Ranting on Oprah
You’re all so great. 
Thank you so much for being so supportive and understanding! I wish I could meet each and every one of you for lunch or something. lol Wouldn’t that be fun?
Hey, listen …. I’ve had something on my mind since Friday, and I just can’t stop thinking about it. You’ll probably think I’m strange for getting so miffed about something like this, but I can’t help it — it just really bugs me! Okay, allow me to preface this a bit:
I went to Mom’s on Friday, and she had the television tuned to Oprah when I got there. I sat down and started watching it with her. The show was all about Oprah’s 50th birthday and all the parties which were thrown in her honor. *gag* I couldn’t believe my eyes! The amount of money spent on those parties was staggering! I mean …. thousands of people could have been helped with that amount of money! In my humble opinion, if Oprah is as philanthropic and deeply social-minded as she so fervently tries to portray herself as being, she would have told those people to give the money they were planning on spending for her birthday party to a worthy charity in her name, in honor of her 50th birthday. Geez, people, she’s a WOMAN, not God! She needs to get over herself, and everyone else needs to stop “worshipping” her!
February 9th, 2004 at 5:28 pm
C’mon Oprah, spread your love…I mean money around. ;)
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February 9th, 2004 at 6:18 pm
I agree, Leigh! People spend so much money “celebrating” when there are so many who don’t have enough to get one good meal a day. So sad that the rich don’t even think about the poor anymore.
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February 9th, 2004 at 6:34 pm
What’s staggering to me is that I’m almost fifty, and I wouldn’t make as much in ten years as she threw around on that one party. Where did I go wrong?
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February 9th, 2004 at 7:08 pm
The money I read that was spent on her parties amazed me…
So are we getting together in August???
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February 9th, 2004 at 9:16 pm
I missed the show but I did catch a bit about the one luncheon with the silk this and the imported that and all the flowers and such.
I can see how it looks and is over-the-top and out of the realm of reasoning but please don’t forget the millions she is responsible for through her Angel Network, the schools she’s built, the programs she’s started, and how she’s moved people to give of themselves.
I don’t begrudge her being spoiled rotten, it’s just that her idea of spoiled and our idea are so polar opposite it’s unfathomable.
I just had to stick my two cents in because I really do admire the woman.
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February 10th, 2004 at 5:54 am
So far as I can gather, parties were thrown by other people in her honour? I agree that Oprah could have asked these people to donate the money her in her name to a charity organisation. I know Oprah does spend a lot of her money on charitable organisations. She is paying the salaries of 3 school teachers for the next 3 years in one of our townships here. She has also donated money to the Nelson Mandela’s Childrens Fund where her money was spent in building a school for disadvantaged children. The Xmas before last, she held a Xmas party here for AIDS and orphaned and destitute children and got Toys R Us to donate presents for over 5000 children. They also received clothing. Some of these kids had never received a gift-wrapped present in their young lives before and their little faces brought tears to my eyes. As a public figure, she has donated more and done more than anyone else I know. Leslie has a point with regard to the Angel Network. Sometimes I feel that where the governments have failed in their duties to provide a foundation for the peoples of their countries, the likes of Oprah have stood up and helped fill a small gap wherever they could. That is just my perspective. Other rich and famous people could learn a lot from her, I think.
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February 10th, 2004 at 8:54 am
I see your point but I agree with Leslie and Michelle. Regardless of her b-day party Oprah does put her money where her mouth is. She gives to charities and runs some of her own all the time. Just because her friends want to throw her a party that shouldn’t reflect on what kind of person she is or isn’t, she has no control over what her friends do. Don’t you think that if your family and friends wanted to throw you a big 50th party and you said “no thanks I don’t want it, do something else with that money” your friends and family would be hurt/upset?
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February 10th, 2004 at 9:44 am
I agree that Oprah has done a lot, but see, I have a problem with the fact that EVERYONE knows about EVERYTHING she’s done. When I was growing up, my grandmother taught me not to “let the left hand knoweth what the right hand doeth”; in other words, don’t brag about the good you’ve done. There is a man here in town who has given unbelievable amounts of money to charities, organizations, foundations, etc., etc., and most of it has been done under the cover of anonymity. I only know about it because a close friend of mine did a research paper on him back in college and did some digging to discover all he’s done for our community and state. So while I agree that Oprah has done more with her money than probably any other famous person, she certainly has no problem letting the world know about it. I can’t help but not like that. And to take 2 days of her show to broadcast her birthday parties was, in my opinion, crude, especially when she started talking about how much everything cost. That’s just wrong. I guess if it were me, it just wouldn’t feel right to have that much money spent on a party when I know so well (just as she does) how many suffering people are out there who could truly use that money. But maybe that’s just the “martyr syndrome” unknowingly instilled in me as a kid talking. I don’t know. The whole thing just doesn’t set right with me, that’s all.
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February 10th, 2004 at 9:48 am
Oh, and Andie, no, I don’t think my friends and family would be hurt or upset if I told them not to throw me a party. In fact, I’ve done just that in the past. There’s no reason they should be spending a lot of their hard-earned money on a party for one night when I already know they love me. They know me, so they understood and were not upset or hurt, and I felt much better knowing their money would stay where it belonged.
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February 10th, 2004 at 10:43 am
Oh, I see where you are coming from Leigh. Yeah, I agree with you on that one. I do my own little bit to help society in some small way and I never discuss it with anyone. No one knows who I donate money to or how much because I don’t expect praise or recognition for it. Knowing in my heart that I may have made a difference on that particular day, is reward enough.
Thanks for pointing that out Angel
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February 10th, 2004 at 1:22 pm
This is kind of a tough one… not sure 100% what the best answer to it would be. Of course giving money to charity sounds like a good idea; but having control over others is another story. Hey, I tried to put a smiley in this comment, but it wouldn’t let me submit it unless I took the smiley out; it said it was “questionable content”
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February 10th, 2004 at 2:28 pm
I respect your opinion, But I also HIGHLY respect her. There is sooo much that she does that DOESN’t get talked about! She earned every penny and has been such a great role model for so Many. I do not begrudge her the party. I only begrudge the fact that nobody invited ME!!!
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February 10th, 2004 at 3:26 pm
Well, Oprah is fairly high profile. I wonder if she could keep her good works hushed up, no matter how hard she tried. On the other hand, from the bits I am aware of, is it possible that she wants the public to be informed? I think that would be more favourable than somebody that donates so that everyone can see what a “good person” they are.
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February 10th, 2004 at 6:18 pm
Quote of the day: To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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February 11th, 2004 at 1:02 am
It is hard for me to begrudge Oprah of her parties, but what is hard for me is to be as broke as I am, and not feel jealous.
I am jealous. I want to be free of financial worry.
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February 29th, 2004 at 10:42 pm
Forgive my intrusion, but I just was thrilled to find this board!
Did Oprah forget where she came from? Not only is it money, it’s plenty of OTHER things that she has forgotten about as well.
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