摘要:奥普拉·温弗瑞从“脱口秀女王”成为了“美国最有影响力的大众文化人物之一”，经历了很多的蜕变，在某种程度上，她被称为美国梦的巅峰之作。她通过脱口秀、杂志、电影、慈善等形式对美国的社会、经济和政治生活产生了不可小觑的影响。“奥普拉现象”的确给我们带来了很多积极的影响。她倡导人们多阅读；关注女性和儿童，为女性发声；关注教育事业，尽她所能的为贫困地区的教育事业做贡献；还关注慈善事业，经常帮助弱势群体。但同时，在宣传的过程中，不免会向人们销售一些产品。例如，奥普拉喜欢的书籍会成为畅销书冠军；她喜欢的音乐唱片会大卖；有女性电视观众曾以博客形式连续追踪奥普拉在节目上推荐的食谱；还有研究表明，在2008年民主党党内总统选举中，奥普拉为奥巴马至少带来了百万选票。
也就是说，“奥普拉现象”也对人们的消费观念产生了或多或少的影响，使人们开始意识到物质生活的丰富会让生活变得有乐趣，而去盲目地追求物质生活的丰富，让人们产生一种“有钱才幸福”的错觉。而对精神世界的充实往往被人们抛在脑后，产生了许多享乐主义和攀比消费。但人们价值观念中却时常抵制攀比与浪费，使得精神世界与物质生活不对等、产生矛盾。本文认为，我们应辩证看待“奥普拉现象”所带来的影响，肯定其中的积极部分；但也要独立思考，尝试认真反思通俗文化产生的精神世界的变化，追求积极健康的生活方式，努力平衡物质生活与精神世界。
关键词：奥普拉影响力；消费主义；通俗文化
Abstract:Oprah Winfrey has gone through a lot of changes from the "Talk Show Queen" to "one of most influential mass culture figures in America". To a certain extent, she has been called the masterpiece of American dream. She has had an unnegligible impact on American society, economy and political life through talk shows, magazines, movies, charities and other forms. The so-called “Oprah Phenomenon” does bring us a lot of positive influence. She advocates the importance of more reading, pays attention to women and children, speaks for women, focuses on education, and does her best to contribute to progress in poor areas, and also helps disadvantaged groups. In the meanwhile, she inevitably sells some products to people during the publicity process. For example, both her favorite books and her favorite music records usually become the best sellers; female television audience have been tracking Oprah's recipes for a year on blog; and expert research shows that in 2008, the people of the TV audience have shown that they will be the best sellers. In the 2008 presidential election within the Democratic Party, Oprah brought Obama at least a million votes.
In other words, the "Oprah phenomenon" also has an impact on people's consumption concept more or less. People begin to realize that the wealthy material life is more fun, with the illusion of “money bringing happiness”, and then start to pursue the material wealth blindly. And the enrichment of the spiritual world has been left behind by people, resulting in the hedonism and conspicuous consumption. But deep in mind, they resisted the comparison and waste, and this kind of view made the spiritual world and material life unbalanced. This thesis believes that we should hold the dialectical opinion on the effects which the “Oprah Phenomenon” brought. In addition, we should try to think independently and reflect on the changes in popular culture seriously, and pursue a positive and healthy lifestyle, striving to balance material and spiritual world.
Key Words: The Oprah Effect; Consumerism; Popular Culture
Contents
中文摘要
Abstract
1.-Introduction-1
2. Definitions of Oprah phenomenon and consumerism-3
2.1 The definition of Oprah phenomenon-3
2.2 The definition of consumerism-3
2.2.1 A symbolic way of life and values-3
2.2.2 A cultural phenomenon and ideology in dominance-4
3. Studies about consumerism-5
3.1 Characteristics of consumerism-5
3.1.1 From basic consumption to symbolic consumption-5
3.1.2 An induced impulsive consumption demand-5
3.1.3 Several features derived from consumerism-6
3.2 Consumerism in American history-6
3.2.1 The wide use of science and technology-7
3.2.2 Modern enterprise management-8
3.2.3 The urban development-8
3.2.4 The secularization of social and cultural concepts-9
3.3 The causes and effects of consumerism-10
3.3.1 The causes of consumerism-10
3.3.2 The effects of consumerism-12
4. The Oprah phenomenon in American life-17
4.1 The Oprah phenomenon and mass media-17
4.1.1. The Oprah Winfrey Show-17
4.1.2. The celebrity interviews-17
4.1.3. Publishing and writing-18
4.1.4. The films-19
4.2 Oprah and the American Dream-20
4.3 Oprah and femininity-21
4.4 Oprah’s spiritual leadership-22
4.5 Oprah and philanthropy-24
5. The influence of consumerism in the Oprah phenomenon-25
5.1 The Oprah Way-25
5.2 Oprah the hypocrite-26
5.3 Oprah Winfrey: saint or mindless consumerist-28
6. Conclusion-30
6.1. Major findings-30
6.2. Limitation-31
References-32
Acknowledgements-33
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