O the Magazine

My roommate and I had to go to the store for some things and at the register, which is packed with what she is interested in- advertising crap... we noticed Oprah's magazine. I am a sucker for this kind of stuff and admittedly, I can't help but enjoy anything that she likes. Well, most of the things she likes. So we bought it and I flipped through it during the ride home and would show her the pages with great pictures or great bits of things. For example, there is a page that looks like it would be found in Oprah's personal blog of some sort-- it listed cereals, and shopping secrets... all of the things that, when you first look at the page, you might think come directly from Oprah herself. upon closer look, however, we can see that perhaps Oprah has nothing to do with anything in this magazine at all. She shows for the photo shoot, but maybe she doesn't have very much of a say in the design or what is inside the book at all. She does have a column dedicated to Dr. Phil, whom I know she likes a great deal, and she lists the books on her booklist. I just find in interesting how much power she really has.

I also read about the fact that she helped to fund Obama's campaign. This is of course frustrating because of the influence she has on our society, and more than financially. Sh says that she can only donate up to a certain amount, but her stamp of approval is more than any check she could write. Every book that Oprah has put on her book list has become a top seller. Can someone get her to put the BOM on there?

I think Oprah is an interesting topic because she controls so much of the media. What she loves, we love, and what she loves sells. I would use something like an article from her own magazine, or the interview with her and ask what dangers there are of having a woman with so much power? Are there any? What does it mean for those voting- and how might it change even the voter population? How are the pictures and scenes presented in her magazine and what is it saying to the reader?