Why Oprah is Wretched

I don't usually watch her. I'm one of the people that roots for her to get fat again. But I've watched her.

I haven't watched Oprah's show in years. The last time I did it was about a girl that had fallen down a well or something and when I hit the program info thingy, curiosity peaked.  The girl was Oprah's guest for the hour but in the front row sat the police officer that had 'rescued' her. Evidently, to make a ridiculously long story short, she had tried to seek help from the cops before for child abuse and they didn't believe her. Oprah had brought the cop on the show to make him feel bad. She didn't make him a guest, but a front row sitter so that it didn't look planned but you know she totally planned it.

"Well, don't you think you owe this girl an apology for not believing her? When she was being raped every day for 3 years? Don't you feel like you just dropped the ball?"

God Oprah loves a good rape story doesn't she?

Today I watched the show again. I couldn't help it. The morbid part of me was immediately drawn in to the heading of 'Girl That Lived in a Dog Cage'.  I work in a pet store. I had to see what size crate they had her in. What kind of crate? Was it as least a soft crate?

Alas, her parents were also wretched people and come to think of it, it surprises me a bit that Oprah didn't have a spot in the front row for them. All the better to berate you m'dear.

This young woman, now 21, had been treated  incredibly badly. After her brother was locked outside of the house, he walked barefoot in the snow to the police station and told them of the abuse. The police came, pulled her out of the cage, cue the swell of music and applause... But the shitty part of this story is that her parents were only jailed for 1 year.  Ten years probation, but only 1 year behind bars.

Now at this point, Oprah had me. I was completely invested in this girl. I got teary when she read a letter to her toddler son. I nearly did a 'you go girl' when she said you have to learn from your experiences, be strong and move forward. And then Oprah leaned in close to the girl... "We have some footage."

She took the girl to the basement she'd been caged in. As the cameras rolled, the viewer sees the fear come flooding back into her eyes. It's all incredibly dramatic and dammit, I was riveted. I felt like I'd gone through the tour of the basement with her. It was wrenching.

And then Oprah is back, perched on her chair with her legs crossed awkwardly in front of her. She shakes her head solemnly. She looks into the camera and whispers dramatically, "Seven. Years. Old."

There's a beat and then they show the audience, rows of women passing tissues to each other.

And then she turns back to the young woman. This poor woman who probably had no idea what she was getting into when she decided to go on the show. She probably had no idea that the nice Oprah lady would chastise her for not pursuing therapy immediately. She probably had no idea that Oprah would push her opinions so heavily on her that she'd have no choice but to nod and meekly say, 'yes Oprah'.

She says to her, "How did you feel? Being in that basement again. Seeing that place where you were kept. In. A. Cage.  A cage!  Walking down the stairs into the basement...what did that feel  like?"  Oprah's one giant snake away from being He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.

I understand of course that people choose to go on the show. I realize that Oprah has done a lot of good things for people. I am aware that she has brought back the book, given away cars, interviewed crazy Scientologists...but...

"Terrible," the young woman replied. "It felt terrible."

I felt terrible. I saw the look on her face and saw that she was still scared and fragile and they kept showing the damn cage...Eventually Oprah thanked her for coming and they faded to commercial. She got half an hour and that was plenty for me too.

I guess she's trying to help. I can see her playing that card. But the way she talks to people there is NO way that woman thinks her shit stinks. She's got some money, ok. But so does Angelina Jolie and she would have at least offered to adopt the girl.

I used to want to be on her couch, I'll admit it. I wanted her to pat me on the head and tell me how amazing my book was-now that it was on her list of course-and maybe give me a car or two.

But I'm over it. I'm sending her some HoHos.