Today's rerun was odd. It was entitled "What Makes America America" and maybe it was the title that threw me for a loop. The segments consisted of (in order) Shelley Hack from the old Charlie perfume commercials which Oprah used to love, Paul Anka singing jingles, the story behind the Teddy Bear, Band-Aids, drive-ins, Diane Von Furstenberg's wrap dress, Tommy Hilfiger's book about pop culture (which everyone in the audience received), Dylan's Candy Bar in Manhattan, hamburgers, apple pie, hot dogs, MoonPie®, the ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz, Fonzie's jacket, the boxing gloves from Rocky II (wha?), Joe Louis' boxing gloves, an iron spikey-toolish thing that Abe Lincoln used, and finally clips from Chris Rock's segment from African American Lives II. WHOA!!! Quite a jam-packed show. And also a strange smattering to define America. Maybe it should have been the theme for a week's worth of shows!Four assignments today that I don't think I listed on my blog the first time we all viewed the show:
1. If visiting New York, visit the museums but then go to Dylan's Candy Bar (I'll keep it on the list, although I'm not planning any trips out there at the moment...)
2. Oprah wants everyone to taste a MoonPie® (done)
3. She hopes we will watch African American Lives on PBS (done, the first time this show aired)
4. And finally, "Please don't tell Bob Greene" about all the crap she ate on the show today. It was supposed to be her "no carb" day, I guess. (I promise I won't tell Bob)
I got a little annoyed with Oprah today. This is something that several of you have brought up a couple times, by the way, but for some reason I had blocked it out of my memory. It was about Dorothy's ruby slippers brought from the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History by Dr. Brent Glass. Oprah asked twice if she could just touch the slippers and he said no. They are priceless and have already started to diminish because they've been on public display. Finally, the third time she asked (really forcefully, I felt), he acquiesced. I think he thought she might touch one of her gloved fingers to the sole or something, but instead she grabbed both shoes and mimed clicking them together a la Dorothy. It was a cringe-worthy moment. Clearly, Oprah was not going to take no for an answer, even if her desire to tell people she had touched these cinematic icons put them in danger of being destroyed. Not a high point.
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15 comments:
Oprah irritates me when she does things like that!
I mean seriously! Even my children know better then to touch museum pieces. We just recently went to the Lincoln museum in Fort Wayne, IN and even at the interactive parts of the museum, my children were hesitant and asked before exploring. If I were the curator I would have immediately reprimanded her, reminding her that these are priceless one of a kind items!
Blessings,
Garsy
garsy, her actions were definitely childish. it was below her, i thought. she just saw something she wanted and practically grabbed it even though it was against the rules. i agree about the curator - i think if he had more guts he would have. he seemed a little wishy washy. i wonder if he was reprimanded by the museum for allowing her to manhandle the shoes?? xoLO
im so glad you said what you said about the ruby slippers cause i was mortified that she did that! The death stare he gave her was icy and well deserved. Oprah has EVERYTHING, why did she need that?
silvertacos, i wonder if having him tell her 'no' twice made her that much more focused on getting her way. i used to be like that when i was a kid - just keep asking and asking until i wore my folks down. i wonder if the smithsonian will EVER lend anything to the Oprah show again?! xoLO
I agree. She went way too far with the mock clicking of the heels. Very careless.
laurajeanette, did it make you tense watching it? i couldn't wait for the show to end so i could rewind that moment to prove to myself it wasn't as bad as i thought it was the first time around. i was wrong. it was worse!! xoLO
I just knew she was going to click them together and sequins or something would just start falling to the floor.
I'm a little disgusted frankly!
laurajeanette, in the "movie version" she would do it and they'd just dissintegrate in her hands, a verrrrry old Toto yapping at her and biting her ankles, the Tin Man weeping until he rusted...
whoa sharon! you tend to be much more patient with people than me, so this one really must have touched a nerve!
xoLO
LO - After reading your post I tried to find video of Oprah grabbing the shoes - no luck yet, but I did come across the message board on Oprah.com & after the original episode aired, boy did people let it be known how disgusted they were by the behavior. I also found the synopsis of the show on her site, and while there was much mention how carefully the museum director handled the shoes, no mention of Oprah grabbing onto them.
Odd, that. Well, I don't think it's that odd, I do think it's just a wonderfully condensed example of the way Oprah has come to think of herself & her role in the world.
L.O.,
Yeah, I suppose I draw the line at unneeded over-indulgence!
marisue, FASCINATING. i am not a regular reader of those message boards. for some reason, i figured the moderator would pull any anti-Oprah commentary right off the website. i'm happy to hear there is multi-faceted discussion on the forum! thanks for looking into that. you rock. xoLO
I tuned into this show as my first Oprah watching experience in a long time. I was a little put off by the way she kept interrupting the curator and then I was blown away when she picked them up! For real Oprah?!
Nice blog,
SR Blake
SR Blake, You are in good company here. We all fell off our chairs when we saw that segment. We should put pillows on the floor, so we have a soft landing the next time that happens...Best, LO
I just found your blog...AWESOME! I havn't read all your posts yet so you might have mentioned this..the Graceland episode?!?! Where she pulled her gloves off in the Elvis vault to flip through his old check book. Hello,that's what the gloves are for! AND when they were eating dinner with Lisa Marie and Gail goes for "seconds" and you hear her chair scratching the wood floor as she pushed her chair back with force. That had to have pissed off Elvis' ghost even if they're "cousins".
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