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Dublin's 3Arena hosted an in-conversation event with Oprah Winfrey this week.
Columnoprah comes to dublin
Lise Hand: In praise of Oprah and all wise women – we need them now more than ever
Oprah came to town this week to remind us what women with experience and confidence can achieve while the crypto-tech bros are busy running the world into the ground.
THE FIRST TIME I clapped eyes on Britain’s Queen Elizabeth in person and close-up when she strolled across the carpet in Áras an Uachtaráin at the start of her historic state visit in 2011, it was a bit of a shock.
Not because she looked different than she did on the telly or in countless media photos, but because she looked exactly the same as she did on the telly and in all the photos. It was as if a portrait of an extremely familiar and world famous face had suddenly acquired the ability to abscond from its frame and walk among us, suddenly three-dimensional, animated and occupying the same room as us all.
The startlement was almost on the same scale when Oprah Winfrey, a woman who can legitimately claim the crown of Queen of Chat Show TV, strode out onto the stage of the 3Arena in Dublin on Monday night, waving merrily to a noisy predominantly female audience.
She just looked so damned familiar standing there in the spotlight; like the late queen, Oprah’s life in the public eye has spanned decades of history, social upheaval and cultural transformation, and while she may have experienced some dips and wobbles, she has yet to be deposed from her throne – her Irish visit coincides with her celebrating the 40th anniversary of the debut Oprah Winfrey Show on US television in 1986.
There was an interviewer onstage, but broadcaster David Meade wisely understood his role was to act as wingman and occasional prompter – after all, this is a woman who transformed empathetic interviewing from being perceived weakness into a recognised superpower.
In the flesh
And Empathy Oprah was in full cry. She spoke about how she navigated her extraordinarily long career through a mixture of self-belief, determination, instinct, focus and talent – any projects which didn’t flourish, she explained, were as a result of ignoring her gut feeling. “Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do,” she advised the audience.
She is, of course, one hell of a storyteller, recounting how she vowed to make empathy her north star as an interviewer after a female guest was humiliated to tears during a live show when her husband revealed that his mistress was pregnant with his child. There was also an extremely entertaining yarn about how she landed her coveted role in Stephen Spielberg’s 1985 film ‘The Color Purple’, first by obsessively pursuing the part, only to land it after she had “surrendered” to the belief she had failed.
In lesser hands, Oprah’s philosophies could come across as self-help woo. But the 72-year-old powerhouse talk show host has long walked the walk – she spoke about the poverty, violence and dysfunction of her childhood years with undramatic candour, and matter-of-factly addressed how she has finally won her endless battle with her weight with the help of GLP-1 medication.
And yet, and yet. Oprah Winfrey has so much more to offer women than spiritual self-help. The evening steered completely clear of any aspect of politics – electoral, racial, social and gender – although she is undeniably a public figure whose whole career has been enmeshed in all three.
At one point, she referenced how one of her inspirations, the great American writer and civil rights activist Maya Angelou, described how she was often the only woman, and the only Black person in a room. Ditto Oprah Winfrey, when media was (and in some quarters still is) a male-dominated industry.
It would have been fascinating and illuminating to hear more details about how she repeatedly defied the status quo, and how she felt about that. Or offered thoughts on the tsunami of misogyny engulfing society, and how to deal with that. Or gave insights on how women can build alliances and forge networks to effect change. Or why she endorsed a young senator Barack Obama for president and why her instincts led her to do so. Or how lasting is the damage being caused by the toxic masculine swamp of the current administration.
Or simply, how does it feel when you are hailed by multiple influential organisations for years in succession as “arguably the world’s most powerful woman”. God knows, we could all do with hearing what that’s actually like.
Wisdom of experience
Somewhat anticlimactically, Oprah used the end of her show to promote an upcoming series of dates in the Las Vegas sphere next year. Titled ‘AHA’, it’s touted as “an immersive journey of music, art, wonder and joy”.
Maybe it was strictly business, or maybe – not for the first time – Oprah Winfrey is onto something.
For wise women (for “wise” read “older”) are having a bit of a moment right now. And not a moment too soon. In fact, thank Christ for them all, given that between the Trump bros, the Putin bros, the crypto bros and the tech bros, the patriarchy looks hellbent on improving on their 2008 offering when they merely contented themselves with crashing the global economy, as opposed to hastening full-on global extinction via warfare, climate change denial and/or omnicide-by-AI.
When she died at the age of a hard-to-believe 80 last month, we were all reminded of the absolute fabulousness of Dolly Parton, another super heroine who scrapped her way out of deprivation by dint of hard graft, grit and talent, and parlayed her huge success into empowering others.
But we have incredible banríona too. For instance, just take a look at the two Marys, Robinson and McAleese, who don’t as much rest on their presidential laurels as refashion them into battering-rams.
This summer, tireless human rights advocate Mary Robinson briefed the EU’s political and security committee on the turmoil in the Middle East, following a fact-finding mission she undertook to the West Bank, Israel, Jordan and Lebanon with other members of the Elders, a global group of leaders which she chaired until two years ago.
And Mary McAleese is currently embroiled in a schemozzle with the GAA leadership after she resigned as chairperson of the organisation’s steering committee on integration, declaring “I suspect that there are people who are not entirely happy about the idea of including women in decision-making at the top level of Gaelic sports.”
Two shining examples of formidable women who care first and foremost about getting shit done, whilst caring nothing about the indignation of the status quo.
And chapeau to the current incumbent in the Phoenix Park; President Catherine Connolly deftly walked the tricky line between steely and polite when Donald Trump dropped by the house last weekend – ie. he got a cup of tea, but likely wasn’t offered a hot drop. And he went off with a gift of a St Brigid’s Cross, the mother saint of Ireland in his pocket. Miraculously it didn’t burn a hole in his suit.
During the Night At The Oprah, perhaps the most striking thing for me, at least, was the unvarnished manner by which she casually described herself as “talented”, “excellent”, “powerful”, “successful” and “rich”, without any compulsion to append apologies, explanations or any hint of self-deprecation. Just the facts, ma’am.
When is the last time you heard any Irish woman so boldly own their talents and successes for fear of mockery or being branded as “above herself”?
Fittingly, just before Oprah took to the 3Arena stage, musician Bressie paid a musical tribute to Dolly Parton, that other font of inspirational quotes, such as, “You’ll never do a whole lot unless you’re brave enough to try.”
Maybe it’s only the wise women who can save us now.
Lise Hand is a journalist and writer. This column runs every Wednesday.
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