Blind Prophecy

It’s so easy to make fun of Oprah when she’s screaming along with Tom Cruise or making self-righteous speeches about dieting and self-esteem. There are times when I question if she’s too influential (such as her unintentionally heterosexist show on the “down low” culture). But then there are episodes like the one I saw late last night.

“50 Young People Oprah Wants You to Know” I’ll admit, the title piqued my curiosity, but I wasn’t expecting to catch more than five minutes before turning off the TV and going to sleep. But the 50 young people were winners of her national essay contest tied to the book club selection Night by Elie Wiezel. Since I read the book just a short time ago myself (and not because Oprah reccomended it, but by chance), I found myself paying more attention to the show… especially the segment where Oprah and Elie visited Auschwitz (probably the last time for Professor Wiezel).

Then Oprah did something no one else has done for me. She put Rwanda, Bosnia, Sudan, Danfur into a context in which I can understand them. Since high school, these events have just been confused reports about countries I couldn’t point to on a map (and I’m not nearly as geographically challenged as many – I know where Iraq is, I could point out all 50 states). I get it now. I get it and I’m furious upset that we’ve done so little to prevent genocide in these countries. Why are all our troops committed to Iraq or guarding the southern border while thousands of people are being openly and brutally murdered in Danfur because they are members of a minority group? How are we not marching to battle with that “never again” post-holocaust chant ringing in our hearts? I could and would support an international military occupation to prevent or stop genocide. In fact, beyond direct imminent threat to our own country, it’s the only reason for war that I could support.

Then Oprah did her trademark magic and reunited a family torn apart in Rwanda for the first time in 12 years (yeah, I cried), gave the students huge college scholarships, etc.

It’s hard to make fun of Oprah when she does shows like this. I can live without another one-on-one chat with Uma Thurman if she can do more shows which tie together the holocaust, modern genocide, and current civil rights issues in an emotionally resonant way which cuts the “24-hour-talking-head” channel news-speak and gets to the heart of what’s going on.

Filed under: livejournal by Jere Keys