Reality Soundbites: Tonya Harding on Oprah

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . April 27, 2009 . 1:11AM

Last week, I went against my better judgment and watched my tivo’ed Oprah. Honestly, I haven’t been feeling her vibe lately and I’m not sure why, but I feel like there is something in her dynamic that has changed and made her less accessible to her viewing audience. For whatever reason, I’m not down with Oprah lately. I also think her use of Skype is a thrifty way to bring guests on her show without having to wine and dine them and that’s…well…cheap. Her friday panel also drives me nuts. This is all beside the point as this isn’t a beatdown on Oprah post.

Her theme for last week was, apparently, to show where her multitude of memorable guests are now. One, in particular, stood out to me and I feel the need to call out some behavior that had me shaking my head. Two words: Tonya Harding.

Whew. The cajones on that mama. I remember the situation with her and Nancy Kerrigan, and if you don’t, I’m sure wikipedia would be glad to enlighten you.

She began her talk with Oprah by saying how honored she was to be there and moved on with how she was the first American woman to do the triple axel. She just wants to move on from all of the bad publicity she received.

Fair enough. I think everyone deserves a second chance.

Tonya also mentioned that she is now back on top because she’s with Oprah now. Is that all it takes? Just to be in the presence of Oprah? Because murderers have been in the presence of Oprah. Are they grander because of it? I’m sensing the narcissism here. What I observed was no contrition on the part of Tonya Harding for any part she played in any downfall she’s had. In everything she’s done and all that she is, she plays the victim card for all it’s worth.

She attributes the negativity of her childhood to abuse, which her mother denies. I don’t know what happened and I won’t pass judgment on it. I’m merely establishing the pattern. She attributes the assault of Nancy Kerrigan all to a husband who was verbally abusive of her and says that it was his will to do it because he thought he could “gain more business from it.” It didn’t make sense to Oprah and it doesn’t make sense to me. I’ve always thought she lied about her involvement in the matter (she said that she had knowledge AFTER the attack and didn’t say anything for fear that she would be harmed), but now I’m convinced of it. She played the victim at the Olympics in regards to faulty gear when it was her job as the athlete to make sure her gear was in working order. And she’s playing the victim now when she talks about how people only remember her for the bad things in her life.

Look, I don’t hold what happened to you as a child against you, but who held a gun to your head for the multiple reality shows you did that put you in the “bad girl” light? You can’t have it both ways, Tonya. You are either the bad girl or the girl done wrong, but you can’t make money from it and then deny it later and say you are being unfairly labeled.

When Oprah asked if Tonya would apologize now, she said no and claimed it was because she’d already done that in a face-to-face setting and that it was not well received. I agree that you cannot control how someone handles what you choose to do. You have the choice how you will act in response to that and Tonya responded in a typically classless way by calling Nancy Kerrigan out on it on Oprah. It went on and on and on and by the end I decided to just delete the episode because I know when enough is enough.

Who’s the victim here? Anyone that believes people that sell snake oil. I’m not buying.