The “meta-narrative” of Oprah’s legendary media career has been her weight loss and body image. As a result, she may be the perfect ambassador to explain the impact weight-loss drugs are having on the story of obesity in America and beyond. Should these drugs be considered medical treatment for a condition (obesity) that should be blamed on food manufacturers and not people? Or is this a get-thin-quick scheme destined to offer hope to people desperate to lose weight while the companies behind the drugs rack up millions in profit?
These are the questions that often come up around these drugs, but Oprah is now leaning in to the debate with a new ABC special titled “Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution,” and offering her considerable storytelling abilities to help make sense of this new reality and whether weight-loss drugs are making lives better, worse or something else. The upside is that watching Oprah’s take on it will likely help a lot of people better understand the pros and cons of the drugs. I’ll be watching it this week too.
