? Why were women and not men lining up to buy Frey's book and reading it with tears in their eyes?

Oprah made an uncharacteristic business boo boo when she called into larry king and continued to support him[in my opinion]- after all, Oprah's Book Club and Oprah herself are a product and when she went to the mat for Frey, she put the credibility of her product in jeopardy. It was only after people expressed widespread shock/annoyance with Oprah that she changed her mind about Frey.