Comments on: Why Oprah’s ‘Big Give’ Television Show Is A Big Joke.

By: toni

toni — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 16:34:11 +0000

Had anyone ever thought that it was not Oprah that decided what to give to those kids? As you said, there where two teams, one team decided to build a playground, the other team decided to give plastic crap toys. Oprah just provided the resources, and remember it is a reality show, the goal was to be able to give a gift to target groups. I do agree the plastic toys were not a good idea but hey blame the team who gave the toys, not Oprah!

By: David

David — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 21:11:18 +0000

Oprah, is that you?

No one said money can fix their lives Steve, you don’t need to be so angry about it. Money can help alleviate some of the strains they are under, such as not having good nutrition or up-to-date textbooks or yes, a playground consisting of something other than a rusty pipe. Did you watch the show and see what these kids “had”?

A toy benefits one child, and while there is nothing at all wrong with giving a needy child a toy, we are talking Oprah and TV here…they could have done a world of good for these kids but chose not to.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 21:07:50 +0000

Also you preach against materialism while at the same time slamming Oprah for not giving them more books and teachers? Why so they can grow up and go to college and get a higher paying job? Why? So they can buy their children nicer things then they had? It’s all equally as materialistic as giving them toys. Just postponed materialism. Money can’t fix their lives, only they can do that for themselves, but money can give them something nice to remember and enjoy.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 21:02:51 +0000

Yeah and the kids who got the playground are going to grow up and not use it anymore, and it too will someday get old and unused by anyone.

If you remember the magic of christmas as a child you would know that the memories of those simple plastic toys can be a powerful and beautiful one to hold on to for the rest of your life. Weren’t you ever excited to open up that one thing you’ve been wanting all year but could never buy? Not everything has to be “useful” to be worth while.

By: Roman

Roman — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:08:23 +0000

You are completely correct. They should focus on long term change instead of short term gains. That money should benefit
everyone not just a limited to a x group. Its great that those kids got gifts but it still should have been on a more longterm scale.

By: David

David — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 06:22:20 +0000

Thanks for all the comments guys, just a few thoughts:

@ Ron – “Pictures of little kids with some cheap toy will always win out.” – I couldn’t agree more; it’s sad, really. As long as the givers feel good, that’s really all that matters for these type of shows.

@AA – “What happens next year? Who is going to swoop in and save the day?” Exactly my thought. This year a plastic toy, next year it’s back to getting nothing. It’s just not right at all.

@Dawn – I have to respectfully disagree – giving a kid a one time gift of a toy is not really much of anything compared to giving them (and future grades of kids) something substantial that benefits them. If Oprah really wanted to make a difference, she would have chosen a different, and in my opinion, more important task than giving out toys. Toys you can get locally from toy drives – this is Oprah $$ we are talking about!

@Alison – I agree in principal, but Oprah still decided to let their “needs” (and I use that term very loosely) onto her show, so she could have chosen a better need than just toys.

But we all have our opinions on it…these just happen to be mine!

By: Oprah slashes rates at Dad’s job, Keeps wife out… | From Mike.com

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 04:08:12 +0000

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By: Alison @ This Wasn't In The Plan

Alison @ This Wasn't In The Plan — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 03:09:43 +0000

My husband was saying the same thing, and I agree that there are things that could have helped them more, but as I pointed out to my husband the gifts for the kids is what the teachers and principal at this school wanted, so that’s what they were given. Yeah, new things for the school would have been wonderful, but that’s not what the people at the school requested when they wrote to Oprah. It’s very possible that many of these kids have never had something to call their own and that can do powerful things for a child.

By: Erik

Erik — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 02:58:08 +0000

haha, i love when I hear stuff that bashes Oprah. She’s such a phoney. She’s a freakin’ billionaire. She definitely gives away less than 10% of her net worth, which happens to still be a lot of money, but not in comparison to her net worth or yearly income.

I agree with you, none of the people on the show are getting the big picture. Use the money to set up something that will give for a lifetime, not just handing people $500. They’ll blow that before the sun goes down.

I still haven’t seen anyone give $5k to fully fund a Roth IRA for someone. If they did that for a poor 25 year old, that 5k would turn into $165k if the person never touched it again.

By: dawn

dawn — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 02:47:54 +0000

I understand your logic – and that’s what it is… logic.
Your saying all the right words – but I think you might be missing the point that “a one-time” anything can truly change a life.
I’ve worked with disadvantaged kids for more than two decades – and a lot of them have never had a “plastic piece of crap toy” to call their own.
You really don’t know what a difference receiving something to call their own, could do to change their perspective on life and the world around them.
Really the whole argument is comparing apples to oranges – their both good!