Ideally, an interview requires a certain distance: an immunity to whatever the interviewee is pushing and a resistance to hype. Though it need not be adversarial, some skepticism is always good. But, when it came to famous people, both King and Oprah were hopelessly sold. As Larry King Live and The Oprah Winfrey Show both leave the air, their legacy is the same in one major respect: They taught the American viewing public deference to celebrity in all its forms, as pop stars and world leaders were handled with the same blend of nosiness and awe.
Here is one example. It happened that on both Oprah and King, former D.C. public schools chancellor Michelle Rhee recently appeared alongside John Legend, who wrote a song for the pro-school reform documentary Waiting for Superman. Rhee spoke briefly, and then, King asked: “Do you agree, John?” Oprah, too, seemed more interested in picking Legend’s brain than Rhee’s. “John believes that this crisis is the civil rights issue of our time,” Oprah crowed. “You are so right! It is. Tell us why.” In neither case was there any acknowledgment of differential expertise or weight given to one testimony over another. Legend and Rhee sat side by side, their insights on education jointly consulted. Well-versed in the pet cause of school reform as Legend may be, the effect of such an approach is to confuse viewers about what is serious and what is not. All real issues at stake get drowned in the bath of general good feeling.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member