SARAH YORO | staff writer
Oprah’s Big Give puts a fresh spin on philanthropy.
I could not watch the premiere of Oprah’s Big Give without pausing it multiple times and running to the bathroom to get more tissues. Despite the numerous charities and aid organizations Oprah Winfrey is already in it is not enough. Winfrey’s current reality TV endeavor takes the act of giving to another level.
On the show’s premiere, ten contestants—all of whom auditioned from various cities across the U.S.—are paired into teams and assigned to a person or family in serious need.
Winfrey supplies each team with the same amount of seed money and gives 72 hours to complete their task. After the competition, a panel of three celebrity judges grades them on the amount of money they raised their creativity, and their presentation. After deliberation, the judges send home the lowest-ranked contestant.
Each contestant is competing to be the biggest giver. However, there is a twist. In addition to their rewards of joy and virtue, the last contestant remaining will receive a prize of one million dollars.
In the minds of the contestants, there is no known prize. This undisclosed information reveals the contestants’ true character and motive for giving back.
Oprah’s Big Give is one of the more tasteful reality shows I have watched in a while. I would say it is similar to Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in its portrayal of compassion and generosity, and similar to The Apprentice in terms of critical thinking and competitiveness. Prior to watching the show, I thought contestants only used Winfrey’s money to help others. In actuality, the contestants raise the majority of the money through their fundraisers and donations in each competition, while Winfrey provides the starter money.
Although the show has a whopping number of supporters, there are those who fi nd it an unrealistic and foolish approach to philanthropy. Some people criticize the show, believing a large check and a brand new car will not teach the recipients any sort of lesson for the future. Regardless of how the recipients “giving mindset” changed from the experience, sometimes it is nice just to bless others.
If you think about it, God does the same thing for us. Despite our sins and failures, sometimes God just wants to bless us—often when we least expect it—to show how great his love is for us. While Winfrey is promoting an innovative concept for giving, I believe we, as Christians, need to take it a step further.
Not only does God command us to give to others, he commands us to give cheerfully (2 Corinthians 9:7). Furthermore, God does not bless us with things so we can hoard it; he encourages us to look beyond ourselves and give it away.
In Luke 21, it talks about The Widow’s Offering in which a poor widow goes to the temple treasury and puts in two small copper coins. Jesus states the widow has put in more than all the people in the temple because she gave all she had. The world often judges us by what we have and what we can offer, but God judges us by what we do with what we have been given.
Although Winfrey is giving out of the abundance of her resources, it does not make it any greater or different from us giving out of our resources. While the “bigger the better” mentality may be the perspective in our worldly economy, it is not the same in God’s economy. As Christians, God calls us to give out of our abundance and our need. Among the few female powers in society, Winfrey stands on a highly infl uential platform, which she can use for either good or evil. Winfrey’s genuine demeanor and her desire to alleviate the misfortunes of others greatly impresses me.
Through secular media, Winfrey is gaining the immediate attention of others, causing a positive “giving- back-awakening” in society. Regardless of gender, race, or religion, Winfrey’s reality show demonstrates that individuals from all backgrounds can unite and rally together for a great cause. Oprah’s Big Give is nothing short of prime-time brilliance. Winfrey’s reality show raises awareness and sparks desire for others to get involved in giving back, something our society often neglects to do. We get so caught up in analyzing things that we often end up missing the message.
For me, Oprah’s Big Give serves as a reminder—my world is not as bad as I make it out to be. I need to have the right attitude and heart when giving to others and when I complain about the lack of things I have, I need to thank God for all he has blessed me with.
