The Cosmopolitan Blog

As you know, i’m a strong supporter of Oprah. I think she’s a smart, independent woman who has risen from a very difficult start, to a very influential person in today’s world. Am i proud of her because she’s a woman? Sure, woman are very “patriotic” that way, we stand together because many, many women in our history have fought real hard to give us the standing we can enjoy in most of the Western world today. Seeing the situation of women in the Middle East and Africa makes this fact even more obvious. BUT, at the same time, i would respect anyone with a story like Oprah’s, somehow who started from an unprivileged background to become one of the most successful people in their field.

So why does everyone always come down so hard on Oprah? I’m sure she doesn’t need me defending her, but seriously, do we really enjoy criticizing people who do well? You ask some people, and all they know of Oprah is some chat show host you went through her whole life having weight issues. NEWSFLASH! We haven’t discussed Oprah’s weight issues for years now, instead, her politics, her thoughts, her books, her charities, her movies… all of these things have been a lot more in the forefront than her weight issues in the 90s. So don’t give me the “well that’s all people talk about”, no they don’t! It’s what you choose to remember.

Now, the poor woman makes a choice and stands by a political candidate, and she gets grief for too?For one, if she didn’t make a choice, she would be criticized for not having the guts to take a stand. So, in case some of you hadn’t noticed, Oprah is a black woman. Turns out, 1 democratic candidate is a woman, the other is black. So how illogical is it for women across the country to criticize her for supporting Barack Obama and being unfaithful to women? Um, hello? So if she supported Hillary, we’d criticize her for supporting a white candidate??? So, let me get this right. She doesn’t express her opinion, she gets shot down. She DOES express her opinion, she gets shot down… man, sux to be a prominent figurehead.

For one, i think she is an amazing role model. She teaches us not to follow her blindly, instead, she gives us the tools to empower yourselves, as women, as citizens of the world, as human beings. If you could put aside your sarcasm and opinionated mindset, you might find that you can relate to a few things that Oprah has to say. Don’t vote for Barack Obama because Oprah supports him. Don’t vote for Hillary because she’s a woman like you. For Pete’s sake, women voters! Do what you do best. Combine your logic and your intuition and LISTEN to both messages. Then find which one rings truer to your situation and your heart. Judge them not for their gender or the color of their skin, we’ve evolved, we’re smart human beings, we are better judges of character than that… and stop judging Oprah for her choices and weight issues.

I’ll stop preaching now…

This is very sad, seeing a young life disappear before it gets a chance to fully grow. There was such promise in Heath Ledger’s career, you could tell this was an actor that would only get better as the years went by. I appreciate that he tried really hard to stay away from the typical teenage roles once he had gotten his foot in the door with “10 Things i Hate About You”.

He took risks and did really good in “Brokeback Mountain”, i found his performance really compelling, especially for a then-26-year-old. And just recently, he completed 2 movies i was really looking forward to seeing: one about Bob Dylan, and one where he plays The Joker. From what i understand on the stories of his death so far, it could be due to the lack of sleep over the past month caused by the stress of getting in the skin of his character as The Joker… that’s dedication pushed to the limit…

He leaves behind a little 2-year old girl (her mother is Michelle Williams who played in Brokeback Mountain, but who you might remember from her tragic role in Dawson’s Creek)… He was 28.

Anyway, this is very sad, very sad indeed.