Opinion: Haunted

All people are haunted to some extent or another, but some more than others. Take the news recently about Jerry Sandusky: defensive coordinator for the Penn state football team, founder of a safe home for poor children, oh, and pedophile -predator of young boys. He had no reason to do it, but I don't think there was much reasoning involved in these acts. Despite fame and money, he still couldn't overcome his innate compulsion to hurt the vulnerable. In fact, he used his fame and money to build a charity for young boys that would provide him easy access to victims. Maybe everything he ever did in his life was due to this taboo appetite he could never curb, that he fed in secrecy and shame. And now at near 70 years old, he is busted because no accomplishment or life success could make up for his criminal nature.

I also read an article this week about Oprah. Apparently one of the most powerful and richest women in the human universe, was born dirt poor. She was a victim of child rape, family instability, and social discrimination. At 15, she became a teen mom to a baby that died a few weeks after birth. The youth are often very resilient because they simply do not know any better, so they just adapt. But all children must grow up, and I'm sure Oprah must have realized at some point in her life how terrible her lot was.
The subject of many of her shows are about women overcoming their insecurities and oppressors to accomplish their dreams. After all this is what Oprah did herself. So no wonder she specializes in drawing out the sad stories of broken people (on a public stage nonetheless) and then offering them redemption and hope to become, well, something Oprah-like. Even though she's come so far from being that poor, little girl, she relives her past suffering each time she commiserates with her teary-eyed guests (and they nearly all are). So perhaps Oprah has become great today because she is haunted by these abject beginnings. But the difference with Oprah is that she isn't self-centered about her suffering; she turns it into an art that others can appreciate and relate to, which just might be the key to becoming a famous billionaire.