Thursday 16 December 2010

Campaign to stop Oprah coming to Cairns was a success

It seems that the secret campaign to keep Oprah away from Cairns, worked a treat. You see, I discovered going through a old bookshop yestserday, that for years she's been carrying around too much fat: a gaggle of talk-show screamers destined to make us cringe, annoy and embarrass the living be-jesus out of us.

Now before I get all those reality / talk show / daytime soap / woman's mag followers get their over-sized knickers in a twist, I know that Oprah has done a lot of good. However we hardly hear about the school near Johannesburg that she set up to support those from disadvantaged communities.

It's the culture of celebrity without question. The culture of taking giving to a degree that is cringe-making and Americanism at its worst.

The Australian media's fascination with the Big O, and their hell-bent desire to get her to every off beat village on the Australian continent this last week, was nothing short of hysterical. As if a visit from this talk show chick was going to solve our most serious woes. The unemployment in Far North Queensland is still as bad as it was last week, last month, yet the local rag runs a story on page two and talks about the national unemployment rate at some kind of new low.

Meanwhile, while Tourism Australia and our Government have been throwing millions at Opah - as if she needs a helping hand - the real issues get ignored and forgotten.

Cairns, Yarrabah, Mossman, and of course Port Douglas, all begged for Oprah to grace their town and kiss the pavement they walk on. Evidently she, along with her screaming fans that are a Thorpie pearl necklace better off now, sat on the Cairns tarmac whilst they refueled the aircraft's fridge with donuts and soda pop.

All it took was a telephone call from Paul Simon, and she dropped everything, and darted off to Uluru.

So Oprah didn't come to Cairns. If she did, what on earth would we have showed her? Where would we have taken her? What benefits would we have gained, if any?

Anyway, we already have our own Oprah show. It screens weekly at 119 Spence Street. There's always spare seats in the audience, so no need to book ahead, so long as you don't mind the chance of sitting next to some creepy dude named Robin, who knows how to invade your personal space. Our Council splits on almost every major subject when it comes to the community, and have more quango and umbrella interests groups than you can poke a stick - from the Chamber, Advance Cairns, TTNQ, and we can't even sort out our CBD after 15 years of inner-heart surgery.

Cairns still has a long way to go to throw off the thug mentality in local politics that still bear the scares and remnants of Sir Joh running through its veins. Maybe then, we'll be ready to show it off to the world.

4 comments:

Hans Van Veluwen said...

Oprah who?

Unknown said...

I saw a short segment of her "show". She was flogging some disgusting looking chocolate crap, some foul looking instant lasagna, a useless cooking contraption and a book on weight-loss, all at the same time.

And the brain-dead crowd went wild !

This hideous woman represents the very worst aspect of American "culture" and the punters are loving it.

Pity she didn't come to Cairns. A week at Yarrabah or Wujal Wujal would have done her the world of good.

Bryan Outlaw said...

Nicko,
You obviously don't have a clue about Oprah and the good works she's done in the USA, South Africa, and elsewhere. We should be thankful she didn't point her cameras at our aboriginal communities - it would have put the Americans right off visiting Australia.

The reality is we're all rapidly becoming Americans here. After Austar and Foxtel started some ten years ago, the flood of American television along with the films has meant we're more and more like the 51st state every day.

I say when it's inevitable, lie back and enjoy it.

Unknown said...

What has the good works Oprah has done to do with the fact that her show is utter trash and crap ? It is easy for a Zillionaire to be a philanthropist.

It is a bit like saying that pokies are great, because part of the revenue provides sporting facilities. Yes, it is true, but where does this revenue come from in the first place ?

And to lie back and enjoy this crap you need a lobotomy first.

When I see people holed up in an air-conditioned room, with the curtains drawn, watching trashy American TV, Jerry Springer, Dr. Phil, Oprah, Ricky Lake, Martha Stewart,etc. etc. hour after hour, I feel an instant depression coming on.(and I have observed this only in the line of duty, not on social visits).

Why live in one of the most beautiful places on earth, if you can't even go outside and appreciate and enjoy it ? You might as well live in the desert or in Siberia or some other godforsaken place.

I for one do not think it is inevitable that we will become American and I will resist the onslaught of this dumbed-down non-culture till the day I die.

And if Oprah had gone to Yarrabah or Wujal Wujal she might well have turned off some potential ignorant American tourists, but at least she would have done something more worthwhile than flogging crappy American products that nobody needs.

I wouldn't expect an influx of American tourists anyway. People in the greatest capitalist land of the world are lucky to get 2 weeks holiday a year. Hardly enough time for a trip to Oz.Now that's what I call progress. All work and no play. It's not strange they enjoy shooting each other as much as they do.