Oprah exposed an interesting aspect of American culture that isn't really well known around the world. The image one gets as an outsider is the The USA is the land of the free, the home of the brave and the place of opportunity. Just look at the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, a boy who grew up in a poor Austrian town, has risen to greatness and is now governor of one of the USA's most high profile states.
But sadly, Oprah showed that Americans, and this is a fair representation of much of the western world, are more concerned about where they're at in life - what neighbourhood they live in, the job they hold, the brands they wear, the car they drive, how much they make, what sports their children play etc.
It was determined on the show that a person's "class" was defined by these superficial factors.
And Oprah, I was waiting for the punchline. But it didn't come.
The last third of the show should have been dedicated to what real "class" is.
Integrity... Honesty, Trustworthiness, Reliability, Selflessness.
Oprah leads us to believe that she is a more spiritual person than this show lets on. Why didn't she ask these people if they had true happiness in their lives? Isn't true happiness (the happiness that comes from within, not the happiness that's spelled B-M-W) what we're all looking for?
I'm no longer a huge fan of Oprah, and my opinion of her deteriorated when she lambasted James Frey, author of A Million Little Pieces, because she felt "embarrassed that she had been duped". Anyway, that's another rant!
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