Uncategorized

Oprah Winfrey has been a mainstay in the American media for over two decades. Her impact on storytelling, literature, and in film and television has been significant, so much so that the National Museum of African American History and Culture is celebrating the media mogul with the launch of an exhibition that explores her upbringing, her influence on American culture, and her life’s work.

The exhibition, titled “Watching Oprah: The Oprah Winfrey Show and American Culture,” opened Friday, according to the Washington Post, and will run through June 2019. The exhibition features video clips, interview segments, movie costumes, and personal photographs, as well as journals, to explore “what has influenced Winfrey and how her work has shaped America.”

“What’s interesting is the same way America thought about Walter Cronkite—you could trust Walter Cronkite and his opinion—they trust Oprah,” museum director Lonnie G. Bunch III told the Post. “An African American woman becomes the person America turns to.”

Winfrey, whose net worth is north of $2.9 billion, according to Forbes, isn’t just a mere media personality, she is also an African American activist whose contribution to American culture “rank alongside those of Sojourner Truth and Ida B. Wells, according to the new exhibition at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Although Winfrey is the museum’s largest individual donor with her $21 million gift to the $540 million museum, Bunch said her role as a benefactor did not influence the exhibition.

“We made sure there was a bright line, that this was done by the museum and museum scholars,” he said. “The fundraising was not through Oprah’s people.”

The curators in charge of the exhibit—Rhea L. Combs and Kathleen Kendrick—worked with Winfrey and her staff on fact-checking, background information and arranging loans for the exhibition.

“In terms of content and narrative and the way the story is told, it’s the museum’s product. The way we approached it was the way we approach all of our exhibitions,” Kendrick said. “We’re providing a context for understanding not only who she is, but how she became a global figure, and how she is connected to broader stories and themes.”

SECTION BREAKDOWN

The Special Exhibitions gallery, which houses the first section of the show, explores Winfrey’s childhood and early career and how the cultural shifts of the 1950s and ’60s informed her worldview, per the Post.

“Civil rights, the women’s movement, the media and television landscape, she’s at this distinct intersection of all of these dynamic moments,” Combs said. “She becomes someone at the forefront of dealing with ideas, of discussing hot-button topics like racism and sexual orientation.”

The middle section explores the highest-rated talk show in television history, using artifacts from Winfrey’s Harpo Studios in Chicago, where the “Oprah Winfrey Show” was filmed. The section focuses on “its evolution, its variety of subject matter and guests, and its reach into social issues such as racism and equality.”

“She used television as a social medium, convening conversations and creating these interactive experiences with people,” Kendrick said. “She’s offering lessons for living, social guidance in a way.”

The third section looks at Winfrey as a “cultural influencer and tastemaker” in the movies she has featured and produced, the books she promoted in her book club as well as her philanthropic work.

“There are so many issues, about women, power, media, body image,” Bunch said. “This should be a popular show because of the impact of this person, but it is also a show that allows us to think about what it means that a woman who doesn’t fit the TV look could build a media empire and become an entrepreneur.”

The post New Museum Exhibit Explores Oprah Winfrey’s Life, Work, and Influence appeared first on Black Enterprise.

I’ll be honest. After seeing and loving the first Legally Blonde film back in the day, I never saw Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and Blonde. Mostly because Holy Craptastic Title, Batman! However, I would definitely love to revisit the life of my favorite exuberant fictional lawyer. Well, Reese Witherspoon is currently in talks to reprise the role in Legally Blonde 3! OMG, you guys!

Deadline Hollywood reports that Witherspoon is currently close to a deal to reprise the role of Elle Woods in Legally Blonde 3. What’s more, she will be joining as a producer this time around as well via her Hello Sunshine banner. The original producers, Marc Platt and his Platt Productions president Adam Siegel will be returning as well.

Also in final talks to return for the project are original screenwriters Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith and Karen McCullah, who wrote the script for the first film based on the Amanda Brown novel. So, what will this third film be about? We don’t know yet, but it’s possible that Witherspoon hinted at a possible plot point when she was being interviewed by James Corden:

Supreme Court justice? I’d totally be into that! In fact, I think Legally Blonde: Supreme Court Justice wouldn’t be a bad title. In any case, having Elle in that position would be a great way to get the character involved in certain current legal matters on a national scale. I mean, if she helped pass national sexual harassment/assault legislation, or alternately helped put a president away for, oh I don’t know, treason? I wouldn’t be mad. In any case, I think now that enough time has passed, it’d be cool to catch up with Elle Woods.

Also, FEMALE DIRECTOR PLEASE! (The original was directed by Robert Luketic) With Witherspoon acting as a producer, as well as having been a vocal Time’s Up supporter, I feel like this has to be a thing, right?

What do you think? Are you down for Legally Blonde 3? What kind of a plot are you hoping for? Sound off below!

(via Cosmopolitan, image: MGM)

Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!

—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—

Women have a way of opening their male partners up, and making them gradually more comfortable with being vulnerable and talking about their feelings. If you are a man’s first girlfriend, then opening him up emotionally, well…let’s just say being the first one to loosen the jar is never fun.

While Solo has opened to some mixed reviews a bright spot for sure has been Donald Glover’s version of Lando Calrissian. I say version because he’s basically doing a Billy Dee Williams impersonation but […]

The post GEEK PICK OF THE DAY: Lando’s Most Iconic Item appeared first on Geek.com.