Oprah's Back
By Keith Boykin, in pop culture
Tuesday, September 19 2006, 9:55AM
The queen of daytime television is back. And in her first week of episodes, Oprah Winfrey is reminding us why she is still the reigning monarch. Love her or hate her, you can't deny her. Oprah Winfrey is back.
Oprah began her season premiere yesterday with a new reality style feature called "Oprah and Gayle's Great Adventure" in which she and her best friend Gayle King spent 11 days driving across the country from Santa Barbara, California to New York. In Monday's installment, we saw the two women hop in a very ordinary Chevrolet Impala and drive from California to Las Vegas, and in the process we learned that Oprah likes to drive in silence, Gayle likes to listen to the radio, Oprah is very cranky when she doesn't get her way, and Gayle is very stubborn in insisting that she get what she wants too.
When Oprah pumps gas at a gas station, she's shocked at the price of gas and reveals that she hasn't pumped her own gas since 1983 in Baltimore. When Oprah and Gayle sit down at a diner along the way, her fans come from clear across town to greet her. One woman even walks out of her hair salon appointment and busts into the diner with tin foil still wrapped around her hair.
And when Oprah and Gayle finally arrive at their hotel in Vegas, they have to bypass the VIP entrance and check in with the everyday people. That, of course, creates a huge scene as hundreds of onlookers assemble inside and outside the hotel to get a look at Winfrey. If you ever had any doubt that Oprah leads a different life from most people, you need only watch as she goes through the check-in process.
Studio audience members who remember the famous Oprah season premiere when she gave away cars may have left a bit disappointed though. Instead of giving out cars, Oprah gave out glasses of root beer (gee, can we at least keep the glass?) to her audience. But she did show clips of her special gift to her staff. Oprah flew 1,065 people -- her entire Harpo staff and their family members -- to Maui, Hawaii for a summer vacation that they'll never forget.
Jim McGreevey Is Next
Today, Oprah returns to the sensitive issue of politics and sexuality. Yes, today is the big day when the Jim McGreevey interview airs. Portions of the interview, which was taped last week, have already leaked out in the media.
McGreevey, the former governor of New Jersey who resigned after announcing that he was gay and had carried on an affair with a male lover, talks about his relationship with his wife and his lover. He discloses that when his wife was in the hospital he had a field day. And of course he uses the opportunity to hawk his new book, conveniently scheduled for release today.
The one question that hasn't been revealed publicly in the media accounts is whether Oprah or McGreevey use the D word. Does Oprah mention that Jim McGreevey was on the down low? When closeted black gay and bisexual men cheat on their wives, the evil "down low" term inevitably comes up in the discussion. We leap from isolated cases to draw general conclusions about black men and their pathology.
But when white guys do it, we kind of call it by a different name, try to empathize with them, and resist generalizations about an entire race of people. Hopefully, Oprah sees the double standard, and hopefully she points it out today.
Tomorrow its back to pop culture with Eva Longoria and Matthew McConaughey.
Comments conceal
Noah
September 19 2006, 1:31PM
Well we can only hope that she does, althought don't be surprise if Oprah doesn't bring it up in the interview...the girl still knows who butters her bread.
DDC
September 19 2006, 5:20PM
"We leap from isolated cases to draw general conclusions about black men and their pathology. But when white guys do it, we kind of call it by a different name, try to empathize with them, and resist generalizations about an entire race of people."
Who is 'we'? The quote above is a generalization, too. Maybe 'we' is the (white) media... yeah, they love to vilify blackmen, that's not news. Black media outlets don't even bring up white men doing it because it's not germane to our community. Also note that black gay men were the ones who embraced 'DL' to begin with, whites never did, so why would it be applied to the latter? The semantics are irrelevant, anyway. One time a woman didn't want black housing projects to be called 'ghettos' because the word is negative. Please! You could call them Sunny Pastures and its still filled with violence, drugs and poverty. And of course soon 'Sunny Pastures' would acquire the same negative connotations as 'ghetto'.
Aaron
September 19 2006, 6:47PM
DDC - Not only is it a studied fact that words encourage behavior and even physical changes in humans (endorphins?) I can not think of any religion that doesn't teach the power of WORDS.
The comparison falls more towards portraying Black men ominous and evil while white men are just confused and victims of the greater society. The shadow around the term DL was not made ugly until white publishers and the mainstream media (Black included) picked it up as some new phonomenon that "must be" the cause of the "documented" rise of AIDS and HIV in the African American community.
Straight white men are FREAKS (yup I said it) I know for a FACT!!! they will have sex with a guy a lot quicker than a straight Black dude but they fall under the radar because we expect that type of behavior from the for real. Yes Im generalizing because I know we are an intelligent enough people not to believe this applies to EVERYONE.
You add great balance to these discussions.
jared
September 19 2006, 7:01PM
i must be the odd man out here as i don't see the hoopla over this guy and his lies. and the funny thing is that i've had married white men who wanted to hit the sheets come on to me a few times, which is why marriage is more of a convience for these poor confused souls, black, white or otherwise than anything else. as long as there is this huge stigma to being gay, this sort of thing will go on.
Noah
September 19 2006, 7:02PM
the show was good and oprah asked the questions she should have asked and in a demeanor she should ahve ask them. the thing that got me is he use the words abomination and godly so much I thought he was ashame of being gay still up to this point...bt oh well,i must addd tho, it appears our former gov. has a thing for foreign men.... we are mysterious.. we have a saying back home in Barbados "HARD EARS U DON'T HEAR BY AND BY YOU GINE FEEL"..
Courtney Baker-Oliver
September 19 2006, 7:13PM
I say kudos to McGreevey who chose to sit on the hot seat with Oprah Winfrey today (albeit to promote his book.) Many would have chosen instead to steer clear of what has been a less than sympathetic audience on the topic. Remember Jonathan Plummer's public lashing a few months ago? McGreevey spoke of being a young man who knew at six or seven that he was gay, but was too afraid to reveal that fact to the largely homophobic society of yesteryear. Does that make him weak? Most of us visiting this site would probably answer "yes." We've faced the issue head-on and paid the price. But, can you really blame him? I can't.
I'll probably take a lashing myself for saying this, but it reminds me of the Langston Hughes short story, "Passing," about a young black man who passes for white in the pre-Civil Rights era. "I felt like a dog passing you downtown on the street, Ma, but..."
Courtney Cont'd
September 19 2006, 7:21PM
Do I think it is reprehensible (and unhealthy) to deny one's very self rather than feel the scorn of others? Well, yes. But we have seen many walk the path now. There are Keith Boykins out there providing guideposts. There are organizations for young people (like the Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League here in Washington, D.C.) that specialize in offering young people the tools they will need to survive in our decidedly homophobic environment. It's making a big difference, I think.
As for the use of the "down low" term. It's in the culture, now. Young people are USING it. Women are USING it. Some black, gay men are actively USING it! It's been written about and talked about and it's not going away. What we aren't saying is that homophobia is the root cause of the "down low" phenomenon. Yes, "dl" men are vilified and it's not right. It's only one side of the story. But, until we insist upon our place at the family table (and stop suffering in silence), the "down low" issue will continue t
DavidShawn
September 19 2006, 8:03PM
I watched the show in silence today, listening for the truth but also aware of the profound contadictions all of ourlives are whether we are delaing with sexuality, corporate America or just living out or daily existance. However, what was striking to me was that here sits this white man, who move graciously from the Governors mansion to another mansion but this time with his partner and the dogs. I couldn't hep but wonder about why Oprah didn't suggest to him about the DL and the AIDS pandemic. Isn't ironic when we are on here show there is very little about our love lives and our partners and the homes we share, one would think that all we have is sex and night life bliss.
I saw the power of the white male and how he is still upheld even in his lies.
sunburn
September 19 2006, 8:07PM
I watched the Jim McGreevey show today and I am sad to say that I was extremely disappointed in Oprah's approach. Sure he is a politician, and yes he is selling a book, so any interviewer should press and probe and push and ask hard questions. But I as though she prepared a set of really nasty questions and stuck to them, DESPITE THE FACT that his intro statements and his responses to her early questions were all about authenticity, knowing God, contrition, and being true. He acknowledged early on that he did the things he did BECAUSE he was not in alignment with his truth and his God. All the things that she preaches ad nauseum. YET SHE NEVER ACKNOWLEDGED HIS STATEMENTS OF HIS SPIRITUAL AWAKENING. And she did not improvise and she did not deviate from her script. It was like she was stuck on painting him as a victimizer of his wife. Did you see her face when he stated that his gayness was a gift from God? Trust me, she did not expect him to trump her on the spirituality tip.
Courtney
September 19 2006, 8:07PM
But, until we insist upon our place at the family table (and stop suffering in silence), the "down low" issue will continue to play to the cause of the religious Right who uses it as a scare tactic to drum up support for their anti-gay base. I think McGreevey's struggle may have changed some minds today.
drob
September 19 2006, 8:08PM
As Keith said, there is a bias and double standard in the way black gay men (in the closet) are viewed compared to white gay men in the same situation--both by the black community and the white community.
And Oprah demonstrated that in this show. She handled McGreevy with kid gloves compared to the way she and Terry attacked Johnathan Plumber. I don't recall her asking if he practiced safe sex, if he thought about his wife's feelings during his sexual encounters....nothing. And did she give Johnathan a kiss at the end? Did she place her hand on his hand to comfort him the way she did McGreevy? Nope.
ChicagoChild
September 19 2006, 8:58PM
I'm really not that much into Oprah. The old Ophrah, yes. I could really identify with her back then. Her magazine is okay, though. As far as the Jonathan Plummer thang----well! Terry McMillan is Oprah's kind of people! And if you are Oprah's Kind of People, then she is right there with you! Oprah was all over the "Jonathan thinking he was due some money" from Terry thing. She had the nerve to ask why he thought he should get some of Terry's money. DUH! The only way to be one of Oprah's Kind of People is to reveal humiliating things about yourself. She doesn't like strong people, which is why Whoopie and Aretha weren't invited to her "Legend's" ball. Those two act as if they ARE somebody. And don't get me started on her being on vacation in Hawaii and wouldn't attend John H. Johnson's funeral. Black pioneers need to be applauded and given the respect they richly deserve.
jared
September 19 2006, 8:59PM
i think some of ya'll are being a wee bit too hard on o. i saw a few minutes of his interview, and tired of his god as a reason for being a liar and a cheat, which is what he was, and that had nothing to do with his being gay. o isn't going to give him a hard time as it was maybe set that way as a condition of his appearing to peddle his book. it would have been more intersting, well to me, if she would have got into some of the salacious stuff, but, thats not what her audiance, white suburban women, care about. they want the pain of his wife, they can relate to that and can't with black gay men in the same situation who may be married.
sunburn
September 19 2006, 9:14PM
jared - true. she has shows to sell, and at the end of the day, its all about business. she must pander to her audience. I cannot count how many times she said "What all women out there want to know is why you did this and that" I talked to a good friend of mine tonight, a middle aged sister, and she said that the O was not referring to her because she understands that his state of mind during his "inauthentic" days was controlled by denial and fear. Period. So she is not the hypothetical "woman out there" who needs to know anything beyond the fact that he was in one place and now he is in a better place.
Mel Smith
September 19 2006, 9:39PM
I feel the same way some of you are feeling. As someone mentioned, Oprah did not use the DL term with Mcgreevey and she attacked poor black Jonathan more than him.
annmartinez
September 20 2006, 1:00AM
And while he's mentioning religion and getting it right with God. Does he realize he's fornicating while having sex with being married (in a celebrated committed/witnessed cermony of sort) and that he's in adultery while his divorce is still not official. Some of us don't understand this. If hetereos can't fornicate and still be christians why does he think he can?
Just asking to understand people's understanding of scripture for all.
Urbane
September 20 2006, 11:08AM
I am so glad I read the comments today. I have long said that it is great to have the most powerful women in the world be black...but....with that comes a responsibility. My only problem with O is that she continues to downplay the role of the black man in society yet she always uplifts or makes excuses for the white race.
As I watched the show yesterday I was proud of Jim McGreevy but ashamed of O. She did not mention "DL" one time in the interview which means that the term only relates to "Black Men." She didn’t try to acknowledge his battle to be true to himself or others maybe because she still hasn't done it with herself.
She needs to do a show about a black man that comes out and embraces his pain. She needs to promote Black cooks, writers and business people. Do a show on Rockstar or Bleu Magazine. The My friends say I am being to hard on her but who else do we have with that kind of power that can show the world that black people do much more than sing and dance.
C. Baptiste-Williams
September 20 2006, 1:14PM
I never understood why we attempt to put expectations on other people who do not owe us anything.
It is called the Oprah Winfrey Show... it is her show. If you don't like the topics or who is on the show, just don't watch it. Don't degrade what this woman is successfully accomplishing just because it doesn't meet your desires.
And as for the 'DL' term... it is like any other term originating in the black community. So why would you be suprised that she and McGreevy use the term "in the closet" to describe his situation. I have never once heard any of my white friends use that term. And why does it matter when they mean the exact same thing??
Mel Smith
September 20 2006, 3:39PM
C. Baptiste Williams, look at the social connotations of the words, 'in the closet' and the 'DL.' The 'DL' is a word use to socially demonize and stereotype BLACK people. Some blacks(maybe others) have used that word to stereotype ALL homosexual people. Now, people don't demonize 'the closet,' on the level that they demonize the 'DL.' The 'DL' man is attacked in the media and the 'closeted' man receives support. Therefore, the words do not mean the same in a heterosexist world.
g-man
September 20 2006, 7:20PM
From what I've read you would think OPRAH coined the Down Low term. I completely agree with C. Baptiste Williams. I watched the show and I thought it was a great interview. In my opinion, she asked all the right questions and he answered them all appropiately. If only the author of the DL whatever his name is, could have been more honest and forthright when he appeared on her show perhaps that term would not have perpetuated into such a negative connotion for blacks. If there is anyone to be upset with it should be him, not Oprah...With this said, people are going to think what they want regardless of what term is used...For Oprah all I have to say is "You go girl!!!" 21 years on nationally and still (Simply the Best)....She makes me Proud!!!
ChicagoChild
September 20 2006, 8:03PM
Don't you just hate it when the Queens show up and try to control the whole conversation?
Oprah wants us to *talk* that is why she has a *talk show* and this is why she has been doing a *talk show* for 21 years.
We cannot *degrade* Oprah, as she is a BILLIONAIRESS.
Oprah is not of the WHITE COMMUNITY. But she does get a thrill whenever she slips into her *grrrrl* routine and everyone is supposed to think that this is so cute and *authentic.*
She can be BLACK when she wants to be. But for others *ah-hem* she slips into her coveted pseudo Mary Tyler Moore role. I would think as a BILLIONAIRESS she could finally take the shackles off, reclaim herself and just be truthful 'bout thangs.
David T.
September 20 2006, 8:53PM
I really though the interview between Oprah and Jim (James) McGreevey was truly phenomenal. I truly since the sincerity and honesty coming from his mouth. He truly handled himself w/grace and dignity. I even almost wanted to tear up when I saw him w/his partner and even when his partner teared up talking about Former Governor McGreevey. I thought how sweet it is to have someone w/you as you're revealing the truth about yourself and everything else.
I offer blessings and compassion for Jim McGreevey and his partner Mark O'Donnell. I sure would love to read his book. We should be understanding and not overly critical for what he's been through. Again, I thank Jim McGreevey for coming out and hopefully it'll help those to be true about themselves--whether or not they should tell the whole world. Besides, everyone doesn't need to know about your sexual orientation. Then again, it truly helps to be honest about being who you truly are.
saint james
September 21 2006, 2:38PM
C'mon, Oprah didn't use the DL term with McGreevey because it is not a term he would use. That term originated in the black community (not initially associated with sexuality). When Oprah met with JL King (an IDIOT!) or Jonathan Plummer she used the term that was currently being used in the black community. The term Down Low was in the title of King's stupid book!
I cannot speak to her interaction with Mr. Plummer because I didn't see it. I did see the interview with JL King and it was much different than the one she had with the former governor. She treated him with a little more intelligence than she did with Mr. King because he presented as more intelligent.
deejay
September 26 2006, 10:13AM
McGreevey is a sociopath but not because he is homosexual. He could have just as easily been cheating with women. He has no integrity, PERIOD! That much has come across on the various interviews I've watched.
This man is simply USING his sexual orientation as the excuse to write off the appalling way he wiped his ass with the people who have trusted him - his wives, his children, the people of NJ, and countless others whose tales don't warrant public exposure.
Shady folks like this drama king lead messy lives no matter what. I suspect this won't be last we'll hear of his ass. He'll be back on Oprah with a post-coming out tale of woe.
Matt
October 5 2006, 12:10AM
Oprah also has double standard issues with married men who are in the closet versus women in similar situations. Looking at the opening sequences of the two recent shows she has done on the subject--one on men, one on women--the treatment could not be more different. For men, O focuses on the deep dark secret (the DL), and the ultimate betrayal of the wife and family, and the dissolution of the dream of a perfect marriage. For women, however, she does not look as much on the secret, but rather on women who have discovered sexual freedom, self-realization, and bravery.
Oprah has been on a "all the gay men I have ever met knew the moment they were born that they were gay" kick ever since friend Terry MacMillan came on and attacked her now openly gay ex-husband. What O fails to realize is that the process of sexual discovery is different for all sorts of people--of different races, classes, religious backgrounds, cultures, nationalities, and families. I would hope she would investigate this on one of her shows