A Step Into a False Reality

As I was looking at youtube videos having to do with Oprah Winfrey and the affects of her talk show, I came across this youtube video that I couldn’t’ help but posting. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U&feature=player_embedded

(Sorry it wouldn’t let me embed it!)

As I watched this video I was so taken aback by how woman are actually portrayed in the media and the steps taken to make someone look “beautiful”. Watching this video made me realize how much the media can alter your views and sickens me to think that woman think that they have to look like this girl on the build board while in reality she doesn’t remotely look similar. Oprahs talk show is dedicated to addressing problems within society and even issues such as what is seen as beautiful and dedicates shows to help spread awareness about controversial issues such as the dove campaign. I believe that the Oprah show is a way for woman at home to watch and learn about problems that are not always addressed. She touches on controversial issues and allows for woman to tell their story and hopefully inspire people to either make a change in their lives or to help others.

In some ways, this video can relate to Radways reading Woman Read The Romancce: The Interaction of Text and Context. In this reading woman were interviewed and studied about Romantic novels that they in some cases, play a second life through the woman in the romance novels. These women feel that reading these fantasies are an escape from their own lives. Like build boards portraying “perfect” girls, romance novels portray a “perfect” life, which are both are false advertisement and reality for woman and girls. Woman and young girls perception of beauty is distorted through the media and even romance novels. Woman may enjoy reading romance novels to step away from their own lives and maybe pretend that they are apart of the romance novel. Most people will jump into a romance novel but then step back into their own lives and reality. I believe that most people realize that the novels are just a story and can realize what is actually reality. Popular novels like, The Notebook by Nicolas Sparks is a love story which most people can take a step back and known that stories like this most likely wont happen. I can see how it is relaxing and joyful for stressful woman to step back from their reality and read a romance novel where everything is perfect.

Romance novels and build boards both can distort reality. Although, romance novels can be a good escape for some woman, false build board ads distort woman’s views of what is beautiful. Oprah Winfreys show is a place to address these problems to the public. I think it is important for people to hear and be addresses by these problems even if it is on a talk show.

Relativity and Reality

Oprah is a driving force in America today. Unlike other talk show hosts who are driven by scandal and perverse detail, Oprah attempts to educate and inform for the betterment of her viewers as well as society. She exposes the unspoken and taboo topics which touch upon all lives in contemporary America. This cartoon exemplifies Moorti’s point that “Oprah…tends to present private acts as socially relevant and the social as personal” (551). Her humanitarian efforts have made a great impact, but what will happen in the future when her talk show is over? Will she still wield power and attempt further good?

In the article “Women Read the Romance: The Interaction of Text and Context”, author Radway writes an interpretation based on women who are said to be “compulsive romance readers” and are further interviewed about their obsession with this genre. One woman’s reasoning was “Because it is an escape and we can dream. And pretend that is our life” (69). The author makes it clear that these women are well aware that the characters and fantasies which evolve on the page have no resemblance to occurrences in their daily lives – this is what attracts their interest, because they are able to have a distraction from their everyday reality. This conceptual idea is used by the media as well, specifically reality TV. We watch and become obsessed with this intriguing programming because it is so unlike our own ordinary daily lives. Like the romance novel, it provides an escape into a perceived perfection of lifestyle.

This image of the Kardashian family relays how very unrealistic their way of life is. You don’t have to be familiar with the program, or know their background to determine that their dress, behavior, and attitude are uncommon. Although this is reality T.V., and some of the portrayal touches on common reality, its glossy image is what keeps viewers watching, just as the romance novel keeps the reader turning pages.