Oprah continues to grace the cover of O Magazine 12 years in

It must be nice being Oprah:  You got to pontificate on social issues and got the world to share their most profound stories with you for a quarter of a century and became a billionaire for you troubles, people know who you are everywhere you go and you get to festoon everything you splash your money on, be it a magazine, a school for impoverished girls in South Africa or a TV channel, with your trademark O - Just to remind yourself that "yeah bitch I own that shit".

But you really have to be in love with yourself to put yourself on the cover of your magazine every month for 12 years, in various poses and showcasing different hairstyles.  Her own website remarked on the magazines's 10th anniversary in 2010 that she had gone through "19 outfits, 74 hairstyles, 15 puppies, 2 convertibles" just being awesome.  She's so awesome only two other people have been allowed to share the cover with her in 12 years of the magazine history: Michelle Obama presumably to share with the women of the world that her awesomeness had propelled her husband Barack Obama to the job of President of the United States and Ellen deGeneres to share brag that she's in an awesome lesbian relationship.  And they had to kiss the  "Godmother's" ring and humble themselves before her.

Around 2.7 million women around the world 300 thousand of them in South Africa (probably more now with the advent of tablets) lap this stuff up.  They go through page after page of just work hard, be happy, make your hair look nice, believe, ride a bike, have nice clothes, pray to God etc and everything will be okay.  And if that's not enough, you can even superimpose your face onto mama Oprah's body and really feel what it's like to be rich and happy. 

Oprah is the woman who gets held up as example of a successful woman in show business.  She's been at the top of the food chain for over two decades and her career is now on a downward spiral and it's probably unfair to pick on her for being out of touch with the common man or woman and lack of self awareness.  I'd probably do the same if every person I came in contact with was either my employee or a member of public screaming in excitement, I'd expect a pass for assuming every person in the world would benefit from hearing my wisdom.  But she's looks like nice lady and helps those less fortunate than her.

A cursory look at her TV successors would probably give you a course for concern.  It comprises of the Kardashians and the like.  Their version of helping the less fortunate is adopting black babies to top up their liberal credits in Hollywood.  But if you're a black man who enjoys a big booty (don't know any who doesn't) and own a camcoder, you could be in luck with the Kardashians.