Yesterday was the season premiere of The Oprah Winfrey Show and the big "get" -- as you probably know -- was a two-part interview with Whitney Houston. According to Oprah, this was the best interview she's ever done. Now, was that hype or was it really a great interview?Judging by part one, it was a pretty powerful interview for Oprah. She was on her game. The setting was an empty theater, just Oprah and Whitney. Presumably, this was a no-holds-barred session, so I expected Oprah to ask the tough questions about Whitney's dysfunctional marriage to Bobby Brown, her drug use, the days she spent holed up in a stupor. It wasn't exactly A&E's Intervention, but for Oprah, it was penetrating.
Here's the problem I had with the interview. I didn't believe Whitney. I guess that makes me cynical, but she didn't persuade me that she was being as candid as she wanted me to think she was. For instance, when Oprah asked her why she stayed with Bobby when he had treated her so badly, emotionally abusing her, but stopping short of physical abuse. In a moment that needed a sure answer, Whitney dodged and it was Oprah who suggested that it was because Whitney truly believed in her wedding vows. At that point, Whitney agreed readily and said, yes, she was committed to Bobby Brown because she was his wife.
This is not to say that Whitney didn't reveal herself at times. When she told of the time Bobby spit her in the face, how he expressed his hatred for her and how she was shocked at his actions and that her daughter witnessed it, I felt for her. How she stayed with him after that is beyond me.
Today is part two. I'm sure there'll be more revelations, and more about how her mother, singer Cissy Houston, got her off the drugs and back on the path to sobriety. Should be interesting. What did you think of the first part of Oprah's interview with Whitney Houston?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-15-2009 @ 6:57AM
khia213 said...
Interesting that you don't believe her. There's reason no to. If you watched "Being Bobby Brown", you know that Whitney gave as good as she got. It was a dysfunctional relationship, but the abuse ran both ways.
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9-15-2009 @ 7:53AM
Jason said...
I had 0 interest in watching this interview, because I really don't care about Whitney anymore. However, since I was doing chores and the wife had the interview on in the background, I have to say this was Oprah at her finest... great interview and great insight into someone who carries such a magnanimous profile. I ended up doing the dishes an hour later than planned.
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9-15-2009 @ 8:51AM
jeanne said...
Whitney is a big liar still hiding behind Bobby by blaming him for her addiction. Until she gets to be GUT-LEVEL honest, she will still be an addict! She needs to accept responsibility for her own behavior and quit hidding behind the Bible! The truth is...she and Bobby were co-addicts and supported and enabled one another. BEEN THERE!!! DONE THAT!!!
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9-15-2009 @ 9:45AM
Matt said...
"In a moment that needed a sure answer, Whitney dodged and it was Oprah who suggested that it was because Whitney truly believed in her wedding vows. At that point, Whitney agreed readily and said, yes, she was committed to Bobby Brown because she was his wife."
You sort of hit it on the head right here. Did you notice how many times Oprah fed her insightful, thoughtful answers? I have this feeling that there was some sort of agreement in that Oprah could "ask what she wants to" but she has to help guide the interview to paint a relatively positive picture. Previously, when Oprah did these types of interviews, she wouldn't spoon-feed answers to her subject, instead she'd use their lack of sufficient response to point out that flaw in action or thought.
As a side note...I know Oprah likes to have her shoes on tape (she's mentioned it before), but seriously, I think their shoes deserve a guest-starring credit at the very least.
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9-15-2009 @ 11:52AM
YVONNE said...
I agree. Whitney is not taking on her full accountability for her drug addiction. As the interview concluded, it was clear that the blame was placed soley on Bobby Brown. Oprah also did not ask tough enough questions...She seemed to be doing her best to help Whitney fulfill the role of poor wife who was led astray by her emotionally abusive husband. Truth is....Both Bobby and Whitney were addicts together, without being dragged there by the other. They were both very bad parents...they both put their poor little girl thru heck. Whitney made all of her choices all by herself and she chose the drugs and chose to be a neglectful mother.
Don't get me wrong. I'm very happy for her that she is getting help and on her way out of the mayhem. but she won't be fully recovered until she takes on the responsibility that is soley hers. In addition, I also felt as though she did NOT come across as completely honest. I worked in the drug & alcohol field for a long time and she does not appear to be completely clean and sober yet....but my best wishes are with her. I can't wait for her to get it together and start producing the awesome music she is known for. I continue to wish for complete healing for the (entire) family....
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9-15-2009 @ 1:19PM
Melanie said...
Enh. I thought it was crap. Though I watched the whole thing, which is the point, I guess.
Oprah welling up and ready to breakdown while Whitney is describing being spit on? *eye roll* The interview is a good 'get' for Oprah, I suppose. (Whitney *is* trying to sell an album though so she was going to have to give up the interview goods to SOMEONE.) But Oprah treated her as if she was some delicate flower, poor poor her, and all that pressure, she just couldn't HELP herself because she did take MARRIAGE VOWS, you know. What a load of crap. Next we'll be feeling sorry for Lindsey Lohan and the mess she's wrought in her life.
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9-15-2009 @ 7:39PM
Jgreenefields said...
God, thank you, because when WE(EVERYBODY) stands before you, YOU will judge us. When I lived my abusive marriage the words were so hard to come out, about how
I could have allowed myself to be put into a degenerate situation, so unless you walked in the SAME shoes, and each pair is a different size watch or not, but zip it.
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9-15-2009 @ 9:31PM
Gordy said...
Just pray you never have to go through it. It sucks living in an awful marriage, especially when the alpha female is 10x more successful than the alpha male. Because I swore off trash TV in the 90s [Jerry Springer] I never watched Being Bobby Brown, but I could relate to her insights in this interview. You'd be amazed how low you will go when you're trying to be loved and accepted.
Regarding Oprah 'feeding her words', sometimes it takes that. Ask anyone who has ever sat with a therapist. Whitney's responses--though scripted at times--appeared to be truthful.
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