Critical Case on The Oprah Show

While some viewers may view all talk shows as low or middle culture, that can be argued. There are a few talk shows that deserver to hold a higher standing. For example, The Oprah Winfrey Show has the merit to be among the other sources of high culture. It contains all of the necessary factors needed in order to be considered at the top of the “cultural skyscraper”.
Although Oprah has many different topics from day to day, a few of these stand out and form a pattern. There are four main subjects that are repeatedly explored on the show; health, financial issues, family tragedy, and famous persons. A repeated guest on the show is often Dr. Oz. He goes on the talk show regularly and discusses occurring health issues, ways to prevent illness, and also answers any questions the audience might have. Financial advice is often given on the show as well. Normal people who have gambling problems or shopping addictions are told how to get help and get out of debt. Specialists on finance, such as David Bach and Dave Ramsey, advise viewers to organize and budget their bills in order to avoid debt. Another occurring theme in the Oprah show is family tragedy. Whether it is twins separated at birth and reunited, or a devastating car crash, there is always an emotional story to be heard. Lastly, Oprah’s interviewees often consist of celebrities. Everyone from Katherine Heigl to Jon Bon Jovi has been on the show.
All of these reoccurring themes make it a very reputable talk show. Another way to asses this is by looking into how the show is filmed. The shows with newly united families or famous singers are usually shot close up in order to see the emotion on the guest’s face. While the health shows are shot far away using visual aids to help the audience better understand the information being given to them. The camera also cuts to the audience sometime to get a close up on a few faces. Usually, when the audience is taped, the camera shows reactions from people of a few different races. The only person who is consistently shot close up on most episodes is Oprah. This gives her all of the control to conduct the interview and let the audience/viewers know, through her facial expressions, how she feels about the information being given by the guest.
The interpretation of the filming can be viewed in many different ways depending on the interpreter. The easiest way to construe it is through emotion. When someone or something is shot close up, the audience can see their true emotion and sympathies with it. This creates a bond between the viewer and guest. It makes them feel connected, like they are right there having the present conversation with the victim. However, when a person is filmed far away the audience does not see the emotion on their face and does not connect with them as well. Perhaps this is why guests who ruin their family’s lives by doing drugs or gambling are often filmed in full body shot. Maybe the producers do not want the audience to relate to them, but rather distance themselves from them.
Most of the time, the emotion being showed is a good thing. It helps keep people interested and focused. However, if there is too much emotion or opinion added by Oprah, then people tend to get stand offish. This is because no one wants ideas to be pushed on them. Oprah uses this to her advantage and shows her reaction as well as the guests’ and audiences’. Although opinions are added, The Oprah Show also gets all of the facts to each story while at the same time, letting the guest tell his or her side.
Oprah also has many ways to get people engaged outside of the show. After every show the audience stays and has a question and answers session just incase something was over looked. There is a website that contains chat rooms and discussion boards where people can express their opinions, and the after show can be viewed. There is also a book club and a magazine that branches out further than the talk show. Lastly, anyone can get involved with the Angel Network. The Angel network lets people come together and volunteer their services for a better cause, like building underprivileged schools in poor countries.
All if these things make Oprah a very high culture show. It should not be compared with other talk shows such as Jerry Springer. The Oprah Winfrey Shows has much higher values, morals and greater more reputable sources than other talk shows. It deserves to be among sources like the New York Times, at the top of the “cultural skyscraper”.