Author: mjohnson143

Oprah’s Book Club & The Oprah Effect

As of 2015, Oprah Winfrey is the sole black American female present on Forbes’ list of billionaires.1 From meager beginnings in rural Mississippi, and a childhood entrenched with bouncing between family households, facing discrimination as a black girl in the south, and experiencing sexual abuse at the hands of both friends and family members, Oprah would become the biggest name in television talk show history. She is by all accounts the definition of a self-made success.

In 1996, ten years after the start of The Oprah Winfrey Show, Winfrey introduced Oprah’s Book Club which selected a feature text to be discussed by both audience members and the author during a new show segment. Winfrey presented the idea for a national reading club to a studio audience stating, “I want to get the whole country reading again. Those of you who haven’t been reading, I think books are important.” As the first text, Oprah selected The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard, a first time author. Judging by USA Today’s Bestseller’s Lists, it was clear that Winfrey’s influence was indeed leading Americans to read. Choosing 48 books between 1996 and 2002 when the show ended, “Each book joined the top 150 best-selling titles in America for at least a few months… Of the 45 adult books, only five were on the top 150 list the week before being featured by Oprah…Just eleven of the 45 books had been part of the top 150 at some time before Oprah featured them on her show. Furthermore, the highest ranking any book had achieved before its book club introduction was just 25.”2 In research extending to 2011, Fordham University found that, “Of the 70 books she singled out, 59 made it to the USA Today bestseller list.”3 Statistically speaking, it is likely that many of the selected authors would not have achieved the levels of success they reached without Winfrey’s endorsement.

Quoting David Kipen, former director of literature for the National Endowment for the Arts, USA Today writes that, “At the club’s peak, ‘Oprah gave America an excuse to talk about books every couple of months…She served a useful purpose in the same way that the myth of summer reading does: reminding the forgetful that reading exists, which greatly expands the number of people us bookish types can talk to.’”4 Winfrey’s ability to influence the masses while simultaneously bringing them together is the same strength that allowed her book club to flourish. Whether they were avid readers beforehand, or they simply chose to read books as Oprah supporters, Americans were reading.

The impact of The Oprah Winfrey Show is unquestionable and is evinced by her 25 year run as a daytime talk show host—the most successful of the 90s. In 1996, the same year she founded her book club, Oprah received both the Peabody Award and the Daytime Emmy for both Outstanding Talk Show Host, and Outstanding Talk Show. As another display of her dominance over the 1990s talk show world, Winfrey received both of the aforementioned Daytime Emmy’s six times in the decade. What makes Oprah’s prominence most fascinating is her station as a black woman with a television program that was viewed by a predominantly white, female, middle-aged audience.5 Of all people, a woman who emerged from a poor, rural upbringing in highly racialized Mississippi was able to connect with and influence an antithetical viewership despite not being the typically idealized version of womanhood. She was unabashedly single, without children, outspoken, and adept at navigating interview topics ranging from the delicate to the entertaining. This influence reached far beyond the small screen as Oprah used the talk show platform as a catalyst political change. After publicly sharing her personal story of abuse, Winfrey advocated at a Senate hearing for the National Child Protection Act. In 1993, Bill Clinton signed into law what would be known as the “Oprah Bill.”6

In ranking Oprah’s ten most memorable moments, NBC’s Today contributor Randee Dawn opens the article stating, “Oprah Winfrey is a kind of teacher. Since 1986, via her classroom called ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show,’ she’s taught us it’s OK to cry, OK to share our problems, OK to give away cars to an entire audience and OK to love books. In return, she has earned the uniquely American honor of being known by her first name only.”7 Most fascinating about Dawn’s comment is the notion of the talk show host being known by only her first name. There simply is no other Oprah, but first names are intimate; they signify a closeness to an individual, a familiarity with that person. Oprah managed to create a personal relationship with television viewers in the comfort of their own homes. Whatever drew and continues to draw us to her, Winfrey’s impact on American entertainment is incontestable and likely here to stay. —Mara Johnson

  1. Nsehe, Mfonobong. “The Black Billionaires 2015.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 2 Mar. 2015. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.
  2. Butler, Richard J., Benjamin W. Cowan, and Sebastian Nilsson. “From Obscurity to Bestseller: Examining the Impact of Oprah’s Book Club Selections.” Publishing Research Quarterly 20.4 (2005): 23-34. Communication & Mass Media Complete. PDF File.
  3. Jacobson, Murrey. “The Oprah Effect, by the Numbers.” PBS. PBS, 25 May 2011. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.
  4. Minzesheimer, Bob. “How the ‘Oprah Effect’ changed publishing.” USA Today. USA Today, 22 May. 2011. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.
  5. Anburajan, Aswini. “Breaking Down Oprah’s Numbers.” NBC News. NBC News, 7 Dec. 2007. Web. 20 Nov. 2015.
  6. Fetini, Alyssa. “Top 10 Oprah Moments.” Time. Time, 25 May 2011. Web. 20 Nov. 2011.
  7. Dawn, Randee. “Oprah’s 10 Most Memorable Moments.” Today. NBC News, (2011). Web. 21 Nov. 2015.

 

In Living Color & The Wayans Family Dynasty

In Living Color

When speaking of entertainment families and comedy powerhouses, it is virtually impossible not to mention the Wayans family. While each of the ten siblings in the first generation of Wayans is or was active in the entertainment industry, the most famous among them are: Keenen, Damon, Sr., Kim, Shawn, and Marlon. Although the subjects of race and sexuality were as sensitive in the 90s as ever, In Living Color managed to tackle these topics by way of humor while simultaneously making fun of and challenging prescribed ideas about black masculinity, all while attaining the adoration of television watchers. Beginning in 1990, In Living Color would be the start of the Wayans family’s dominance on both the big screen and the small screen, but they brought far more than just laughs to American viewers—they paved the way for some of television’s most well-known comics.

In 1988, Keenen Ivory Wayans wrote, directed, and starred in the blaxpoitation parody I’m Gonna Git You Sucka. Following the film’s success, The Fox Broadcasting Company gave Wayans the opportunity to create his dream show, and thus, In Living Color was born.1 Anyone familiar with In Living Color is likely to have a favorite character or sketch, but a few characters who appear on nearly any favorites list are Blaine Edwards and Antoine Merriweather, hyper-feminine, gay men who share their opinions on various topics; Oswald Bates, the stereotypical, enlightened, black prison inmate; and Wanda Wayne, an outspoken, sexually charged, black woman played by Jamie Foxx in drag. Speaking on hypermasculinity among black men, Byron Hurt, director of the indie film Hip-Hop: Beyond the Beats and Rhymes, notes:

We’re in this box…in order to be in that box, you have to be strong, you have to be tough, you have to have a lot of girls, you gotta have money, you have to be a player or a pimp, know you gotta to be in control, you have to dominate other men, other people, you know if you are not any of those things, then you know people call you soft or weak or a pussy or a chump or a faggot and nobody wants to be any of those things. So everybody stays inside the box.2

Each of the aforementioned characters challenges the notion of a tough, womanizing, controlling, dominant black male. In Living Color brought the very real issue of black male identity into the average American’s home while making it palatable through comedy. Perhaps it is this willingly to transcend the boundaries of the “box” that allowed the show to become one of the greatest sketch comedies in American television history.

While In Living Color ended in 1994, much sooner than some had expected, it was only the first of many credits that would be added to the Wayans family filmography. In 1994, Keenen would go on to write, direct, and star in A Low Down Dirty Shame; Marlon and Shawn would write and star in Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood—another parody foregrounding black stereotypes (1996); Damon would write and star in Blankman (1994) which would become a cult classic despite receiving lackluster critical reception; and Kim acted in several of the Wayans family projects including The Wayans Brothers (1995), a show which featured Marlon and Shawn in a family sitcom alongside John Witherspoon. In an interview with Ebony that opens a conversation with the second generation of talented Wayans, Damien Wayans stated, “My family was my college. I got the best training through my uncles as professors…We pride ourselves on being multihyphenated. If it weren’t for the fact that we wrote, produced, directed and starred in cur own material, I don’t think people would have seen as much of the Wayans family throughout the years.3 —Mara Johnson

  1. Herbert, Solomon J. “The Living Colors Of Keenen Ivory Wayans.” Black Collegian 21.1 (1990): 98. HTML File. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.
  2. “The Issues: Masculinity.” PBS. PBS. Web. 2 Dec. 2015. <http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/hiphop/masculinity.htm>.
  3. Christian, Margena A. “The First Family of Comedy.” Ebony 66.6 (2011): 90-91. PDF File.

We Got Next: The 1997 WNBA Inaugural Season

The first 8 WNBA teams: he Charlotte Sting, Cleveland Rockers, Houston Comets and New York Liberty in the Eastern Conference; and the Los Angeles Sparks, Phoenix Mercury, Sacramento Monarchs and Utah Starzz

In 1996, the NBA Board of Governors gave official approval for the foundation of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA)1. On t
he heels of the United States women’s basketball team sweeping the 1996 Olympic Games, the league adopted “We got next” as its official campaign slogan. For those who are unfamiliar, “We got next” is a phrase originating on streetball courts that translates to, “Hey, when you’re done, it’s our turn.” While there were critics of the slogan, even if it was not as empowering as hoped, it was fitting. After years of playing in the shadows of their male counterparts and having to travel overseas to pursue professional athletics careers, it was finally time for the best American female basketball players to take the court at home.

Cynthia_Cooper
Cynthia Cooper-Dyke
Sheryl Swoopes
Sheryl Swoopes
Tina Thompson
Tina Thompson

In the WNBA’s opening year, Sheryl Swoopes was the first player signed, Tina Thompson was the first ever draft pick, and Cynthia Cooper was the first league MVP. However, perhaps more important than these accolades, young black girls (like me) who dedicated their evenings and weekends to hooping had new possibilities, new role models. By all means, I still wanted to break ankles like Allen Iverson, but I could see myself in Tina Thompson; I could be Tina Thompson (I bought her basketball shoes in 7th grade to prove it). Young boys had been able to dream of playing professional basketball for 50 years, and young girls could finally do the same.

Arguably the most widely recognized WNBA player, Lisa Leslie was among those who played in the 1997 opening season; she led the league in rebounds per game that year, and is the all-time leading rebounder.2 Speaking on her influence, Michael Cooper, Leslie’s former coach, wrote, “After Lisa, young girls wanted to be centers. A lot of ladies didn’t want to play center at the time because they wanted to be guards like Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson. Lisa was down in the trenches, and that’s not considered a glamorous game.”3 Standing at 6’5”, Leslie was a forced to be reckoned with. On July 30, 2002, she became the first of only five women to dunk in the history of the WNBA—all of whom are black.4 It would be four years before another WNBA player would accomplish the feat. Doing the seemingly impossible, Leslie embodied the WNBA’s new slogan “We got game.” She helped carve a space that she would eventually use to reach new heights—a space where young girls could dream of touching the rim. —Mara Johnson

  1. http://www.wnba.com/about_us/historyof_wnba.html
  2. http://www.wnba.com/stats/alltime-leaders/#?stattype=rebounds&sort=reb&permode=tot&dir=1
  3. Cooper, Michael. “There’s Only One Lisa Leslie.” The Players’ Tribune. The Players’ Tribune, 10 Sept. 2015. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.
  4. http://www.wnba.com/history_triple-doubles-dunks-and-20-20-games/
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