Oprah has been chatting it up in the media recently, more abnormal than usual for her. With the cover story of Parade magazine's comes no exception. The queen talks about everything from her new venture to supporting Obama, and, maybe, becoming an ambassador? Well, we are talking about Oprah here.
On considering retirement...“I was questioning, Why don’t I build a boat and sail around the world? Why don’t I learn French and find a nice little house in Provence? I could see myself bicycling with my baguettes and the whole thing. But I talked it over with my friends, and they all said, ‘You’re not going to be happy doing nothing.’ ”
On what she perceive as a failure... “What will be a failure is if nobody comes and watches this network. What others will perceive as failure is if some shows don’t succeed. I’m concerned about the bigger overall picture: my belief that people are basically good and want to see the good in them reflected through their experiences and the shows that they watch. This is a gamble I’m taking. I believe that the banal state of television, the kind of insipid space that we’re in–that you can have as many channels as we have and not find anything that really interests you–means that to a great extent we’ve lost our way.”
On President Obama...“I think that no one understands until you’ve been in that seat the enormous pressure to please and satisfy everybody. And I think instead of being grateful for where we are and what he has done, we’ve forgotten that we were on the brink of a depression when he took over this office. And as everybody celebrates the holiday season and sits around with their families, regardless of your circumstance, we could’ve had breadlines. How soon we forget that.”
On hoping to be an ambassador...“Nobody’s offered [that] to me in this administration. But I will tell you a funny story. When I was at the Kennedy Center Honors for Tina Turner [in 2005], I was sitting at Colin Powell’s table, and he said that we were in the ambassadors room [a room at the State Department with portraits of ambassadors and secretaries of state]. And I said, ‘Gee, this is really–this is lovely. An ambassador, I think that would be really great.’ He goes, ‘Name your country, baby, name your country.’”
On being a "brand"..."I hate the word brand, but now I have succumbed to the fact that I guess I am one."
On being the subject of a reality show (on Season 25: Oprah Behind the Scenes, premiering on OWN January 1 at 8 p.m. ET/PT)..."What did I say yes to that for? You know what that's taught me? All these people doing these reality shows--I don't know why anybody wants to be followed by a television camera all the time. There was great discussion amongst my team as to how we would document this last year [of The Oprah Winfrey Show]. I said, 'I think it should be a documentary.'
"But I saw a first cut last week that they've been working on since August. Didn't like it. And I'm bringing the team in here today to say, 'Ya'll have got to get real and the whole thing has to be restructured.' I don't like trying to create tension where there isn't any. I think that there is enough natural tension and anxiety and exasperation going on here all the time without having to create it. If I'm going to have a piece that is representing my life behind the scenes, it has to be truthful."
On Sarah Palin..."I don't know her so I can't speak to [whether or not she'll be a candidate]. But I would say that America's going to fall in love with her from [her reality series, Sarah Palin's Alaska]. When I saw that first episode, I went, 'Whoa! She is charming and very likable.'"
Asked whether the thought of Palin's running for office scares her, Oprah said..."It does not scare me because I believe in the intelligence of the American public."
In case you missed it last week kiddas, below is an in-depth Barbara Walters Interview Special she had with Oprah. In this, you'll see that despite the criticisms from the likes of inferior and jealous folks (because their always lurking around), Oprah has a sense of extraordinary intentions and efforts...and for that, I salute my hat off with the utmost respect.
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