An unauthorized biography on Oprah written by Kitty Kelley was released this week to much attention and controversy.
Many of the juiciest details in the book seem to be fabricated, and even by fabrication standards, they're not all that juicy.
Previous targets of Kelley's include The Bush Family and Nancy Reagan, and she's not exactly known for her journalistic integrity.
It's basically spruced-up, pulp non-fiction.
Something about this biography, however, seems particularly disarming to me, and that's because though she may be one of the most famous women in the world, Oprah Winfrey is a private citizen.
I have no problem with people writing books about politicians. When you go into politics, you expect the public eye to be cast on you. Bad publicity comes with the job.
A celebrity, however, is a different matter. A talk show host, even one that's had a particularly loud and far-reaching voice in politics, is not the same thing as a politician.
Oh, I know what you're going to say--People write tell all's constantly about private citizens, but does anyone ever question whether or not it's ethical?
Kitty Kelley, if she wanted to, could decide tomorrow to write a biography about me. It would be pretty dull, but she could do to me what she did to Oprah and elaborate a little bit. If anything, I would be in more danger of her lying about my life BECAUSE I'm not a politician. Politics, by nature, tends to get you pretty dirty--show business can do the same thing, yes, but it still seems a little unfair to go after a public figure and say they're no different than someone sitting in Congress.
If a sleazy biographer came after any of us, we'd look like victims because we haven't done anything to merit it, but what if tomorrow I got some low-rated cable talk show. In that case, I'd have the same job as Winfrey, just not as much attention. Still, the amount of attention I'd receive would have little to do with me--it would have to do with how many people decide to watch the show.
So how much of a "public figure" I would be would not be anything I could control, and therefore it would make it unfair to target me.
This is all incredibly theoretical, I realize that, but in a society we're constantly told we should be afraid of people involving themselves in our business, why is it acceptable then for someone to dig into the private lives of private citizens when they happen to end up in the spotlight?
Something about this unsettles me. In a time when anybody can become a celebrity, does that mean that all the juicy details of our private lives are up for grabs?
Many of the juiciest details in the book seem to be fabricated, and even by fabrication standards, they're not all that juicy.
Previous targets of Kelley's include The Bush Family and Nancy Reagan, and she's not exactly known for her journalistic integrity.
It's basically spruced-up, pulp non-fiction.
Something about this biography, however, seems particularly disarming to me, and that's because though she may be one of the most famous women in the world, Oprah Winfrey is a private citizen.
I have no problem with people writing books about politicians. When you go into politics, you expect the public eye to be cast on you. Bad publicity comes with the job.
A celebrity, however, is a different matter. A talk show host, even one that's had a particularly loud and far-reaching voice in politics, is not the same thing as a politician.
Oh, I know what you're going to say--People write tell all's constantly about private citizens, but does anyone ever question whether or not it's ethical?
Kitty Kelley, if she wanted to, could decide tomorrow to write a biography about me. It would be pretty dull, but she could do to me what she did to Oprah and elaborate a little bit. If anything, I would be in more danger of her lying about my life BECAUSE I'm not a politician. Politics, by nature, tends to get you pretty dirty--show business can do the same thing, yes, but it still seems a little unfair to go after a public figure and say they're no different than someone sitting in Congress.
If a sleazy biographer came after any of us, we'd look like victims because we haven't done anything to merit it, but what if tomorrow I got some low-rated cable talk show. In that case, I'd have the same job as Winfrey, just not as much attention. Still, the amount of attention I'd receive would have little to do with me--it would have to do with how many people decide to watch the show.
So how much of a "public figure" I would be would not be anything I could control, and therefore it would make it unfair to target me.
This is all incredibly theoretical, I realize that, but in a society we're constantly told we should be afraid of people involving themselves in our business, why is it acceptable then for someone to dig into the private lives of private citizens when they happen to end up in the spotlight?
Something about this unsettles me. In a time when anybody can become a celebrity, does that mean that all the juicy details of our private lives are up for grabs?
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