{alltv} Oprah a force - for better or worse

It hardly was the moment that the Oprah-ization of the globe began or ended. But the first time I pondered its power was in 1997, in the immediate aftermath of Princess Diana's funeral.

Diana's two sons, ex-husband, ex-father-in-law and brother had been at the rear of the funeral procession, walking slowly, sadly, silently. I thought it was an incredibly dignified sight.

But subsequently, some pundits actually criticized Prince William, Prince Harry, Prince Charles, Prince Phillip and Earl Charles Spencer for not being more outwardly and demonstrably upset.

In the back-and-forth of opinion that ensued, I recall one exasperated media member finally saying, "For the love of God, has the impact of Oprah become so overwhelming that we really don't believe anyone is in mourning unless they're wailing?"

On both macro- and micro-scales, that sums up the internal debate I've had when considering the impact of Oprah Winfrey. She closes out her famous syndicated daytime talk show with a final episode on Wednesday, May 25, airing across Canada on CTV.

The thing is, I admire Oprah, but I also admire dignity, notwithstanding my ups and downs in that regard. In terms of what Oprah seeks from her guests, though, dignity never is enough. Only the baring of your soul will set you free.

But that's not always the case, right? Not every thought is fit to be shared. Not every thought is of equal value. In some ways Oprah, whose show went national in 1986, served as the emotional precursor to the internet, which begat Facebook, which begat Twitter, where every utterance and opinion has the illusion of carrying weight.

Now, I know in expressing these views, I run the risk of certain women rolling their eyes and muttering, "Typical guy." Oprah always has been more of a female thing, for sure.

To be clear, I am not in favour of bottling up important feelings. It's just that not all feelings are important. Oprah alone did not erase society's ability to tell the difference, but she was on the road crew that paved the path.

Oprah has been a force for good in millions of lives. Few would have predicted in the mid-1980s that she would become one of the most powerful women in the world. She clearly was a smart cookie, but at the time she was just a newscaster/actress who got a talk show, nothing more, nothing less.

Two and a half decades later, she is a cultural icon. Did not see that coming.

But Oprah absolutely earned it with an approach and a style that connected with her audience on a gut level.

Oprah became a church. People went to Oprah when they needed to confess, needed absolution, needed a shoulder to cry on or a pat on the back.

Admit it, one of the first questions that pops into your head when a celebrity gets into trouble is, "Will they go on Oprah?"

They have to go elsewhere now.

After Wednesday, Oprah will concentrate on solidifying her cable network, OWN, which launched earlier this year to great fanfare but largely has been greeted by yawns. The fastest way for the 57-year-old Oprah to electrify OWN would be for her to host every show on the network, but even she doesn't have that much energy.

Regardless of what happens with OWN, Oprah Winfrey already has changed the world. No one can take that away from her.

But as a fan of dignity, I have to wonder if she changed it for the better.