The Mnemography of Talk Shows

The phenomenon of publicizing the secret self explains the fascination for talk shows, on which people reveal personal problems. William Covino writes of Oprah Winfrey as a modern-day medicine-woman or shaman whose show attempts to heal the various ills of our society, as seen in the following list of issues and problems which aired between February 18 and March 16, 1992:

"Aggressive behavior of successful women; interracial love and marriage; overweight women; violence in families; practicing safe sex; male sexual problems; homosexuals in the military; battered women in hiding; abusive men; communication between men and women; feminine beauty standards; women's roles in the 90s; family therapy; obsessive plastic surgery; black women criticize black men; teenage feminists; overweight children and parents; date rape; marriage -- pro and con; tabloids and the news; desperate people denied health care; abusive boyfriends; gay stereotypes; couples considering divorce; obsessive gambling; obsessive dieting; drug-addicted babies; solutions for gang warfare; unemployment" (Covino 140-41).

What motivates such behavior? What motivates those appearing on the show to reveal such intimate details of their lives, and what motivates so many people ("13 million viewers every weekday" according to Covino) to watch them? What has contributed to the proliferation of such talk shows? I would argue that it is part of a paradigm shift that the electronic technologies have fostered, the issues of which are just now beginning to crystalize.

volume 2, issue 2
SN 204