The Misleading Memoir

What's more telling- Oprah's delay in admitting she was wrong, or that sales of the book went up after the author admitted he stretched the truth?

The real story might be that the value of truth is lost on most.

Frankly, the Rabbi needs to undertand that he is holding Oprah Winfrey's actions to a standard that is so rigid and concept based as to be unrealistic and neglects the Human Condition which is complex and imperfect. We are all"Benonis" -- 'average middle man' and to be so critical of someone who was duped by a sociopath is beneath the Rabbinic coat the Rabbi wears. In point of fact the one truth in this matter is that I neither like nor disline Oprah Winfrey, I am neither fan nor detractor, but the reality here is that she was duped, responded instinctively with the "redemption" theme, and then realizaing the import of her defense she apologized. Isn't that enough? Shouldn't the good Rabbi concern himself instead of churing the waters of discord, criticism? What purpose can this serve? Perhaps to climb up on the popular beack of Winfrey? To be holier than thout?

People in the public's eye are held to a differnt standard; because they can influence more people. The motivation for making a public statement is key. We can learn from both.

I imagine it's not easy to be the individual Oprah when you're really a machine... Harpo, the Angel Network, O Magazine, etc. You the individual are bound to make a mistake some day. She apologized for her mistake.

Do you really think it was her intent to publicly shame the man? Or maybe more, to hold him accountable for the many lies he'd written?

Oprah has an unbelievable amount of power. She neither squanders nor hoards it. She wields it. Despite any mistakes she may have been part of in this whole thing, she continued to call for the truth.

The book should never have been published in the first place. The publisher should have checked his story. Their admission that they never do, has to change.

We're often fed this or that story by the media in general. We're given this or that perspective without ever knowing how onesided the story was. Or we're outright lied to, and never know it.

Even the text books used to teach our children are horribly one-sided. Even students at university level, never realize how one-sided their texts are. The teachers often don't even know.

Publisher's, news journalists, memoirists, hostorians, etc., ALL need to be held accountable for the truth.

I applaud Ms. Winfrey, for her courage and her call for the truth. I support her in that quest... and hope that we as a people will begin to demand more accountability from those sources we rely on to assist us in that endeavor.

The mainstream media spends a lot of time trying to tell us how to think and what should be exemplary... watch the average sitcom and see when the applause track comes on... that's what they want us to hold exemplary.

Celebrities have a choice... do I push Hollywood values even though I know they're often false or really say what I think and take the chance of losing some of my success among Hollywood folks?

Oprah is an interesting phenomenon in this community because she has taken her celebrity status and tried to push values better than the mainstream Hollywood craziness. For this I think she should be commended.

A lapse back to Hollywood values and then back to her own volition whether made of her own choice or under pressure is something I can live with. She got where we want her whether her path was optimal or not. She recognized the value of the truth. I can live with that.

There has never been anything written by
Faulkner, Hemingway or anyone else that has not been embellished.I am NOT a published author BUT the things that I have written have all had something of my take added to give color. He had the right to do that even if it was just not quite truthful or accurate. That is what writers do.

Flipping TV channels last week I just happened across the Larry King show where he was interviewing Frey about the inconsistencies in his book. I watched for a few minutes; the interview was mildly interesting and just as I was ready to change channels as the interview was about to end, the phone call from Oprah came in. Now that was interesting! She so vehemently defended Frey and the book I kept thinking "what in the world is this woman doing?!?" I had no idea if The Smoking Gun's exposure of Frey was right or wrong but surely Oprah didn't think before acting. She didn't pause, think, call her people, call the publisher or do anything except deliver a five minute monologue on the book's virtues. I knew somehow that this would come back to bite her and thus her second show with Frey to publically denounce him. So I believe the rabbi is right - that Oprah did admit her mistake and make an amend to her audience. But her rush to defend him on live tv is a real mystery! The Rabbi's comments are not a rush to condemn because if you didn't hear her phoned-in comments on Larry King you don't have the whole story. Why SHE rushed to judgment is fascinating and shows her complexity as a human being.