Nathaniel

Shockey

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December 17, 2007

Why Should I Trust Oprah Winfrey? Do I Know Her?

I don’t know Oprah well.

I’ve never watched more than five minutes of her show in one sitting, or read any of her books. I know her weight tends to fluctuate, but then again, whose doesn’t? I know that she gave a car to everyone in her audience, which enabled me to deduce that she’s richer than your average American. I’ve heard she’s very charitable, which really ought to be the case for anyone who earns more in a year than a handful of countries. Like I said, I don’t know her well.

But for that matter, who does?

Oprah has recently made more than a few headlines by vigorously supporting Barack Obama in his campaign for the presidency. My first reaction to a situation like this goes something like: Who does she think she is? Are you really so certain about another person that you’ll use your supernova-sized spotlight to try and convince us to agree with you? If it’s that obvious, shouldn’t we already know? And are you really so certain about your own opinions that you think America would be better off by mindlessly agreeing with you? If you’re that wonderful, shouldn’t you be president?

It reminds me of a “Family Guy” episode in which Lois Griffin tells her son Stewie, “But Stewie, you love broccoli.”

He responds incredulously, “I’m sorry, did you just tell me what I love?”

I’m sorry Oprah, did you just tell us what we love?

After I dealt with my initial indignation, I realized that the real issue here is not Oprah’s, it’s ours. If anyone is going to go off on a self-righteous power trip, then that’s his/her problem. But it becomes America’s problem when we sit at home saying, “If he’s good enough for Oprah, he’s good enough for me.”

OK, it’s not that simple. It’s not as though we’re all completely neutral, just waiting to be told what to think by an amiable, venerable public figure. A lot of us are already leaning toward one particular candidate. But then someone comes along with a winning smile, good lighting and a daytime television show and either confirms our leanings or nudges us back toward the middle. Quite frankly, this is just as harmful as using someone else’s opinion because you never had one of your own – not because we shouldn’t listen and allow ourselves to be affected by others’ opinions, but because the only opinions we value ought to come from people we know.

The only reason we ought to vote for anyone, or allow our vote to be affected by anyone’s advice, is because we think we know that person well. And really, who do we actually know well beyond ourselves and maybe our closest friends?

Hey Yankee fans, I bet you thought you knew Roger Clemens. How’s it feel now? Practically every day, we hear on the news, “I never thought he’d be capable of doing something like that.”

Have people ever found out something about you that made them shudder? Aren’t there things we all try to hide because we’re ashamed? It’s very hard to know someone well. It’s very rare to be well-known.

And yet, we’re going to allow ourselves to be swayed by another person’s opinions about another person, neither of whom we know well at all? That’s just laziness, and the extent to which we allow ourselves to be convinced one way or another by anything less than hard evidence from reliable sources we can trust will directly influence the amount and quality of influence America has in the world.

Like most people, I have never shook Oprah’s hand, told her how I spend my time when I’m alone or listened as she told me about her first pet. I don’t trust her, not because she gave me reasons to distrust her, but because I don’t know her. And while I have no doubt that she has reasons for her convictions, they’re still her convictions, not mine.

In November 2008, there will be millions of quality votes, and probably just as many or more votes cast for stupid reasons. Unfortunately, they’re all worth the same. And while we can’t keep stupid people from voting, we can do our best to make sure we’re not one of them.

© 2007 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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