"I think what saved me is being honest. I think I somehow had the courage to do something and to say something that I knew would possibly end my career. Instead of making business more important, I made my soul and my life more important. And I think by being truthful, and being honest, that saved me"- Ellen DeGeneres . Ellen DeGeneres, well-known for her humorous talk-show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, is not just any comedian; she is defiantly one of most inspiring and touching key figures in the world. Every day she is teaching our society about equality, kindness and empathy to make the world the most loving place it can be. For this reason, Ellen DeGeneres necessitated social change in 20th Century America because of her great support with the equality of homosexuals, helping charities and people all around the world and most of all showing today’s youth to be themselves and nothing else.
To begin with, one of the things that makes Ellen DeGeneres really appreciated in today’s society is her huge support with gay’s equality. Since Ellen is lesbian herself, she knows all the difficulties that come along with first of all, accepting yourself and being confident, then trying to not get affected by society’s way of portraying gays . Today’s society has taught us that being gay is a threat and a huge sin, but Ellen DeGeneres is one of the few people whom have changed that. Since Ellen is a well-known celebrity because of the various shows and movies she has starred in, many people look up to her. One way it is clear that Ellen supports homosexuals are through her novels. The novels “The Funny Thing is...”, “My Point and I Do Have One” or “Seriously...I’m Kidding”, are all personally written and narrated by Ellen DeGeneres . All ...
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The celebrity selected for this analysis is Ellen DeGeneres. Emmy-winning talk-show host Ellen Lee DeGeneres is born on 26th January 1958 and she is an American comedian, television host, actress, producer and a writer. With her own talk show, she is one of America's most well-known television hosts.
Despite being successful women, Oprah and Ellen were not always as well known as they are today. Oprah Winfrey grew up in Milwaukee, Mississippi, whereas Ellen DeGeneres was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. At a young age, Winfrey was sexually abused by various men. She eventually escaped the toxic environment she was exposed to when she went to live with her father. When Ellen was younger, her family moved around quite a bit and she learned to use comedy as a way to fit in with the new peers she encountered. When she was a teenager, her parents got a divorce; she used
Television has come a long way from the first black and white silent show to its current craze, which happens to be the television talk shows. In the nineteen eighties, the daytime airwaves were monopolised by soap operas and game shows but the trend gradually evolved to talk shows towards the nineties. Being before my time, research appears to imply that the talk show intrusion of our airwaves all seemed to start with the originals such as Geraldo Riveria, Donahue and Sally Jesse Rafael. Surprisingly though, some of the morality and the topics remain somewhat similar throughout the years, such as the improvement of society and the quality of life often show on shows like the Oprah Winfrey Show and the Montel Williams Show.
about the backlash she faced when she came out she said “I only planned on doing those three stories, but because it became a huge cultural thing and 45 million people watched it and than people all around the world talked and than an article was written and another article was written and than an article was written about that article and everybody got so sick of it to the point that Elton John, who I've never met in my life said we know your gay, shut up and be funny. You can imagine how much that hurt me because I was like I don't even know you…”(Backlash) People all around the world didn't know how to handle such a well known person who is very well respected come out to be gay. While all this craziness was unfolding right in front of her eyes the only thing she wanted to make clear to the world was that it is okay. It is okay to be gay. That is all she wanted people to get out of the whole situation.
Winfrey’s early life was filled with arduous hurdles from the beginning, she was raised in a small podunk town in Mississippi that was anything but safe for a young girl, but on top of that she was raised by a single mother who was not around nearly enough. However the most formidable part of her upbringing was, she was sexually abused by ‘family friends’ and relatives on multiple occasions starting from the age of just nine. At twelve she was sent away to middle Tennessee to live with her father, there she realised her passion, she began giving speeches in front of her church and ultimately came to the conclusion that she wanted to speak for a living. Without her parents divorce Winfrey might have never figured out her passion of speaking to people until it was too late, this was a hidden advantage in the making of her success. However all too soon she had to leave the comfort of her father’s home where she could pursue her interest and journey back to her mother, where she was sadly yet again
At one point Ellen DeGeneres got kicked off of a talk show, but it wasn’t for her performance, it was because she came out as lesbian and the talk show did not accept that. But instead of giving up, Ellen decided to take her career in her own hands by doing that she raised to fame years later. But how did she come from being at rock bottom to an inspiration to so many? It was a journey but in order to inspire, Ellen persuaded the audience to stay true to themselves by using pathos and ethos.
Gerald Norman Springer was born on February 19, 1944 in England to a set of Jewish refugee parents who fled Germany and immigrated to the U.S while Springer was a child. Springer attended schooling at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA earning a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science in 1965. He followed this by attending Northwestern University Law School in Chicago, IL where he earned a Juries Doctorate law degree. After graduating, Springer was employed as an aide to Robert F. Kennedy. When Kennedy was assassinated, Springer became a member of a Cincinnati law firm and was elected as a councilman in the 1970’s. A later scandal arose, accusing Springer of being a client to a prostitute, whom he paid a check to, leading to his capture. This illegal action obligated him to resign from his position in 1974. He later cleaned up his act and was reelected and served as the city’s mayor. Later, during the 1980’s, he turned his career around and began practicing journalism. Springer quickly became a popular newscaster and radio voice. Shortly after, he created and hosted a television show that would drastically change and influence media.
Winfrey, Oprah, and Bill Adler. The Uncommon Wisdom of Oprah Winfrey: A Portrait in her Own Words. New York: Carol Pub. Group, 1997. Print.
Oprah Winfrey is not only the richest woman in the world, but she is also is known to be one of the most influential black women to ever live in the United States. She is a person “who has become successful and spread it around to those who need it the most” (Oprah 76). She has opened many different foundations to help others, For example, the Oprah Winfrey foundation. As if that already wasn’t enough she made a networking site called Oprah angel, what it does is help raise money for charitable causes around the world. In 2000 Oprah Decided to not only help others with Physical and financial problems, she wanted to go one step further. She published her own magazine called “O” that would give woman advice with how she deals with the same situations that woman do in their everyday lives. One of Oprahs greatest works is a leadership Academy that she established. It is a school in Africa that will prepare students for what awaits them on the other side of those doors. “It is a place where young girls will have the opportunity improve the quality of life for their sisters, and for generations to come” (Owla 12-13).
This loss of an audience caused a downward spiral of cancellations of her shows and the discontinuation of jobs for DeGeneres. In this slump of her life, she did not shut down. Instead, she got back on her feet and showed the world that it is okay to be gay; she held true to her personality and values and people started to watch her again. Her popularity began to skyrocket and her personality became her signature; she left wherever she went. So why is Ellen DeGeneres so popular among the people?
During her childhood years living with her mother, Oprah had very little money and life was difficult. She wants to help as many children as possible grow up in a sound, safe, and educational environment. Oprah has changed the world with all of her organizations and charity efforts. Oprah Winfrey has helped thousands of children attend school with her scholarships that she has funded. Many of these children would never go to school or continue their college career without her amazing efforts of providing financial support to these children. Oprah also helped build homes for families through her efforts with Habitat for Humanity and her donations after Hurricane Katrina helped families start their lives over again after the mass destruction of the hurricane by providing the financial support to rebuild many communities and neighborhoods(“Oprah Winfrey”). When researching Oprah Winfrey, I now realize why she is such an incredible person. The world is a better place because of Oprah Winfrey. This is another example of a person that has worked very hard to achieve her goals in life. Oprah strived for her dreams of being able to give back to the community and world. Oprah came from nothing, built an empire and became one of the most influential people in the world. While building an empire, Oprah has influenced millions of people achieve a better way of live. Oprah has positively
never be afraid to be who you are is truly inspiring and because she practices what she preaches
Winfrey has brought so much change to the world that one cannot just write a simple paragraph about. She has used her platform to discuss topics that are truly life changing such as Weight Issues, Reading, Give Big, and Taboo. Topics about weight have always interested the public, and Oprah was one individual who discussed it for the world to put their input in. She has talked about her own weight and made it clear how diet and exercise is important for the body. She strived to put the message in people’s ear’s that being healthy is what’s right. The next topic is reading, and this came from her “Oprah 's Book Club”. Oprah has always believed that reading is a fundamental skill and she wanted others to hop on the bandwagon and expand their knowledge. She started this book club for many reasons and it surely brought change to society. Give Big is the next topic of discussion and this changed society in a positive way. In 1997, Oprah wanted her viewers to make a difference in other people’s lives by donating their spare change. Shortly after that, she transformed that into the charity known as “Oprah 's Angel Network”. This charity was a huge success and has helped a lot of individuals in need. The final topics that will be discussed are taboo topics such as abuse, infidelity and addiction. These types of topics are what made Oprah Winfrey’s show such a success. She was so open about her childhood and other obstacles she had to face in her life that people began to trust
Although Oprah has experienced excruciating periods of her life, she still has proved that anyone can make a difference no matter what his/her background may be. Oprah is living proof that anything is possible, and dreams do come true. Oprah has proved to people everywhere that true joy in life comes from giving to those who are in need. “I define Joy as a sustained sense of well-being and internal piece – a connection to what matters” (Oprah Winfrey).
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