Full Article Text
THINK OF THE ODDS. Oprah Winfrey may be a one-per-Oillrah WHOOPI GOLDBERG WHIPPED
INTO OUR CONSCIOUSNESS
playing a lady-lover in The Color
Purple. But the shy role she
played to perfection in Steven
Spielberg's drama is a far cry from
the truth-telling, dirt-dishing atti
tude of Goldberg the woman. How
appropriate then that she has now
found success on-<>f all places-
her self-produced game show.
"Anyone who could make Holly
wood Squares not square has a
will of steel and a lot of chits to
call in," notes Scott Seomin, enter
tainment media director for the
Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation , which bestowed a
wildly eloquent Goldberg with the
Vanguard Award at the GLAAD
Media Awards in April. "She was
gay-friendly before it was trendy."
Besides, replacing fey Paul Lynde
in the center square adds immea
sW"ably to her cachet anl0ng gays.
son conglomerate today, but early on she was a down-to- .t--<.
earth black woman trying to make it on the whiter-than- WIN F HEY
white talk tun. These days while Springer et al. exploit
their guests for freak appeal, we trust Winfrey to tell oW" stories with respect-as she did
when she warmly hosted Ellen DeGeneres and Anne Heche on her show soon after they
announced their love. Gay men have reason to feel at home with Oprah too. "I've never
been able to put my finger on why gay men identify so strongly with black women who
overcome hardship ," says Rich Tafel, executive director of the gay group Log Cabin
Republicans. "But we do. Oprah's not a victim. She's taken control of her life. And my
sense is that for her, the gay issue is a nonissue. The way she treats her gay guests, she
normalizes it-unlike so many of the other talk shows." Winfrey, who is bringing her
brand of enlightenment to the magazine world next year, continues to rewrite the rules.
THE ADVOCATE 158 I NOVEMBER 23, 1999
INTO OUR CONSCIOUSNESS
playing a lady-lover in The Color
Purple. But the shy role she
played to perfection in Steven
Spielberg's drama is a far cry from
the truth-telling, dirt-dishing atti
tude of Goldberg the woman. How
appropriate then that she has now
found success on-<>f all places-
her self-produced game show.
"Anyone who could make Holly
wood Squares not square has a
will of steel and a lot of chits to
call in," notes Scott Seomin, enter
tainment media director for the
Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation , which bestowed a
wildly eloquent Goldberg with the
Vanguard Award at the GLAAD
Media Awards in April. "She was
gay-friendly before it was trendy."
Besides, replacing fey Paul Lynde
in the center square adds immea
sW"ably to her cachet anl0ng gays.
son conglomerate today, but early on she was a down-to- .t--<.
earth black woman trying to make it on the whiter-than- WIN F HEY
white talk tun. These days while Springer et al. exploit
their guests for freak appeal, we trust Winfrey to tell oW" stories with respect-as she did
when she warmly hosted Ellen DeGeneres and Anne Heche on her show soon after they
announced their love. Gay men have reason to feel at home with Oprah too. "I've never
been able to put my finger on why gay men identify so strongly with black women who
overcome hardship ," says Rich Tafel, executive director of the gay group Log Cabin
Republicans. "But we do. Oprah's not a victim. She's taken control of her life. And my
sense is that for her, the gay issue is a nonissue. The way she treats her gay guests, she
normalizes it-unlike so many of the other talk shows." Winfrey, who is bringing her
brand of enlightenment to the magazine world next year, continues to rewrite the rules.
THE ADVOCATE 158 I NOVEMBER 23, 1999