Oprah Gurometer (Video)
Added 2023-04-21 22:15:33 +0000 UTCA little later than usual due to some work/family commitments...
Here is the Oprah Gurometer episode.
How well does she fit our template? Is she really a 'secular' guru? And where we too soft?
Join us and find out.
Audio version to follow.
Comments
I think icon or idol is more accurate than 'guru'. Whatever you call her, she's a complicated and controversial (more than you might think) character who, in my not-so-humble opinion, has way too much influence and too little criticism. Her being Black and from a supposed dirt poor background shields her from a lot of deserved criticism, and I can see why. Black women are unfairly targeted and oppressed all the time! So it makes it really hard to give valid criticism. But she promoted the rapist and spiritual swindler known as John of God, and has not apologized for anyone she may have (unknowingly or not) encouraged to take his "teachings" or "work" seriously and may have been damaged by that contact. Same with the long list of professionals turned grifters she's hosted and promoted over the years of her career: Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil, Gwyneth Paltrow, Dr. Christianne Northrup, the people around The Secret, and those are just off the top of my head. She doesn't (need to) sell supplements, but she has promoted several different diet plans/gurus in her own quest to lose weight, and has therefore contributed (again, possibly unconsciously) to the diet and weight loss obsessed culture and (ironically) the fat shaming that is so prevalent in American culture and a few others. She projects her own perspective and opinion onto almost everyone she interview(s/ed) without an ounce of humility or awareness as far as I can tell. She has also promoted mindfulness and meditation in one form or another, and various "spiritual leaders", whose teachings, as far as I can tell, she may or may not even be that familiar with or a follower of. Aubrey Gordon and Michael Hobbes of the Maintenance Phase podcast did an excellent couple of episodes on her (a bit late to tip you off to that one - sorry) and when the documentary about John of God came out late last year there was a swirl of negative publicity about her role in promoting him and how to hold accountability. So I may agree that she should be low on the Gurometer but she's still an extremely problematic character for me. There's no accounting for people's taste or trust in these charismatic types. I've seen through her for years, even as I enjoyed some of her guests when I would occasionally watch (guests like Christiane Northrup who I now cringe that I ever thought were worthy of admiration). Live and learn I guess! :-)
Suzan Lemont
2023-04-26 11:57:12 +0000 UTCOprahs guru status simply grew as she got richer. Whatever her initial beliefs, she platformed spiritualism or better still, magical thinking. Never any push back. You can shoot holes in any other guests, but she never did. The Secret, why was it a secret and why are only these special people aware of it, and willing to sell it to you for a fortune, as James Arthur Ray did. Even after he was jailed for his role in the death or 3 people at one of his retreats, she had him back on, no apology, and he went on his merry way selling more bunk under and new guise. Oprah is almost like Hay House publishing. She was the media version where want to be gurus went to sell their story. Hay House was where the books got published.
Peter
2023-04-21 22:40:53 +0000 UTC
