Tuesday, August 24, 2004
My Initials Aren't T.V. For Nothing
Oprah Winfrey has truly outdone herself. I am not one of those mindless suburban wife drones who worships at the altar of Oprah every day at 4pm (as hard as it is to believe). But today, I flipped over to The Oprah Winfrey show during a Judge Judy commercial break (Oh, whatever, don't judge me -- I'm at the very end of my summer vacation and I'm going to veg out as much as I can -- you would do the same thing if you had the opportunity). Much to my shock and amazement, Oprah's show dealt with the issue of pre-pubescent children who were dealing with transgender issues. I could not believe what I was witnessing. There were 2 little (now) boys who were born girls (with their extremely supportive and loving parents) and another little boy who insists that he is a girl (and he's 5 years old). His parents were on the show looking for help as they didn't know what to do with their son. The father was not at all supportive of his son but his mother was. Then Oprah brought out a transgender psychologist and an adult transgendered woman who lived much of her life as a man (complete with wife and 2 sets of twin children).
Both the transgendered woman and the psychologist warned of the high suicide rate of kids who deal with these issues. I just couldn't believe how accepting her audience was over this controversial topic. I can only imagine what the housewives in Kansas and Iowa were thinking. After the adult transgendered woman told her story of hardship growing up as a woman trapped in a man's body the unaccepting father decided that he was going to be more accepting of his son (promising to allow his son have the dolls that he yearns to play with). It was very touching. Erik got home from work early and watched much of this show with me. We were just dumbfounded at what we were watching. The times have truly changed. I say, if Oprah Winfrey can open some very dangerous closed minds by showcasing these types of stories then I say more power to her. There is no other person who can highlight these issues and make them palatable for mass consumption. Of course I know that she isn't going to make homophobic people change their minds on a broad scale, but I'm sure she can change some minds. And that is better than nothing.
But, Oprah's got commercial breaks too so I was able to switch over to VH-1 and watch today's episode of Totally Obsessed (the afternoon's TV entertainment wasn't all serious and important). Oh.My.God, I'm not kidding, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle chick is completely OUT of her EFFING mind!
In her interview, she just sounded crazy. A description will not do her insanity justice. You have to see it for yourself. It wasn't until she started singing the song "Follow Your Heart" from some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles musical that I about fell off the couch in hysterics (you must witness this for yourself). She is the subject of a Detroit Free Press article and another separate Freep.com article in case you miss the show and want to read about her. I am *so* proud that she is from Detroit. What is it in the water around here that can spawn a Madonna, an Eminem and a woman who is totally obsessed with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Probably the same stuff that would make a 30-year-old guy write about all of them ... Obsessively! Anyways, the show airs TONIGHT at 11pm on VH-1. Do yourself a favor and watch it.
BTW, Judge Judy was hilarious as always. We love her!
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