QWANZ

At a time when the children who were raised by television are becoming adults, it seems fitting that television seems to be getting an overhaul. Law and Order ended its decade long reign, Larry King announces that his show will also end soon and now Oprah, the queen of daytime talk TV has just announced what her last season will be like. It is not to say that we will be seeing less of her, The Oprah Winfrey Show will end so that she can focus on OWN, or the Oprah Winfrey Network. But you know...   >>>

At a time when the children who were raised by television are becoming adults, it seems fitting that television seems to be getting an overhaul. Law and Order ended its decade long reign, Larry King announces that his show will also end soon and now Oprah, the queen of daytime talk TV has just announced what her last season will be like. It is not to say that we will be seeing less of her, The Oprah Winfrey Show will end so that she can focus on OWN, or the Oprah Winfrey Network. But you know that something will change.



In the 25 years of her national television show, Oprah Winfrey has done one thing extremely well: connect to the varied and diversified audience of the United States. Though she has been parodied tirelessly, most famously by David Letterman (yet another institution of Late Night TV,) it is undeniable that she has the power to change how people see things and most especially, what they buy. It is not a secret that the Oprah Book Club has saved the publishing industry almost as much as JK Rowling and Dan Brown did, and manufacturers know that if they get their product on Oprah, especially on her infamous giveaway shows, they'll see products flying off the shelves. That her shows make us cry is a guilty pleasure immortalized by films and sitcoms, it will be difficult to beat just how much cultural capital she wielded on her daily one-hour show. There have been many people who have tried to come close, but it seems that her careful balance between being able to relate (everyone knows her struggles of weight and discrimination) and being aspirational (her wealth, though something that has been directed toward philanthropy, is not anything kept under wraps) has captured America.



Even if her emotional and almost shaman-like declarations on the show have brought her ridicule, the plainspoken truth that she espouses is gobbled up by the masses so much that even when scandal rocks her good intentions, there are people who will always rally behind her. And though her body and its many changes have always been a punchline, it has only solidified the support around her—especially that she has also been very generous with her own painful past. She has raised awareness, created more discussion on topics that would have otherwise been ignored. And this is at the core of her success, that every time she is seen publicly it is a moment of connection.



It is no surprise then that this is the central theme of her last season, the creation of moments. Her last year will serve to remind us why she has stayed so powerful throughout her 25 years. By returning to subjects of past shows such as Forsyth County in Georgia where Oprah was barraged by the n-word and the prevailing rule that no African-Americans were allowed, she seeks to reveal how America (and perhaps us) has changed (with her in it) or hasn't changed at all. But in this way also, she serves to remind us that she has been around for so long, always a voice, a loud laugh and a wide smile that may have been disagreed with but trusted nonetheless. So though celebrities will clamor to bid farewell and solidify their relationship with the Queen, her producers will ensure that this long goodbye will be memorable without resorting to calling in favors. She has already announced that she has not invited President Obama (someone for whom Oprah campaigned!) but don't be surprised that even the President of the United States will attempt to say his goodbye's. Though it may be difficult to measure what exactly Oprah has done, it is more difficult to claim that she has done nothing.