The Abandonment of Guilty Pleasures

Thursday, May 14, 2009
I have a confession to make. I've watched Oprah on and off for over 20 years. It was my guilty pleasure.

Oprah has been on my DVR for many years - I watched her show while using the Evil Machine of Torture. On the occasions when she decided to be a purveyor of woo (The Secret) or the interviewer of the sordid (Ted Haggard), I simply skipped the episode and moved on. Overall, there were enough shows that interested me that I continued to watch.

I will now pause so the gallery can shame me with their ridicule. Ridicule which, it turns out, I absolutely deserve.

Because recently Oprah decided to form a "partnership" with that freeze-dried wackaloon Jenny McCarthy, and that's pushed me over the edge and brought me to my senses. I'm way over the edge on this one.

You all know I think Jenny McCarthy is anti-science, anti-evidence, anti-health, anti-children and quite possibly the stupidest celebrity on the planet. Her anti-vaccination hoopla presents a public-health threat unrivaled in this century, and the fact that she seems perfectly okay with kids dying from preventable disease so long as her pet theory (i.e., vaccines cause autism) isn't challenged by science and reality makes her incredibly immoral, as well. On a good day, I want to smack her in the face with the Shovel of Doom™. On a bad day...well, let's not go there.

So Oprah's decision to partner up with this skanky dumbass really sticks in my craw. I tend not to care too much about what I consider to be "harmless" woo like past life experiences, ESP, and other supernatural claims that cannot be verified by empirical evidence and the scientific method. But this woman is encouraging behavior that kills children. And Oprah is giving her a platform for her crap, a platform that reaches millions of people who may just take Jenny McCarthy and her anti-science bullshit seriously.

This is not okay, Oprah. It's irresponsible, and it's hypocritical. You claim to care deeply about kids, and yet you allow this complete crackpot to use your production company as a jumping off point for her anti-children ideas - ideas that have soundly and repeatedly debunked by science.

You've lost me, Oprah. Forever and for good, because this is simply unforgivable. I said it in email, and I'm saying it here. Queen of daytime T.V., my ass. Queen of crap-based medicine, more like.

21 comments:

John the Scientist said...

What. The. Fuck?

Between her and the beef thing, and her swallowing Michael Moore's "scholarship" on gun ownership (yeah, I own them because I'm a scared white boy, not because it takes the cops more than 15 minutes to get out to the sticks where I live and because dangerous wild animals that eat Boogie-sized prey or larger regularly walk across my lawn and patio) I gave up on her long ago. But the thing about her is that she makes the really egregious stuff few and far between, so you have to follow for a while before you get fed up if you only watch intermittently.

Welcome to the club.

Jim Wright said...

O.-

Oprah?

-.O

Well, OK, maybe I can see it on the Evil Machine of Torture, since the blow flow to your higher cognitive function is restricted.

Personally, I've thought the woman was a freeze dried goof for years. And Jenny McCarty? Well, that just goes to show that you could put a blond wig and a big pair of strap-on boobies on a fire plug and men would watch it.

^O.O^

Janiece said...

I know.

I'm so ashamed.

::hangs head in shame, blushing furiously::

P.S. John, do you have bears? That's the only thing I can think of in your neck of the woods that would eat a 100 lb animal. And where the heck are the photos?

neurondoc said...

Janiece, you had to go and ruin a nice evening, didn't you? Now I will be up for hours reading about this complete moronic dipshit and foaming at the mouth and dripping all over the keyboard... People will be asking me if I have rabies again.

vince said...

Natalie, do you have rabies again?

Oprah has done some very good things over the years, but this is just... just... insane.

I've never watched Oprah, because I never watch talk shows.

John the Scientist said...

Janiece, it's not a single predator - it's groups of them. The coyote packs regularlyj take down 150 pound male deer. Eight or nine coyotes would take Boogie if they were hungry enough.

John the Scientist said...

But yes, I do have a bear in my general vicinity, too, he just seems to be pretty shy.

Eric said...

Coincidentally, this ran today in Salon. It may make you feel a lot less guilty and a little more regretful you didn't shut the set off sooner.

Like Vince said, she's done some good things over the years. She's probably done more for literacy-for-pleasure than any other person on Earth in the last twenty or thirty years. Her devotion to causes is noble when they're worthy ones, and many of them are. Compared to her peers on the daytime talk shows, she's a giant. (When was the last time somebody picked up a chair to hit their babydaddy with on Oprah? That's right, never--which may seem like damning with faint praise, except the temptation to go tabloid for the money has to be nigh-irresistable, and note that some of Oprah's "peers" are people who had some semblance of credibility in journalism, entertainment or politics thirty years ago.)

But as far as medicine goes? Let's just say if it walks and talks like a duck, it must be a featured guest for an Oprah segment on healthcare....

Janiece said...

John, I have no doubt that a pack of coyotes could take Boogie. In fact, I have no doubt a pack of kittens could take Boogie, wussy-dog that he is.

Natalie, start your rabies shots post-haste. Unless you're worried they cause autism, that is. Hehe.

Eric, I did know about her penchant for woo-based medicine - those are (some of) the shows I deleted without watching. Suzanne Summers is a crank who's right up there with Ms. McCarthy, unfortunately.

The Mechanicky Gal said...

Whatever happened to the likes of Mike Douglas or Dinah Shore? They had nice, entertaining afternoon talk shows that reaaly were worthwhile.
I guess I'm old.
Nevertheless, I, too have watched Oprah, deciding whether I would tune in that day based on the snippets I saw.
Dr Oz? You bet!
Jenny McCarthy, or that woman who shot someone and is now out of prison? Not a chance in hell.
I have found out that reruns of Modern Marvels are on at that same time slot, so MM wins.
Especially now.
And I don't care if it is a rerun of Magnets and You, or Wind Machines, or something else bland, because Oprah has gone 'round the bend.
Really Oprah, I thought you had a brain?

Geek Goddess said...

"freeze-dried wackaloon"

I am SO stealing that!

Jim Wright said...

Natatlie, do you have rabies again?

Janiece said...

Geek Goddess, I have to admit I stole it from the Sweet Potato Queen.

And somebody get Natalie a towel...

neurondoc said...

Whyfff ajder aaaa kkselde <--- My affirmative response to the rabies question, unintelligible due to mouth foaminess. And I have a headache too.

Nathan said...

Ooh gross. Scabies? For Petessake, get that looked at by a professional.

Janiece said...

Nathan, don't be instigatin'.

Nobody mentioned scabies.

Eric said...

Nathan has scabies? Oh, gross!

Janiece said...

Eric, that photo I linked is ACTUALLY NATHAN'S ARM.

Cindi in CO said...

I stopped watching Oprah when she started calling press conferences every time she donated five dollars somewhere.

TRUE charity is anonymous, Oprah. And self-promotion is umbecoming.

Random Michelle K said...

I am rabies.

Janiece said...

I am rickets.