Leave it to Oprah to turn philanthropy into a gaudy, voyeuristic reality television show. In a hysterical peacock-like parade of moral one-upmanship, ten contestants on her new reality TV show Oprah's Big Give compete in a holier-than-thou display of charitable licentiousness week after week in the vain hope of being crowned the most generous by the Queen of Selflessness herself. As Oprah said in teaser trailers, "You give big…or you go home." And leave it to 15-million of her mindless cult-like devotees to tune in week after week to watch this shameful excuse for a television program.
Does anyone else take issue with this pathetic exercise in congratulatory self-validation? Ten ordinary, "everyday" contestants being tested on their altruistic bona fides on primetime TV by a superstar media mogul worth $2.5 billion doesn't strike anyone else as vapid? Does Oprah really want to pass this off as more than a shameless moneymaking venture and self-promotional stunt wrapped in a cloak of benevolent charity and selfless giving?
Again, to recap, Oprah has two-and-a-half billion dollars in assets. Why televise her benevolence and the altruism of these ordinary people (who are handsomely rewarded with a cool $1-million if they win the title of most-selfless)? Why even go through a middleman in the form of another ABC television venture? She already has one hour a day to trumpet her good works-so why invest in the start-up costs for a brand new television show? Helicopters, fancy SUVs and a large jumbo jet all figure prominently into the Big Give. Wouldn't this money be better spent elsewhere "helping" the poor, the tired and the huddled masses?
No, apparently, Oprah's aim is to "spread the spirit of giving across the land,"-at least according to New Yorker reviewer Nancy Franklin. Nothing, after all, inspires Oprah's whitewashed bourgeois audience of bored trophy wives (with an average household income of $63,000) and unemployed idiots with nothing else to do at 4:00 p.m. (with an average household income of $0) more than seeing heartwarming tales of triumph and tragedy playing out across their television screens. Oprah already has a magazine, a TV network, a copyright on the letter O and a wildly popular book club-doesn't it make sense for her to have a prime-time reality television special?
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