Is Oprah Winfrey America's Big Sister?

So a week ago I was walking in the mall when I noticed an enormous banner ad showing the face of television's favorite talking lady, Oprah Winfrey. It was a close-up of her signature reassuring grin, seeming to say, "If only you tune in at 5:00 PM (4:00 Central), I will show you the way." She was smiling. She cared. Her teeth were glistening white. And her face was huge on the wall. A couple of days before I had just finished reading 1984 by George Orwell, and, as the novel was still quite fresh on my mind, I got more than a little spooked by the ad as I walked by.

Okay, let me just say, I don't outright suspect Ms. Winfrey of foul play, and as far as I know, her success in the entertainment industry is perfectly legit. She is smart and she is very relatable to her audience, and since this is a capitalist society (or at least that's what I've been led to believe), she definitely deserves her high ratings and practically ridiculous salary. She is an entertainer. But is that really all she is? Let's look at the facts.

Ms. Winfrey has a rather, shall I say, rabidly devout fan base consisting primarily of middle-aged housewives who follow her "commands" regarding practically every area of life including what to wear, what to eat, and even what to read. Just recently, the novella Night by Elie Wiesel, which accounted Wiesel's experiences as a Jewish boy during his time in the Auschwitz concentration camp, recently became a New York Times bestseller after being re-released as an Oprah's Book Club recommendation.