There’s an extraordinary interview in Parade magazine today and at www.parade.com. It’s the cover story Q&A with Oprah Winfrey, Forest Whitaker, and Lee Daniels about the release of “The Butler.” My friend Kathy Heintzelman sat with this trio at the Waldorf Astoria and came away with more revealing information about Oprah than almost any one I can think of to date.
For one thing, Oprah says she has a mountain in Maui. And that’s just the beginning. Winfrey reports that she objects totally to use of the “n” word and that she and Jay Z–who peppers his raps with it– have decided they must disagree on this subject.
“You can’t be my friend and use that word around me,” she says. This, I think, is so important and brilliant.
Oprah also talks with great reverence for her father (who I thought she didn’t care for at all). Oprah also says she’s insecure about her acting abilities, and is blown away by Forest Whitaker in the film.
And most interesting: as we approach the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s march on Washington, Winfrey says that King’s dream is still unfulfilled. And she says she would not have had the courage to be a Freedom Rider. She says: “I feel blessed that they went before me.”
You must read this piece, and then see Lee Daniels’ “The Butler” and “Fruitvale Station,” the two most important movies of the year. And Bravo to Parade for being first, and making sure their 30 million readers are exposed to this information!
