Did Oprah go too far for ratings?
When Mackenzie Phillips, star of 80s sitcom One Day at a Time and daughter of the Mamas and the Papas’ John Phillips, spilled her guts on Oprah yesterday, two questions immediately came up:
1) Does this information really need to be made public?
2) Did Oprah do it for the ratings?
Simply put, the answers are no and yes.
But simple answers do not a blog make so let’s dig a little deeper.
I have learned via Twitter that others disagree with me, but my view is that if you were involved in a consensual sexual relationship with your father for ten years that’s an issue that definitely needs to be worked out, but ideally in the privacy of the therapist’s office. I am all for healing, but I do not agree that going on Oprah and The Today Show equals healing. Plenty of us manage to sort out our issues privately. Why should it be different for famous people?
Phillips is a self-avowed addict – she was just arrested last year for drug possession at LAX when she was en route to a One Day at a Time reunion on The (Harpo-produced) Rachael Ray Show. Phillips’ main addiction is drugs, but I believe addiction rears its head in many ways. So many celebrities – Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton – are often just addicted to attention, good or bad. Like drugs and incestuous sex, it’s not good for them, but they can’t give it up.
Phillips is not an uber-celebrity, but she obviously craves being in the spotlight enough that she wrote a memoir, went on tour to promote it, and ended up handing out exclusives to TV shows to get them and her big ratings.
The flip side of this equation is TV viewers’ addiction to celebrity news. The two go hand in hand: the masses want to know, and celebrities want to remain in the spotlight. Voila: TMZ is born.
Oprah is no TMZ, but she’s also not afraid to dip her toe into tabloid waters. She does it with enough class and depth that she avoids being called tabloid, but she can certainly go there. And is that so wrong? Tabloid subjects garner ratings and TV shows exist to get ratings, sell ads at high rates and make money. Oprah is perhaps the only person on television who has mastered the ability to take on almost any subject and leave her audience feeling warm, fuzzy and generally better about themselves when it’s all over. Oprah has a rare talent for talk – that’s why she’s been on the air for 22 years and is worth billions of dollars.
Oprah and her producers also know what audiences want to see. When Phillips’ publicists came to Oprah to see if she wanted the first exclusive interview with Phillips, why would Oprah say no? Any talk show host worth his or her salt would immediately jump at that opportunity. Let’s review: TV is about ratings. Scandalous revelations bring ratings. And Oprah conducts these sorts of interviews better than almost any body: no matter who she’s talking to, it’s like watching two best friends chat on the back porch over coffee.
So, whose fault is it that we now all have to know about Phillips’ sordid past? It’s ours. We have an appetite for this information, we feed these ratings, we encourage news programs and talk shows to chase these stories. We have set this standard.
Oprah – and TMZ, US Weekly, and even CNN — are all just giving us what we want. So, did Oprah go too far for ratings? Nope, she went just as far as we wanted her to.
KarimT commented:
Yes, I know humanity believes in healing one who has been through intense trauma and devestation. I also know that any moralistic person would not want to see a victimized and insecure woman be put under a "Public Healing" process to acheive an emotional healing by someone (being Oprah) whos intentions are self seeking. Charla Nash has already been physicaly abused, and because she can not see herself in the mirror, let us expose her hurt internationaly through the media and call it a "healing process" or "public confession".
My problem isn't that Oprah did the interview, its how she did it! And that is what reveals the ugly truth about Oprah.
sui commented:
True. Oprah's show originally was created for exactly this kind of thing. It is public confession. Remember Phil Donahue which was more of a social commentary. The talk show evolved from celebrity and general entertainment to totall degradent ones such as Springer. more thn likely Mckenzie Philips needs the money for the book. And I hope A significant will controbute to her very much needed therapy. Her story is not unique. There are beauty queens and other famous women and men that have suffered through this as well as the average. They need to be free of the burden.
Bobby A commented:
I think the public revelation is crucially important to bringing a human face and story (granted an imperfect being) to the terribly taboo yet very real issue of incest and abuse in our society. Just b/c most of thankfully can't relate to it doesn't mean her dirty laundry isn't helping someone else cope with having the conversation. It's like wishing alcoholics never went public with their afflictions b/c it makes some of us uncomfortable. I'm hardly a fan of her work but I applaud her bravery and good intentions.
PaigeA commented:
Yes, Tamara, that's the other side of the question. Oprah handled Mackenzie's revelations respectfully (while still asking difficult questions), but I'm still not sure that going on a publicity blitz means healing either for Mackenzie or for other victims. That is often the reason given though. I personally have not suffered through something like that, so I don't know the answer. My sister is always saying things like "stop healing all over me," however, and I have to say I agree with her on this one. Thanks a lot for your thoughtful comment though.
T Dog commented:
I remember when she was booted off "One Day At A Time" for drug use. She did return to the show a few years later, but left again after refusing to take a drug test. Sadly, 25 years later, she still has the same problem.
Tamara commented:
I just saw the show with Mackenzie Phillips. I must say that I respectfully disagree with you. I believe that this kind of "consensual" incestuous relationships probably go on a lot more that people think. Check out a book called "The Kiss" this is a book about a girl who had such a relationship with her father. I don't believe this woman used any drugs she grew up without knowing her father and once she met him as an adult this was the relationship that ended up happening. I don't condone incestuous relationships under any circumstances but I think people need to know that have had this experience that they are not alone.