Oprah For President?

This month Oprah Winfrey arrives on our movie screens as the powerful Mrs Which in the children’s fantasy movie A Wrinkle in Time… but could she also be destined for real-life power as President of the United States? Emma Clifton unpicks recent events which suggest this is not necessarily wishful thinking.

Once upon a time, it would seem truly mad that a TV star, with a billion-dollar company named after themselves, who had never spent a day in public office, might decide to run for president. Well… here we are. So it’s not a huge wonder that the rally cry of “Oprah 2020” gained such force so quickly following Oprah Winfrey’s Golden Globes speech in January and doesn’t seem to be going away.

We’re just over three months into 2018 and already it’s looking like a standout year for Oprah, with a grassroots presidential campaign, numerous magazine covers and her very own action figure, courtesy of her role in Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time, filmed in New Zealand in early 2017.

In some ways, it makes sense that Oprah would aim to be the first woman president – politics is one of the only arenas she hasn’t conquered. She was a reporter, then a local talkshow host, then the star of her eponymous daytime show, an Academy award-nominated actress, the first black billionaire. The question is less should she run for president and more… why would she want to? Particularly because, at 64, Oprah seems to truly be living her best life. In a recent interview, she gave a telling insight into what has changed for her now that she’s in her 60s.

“You take no shit. None. Not a bit. In your 40s you want to say you take no shit, but you still do. In your 60s you take none. There’s both a quickening and a calming – there’s a sense that you don’t have as much time on earth as you once did. For me, there’s also a sense of calming about that… I don’t have time for it. By that I mean people coming with anything less than what is the truth or authentic? Don’t even try.”

NEW ZEALAND FAN