She Doesn’t Shill for Toxic Cults
On November 18, self-help guru James Arthur Ray was sentenced to two years in prison for negligent homicide, the result of a poorly planned “sweat lodge ceremony” gone awry. Ray was one of many new-age hucksters who gained celebrity and influence in the wake of “The Secret,” a simplistic positive-thinking fad that became an enormous cash cow after receiving The Big O’s powerful seal of legitimacy. Rosie O’Donnell may be an ostentatious do-gooder and a sucker for Hollywood glitz, but she retains a comedian’s nose for blatant BS. One can hope she won’t introduce the world’s desperate housewives to another dangerous con man like Ray.
Audience choice: Who cares?
Best audience comments: “She frequents Boystown bars”; “She said Soldiers Field and Wrigley Park or something like that”; “You don’t want to see what Rosie has put under your seat”; “Um… is there one?”
Best of Chicago 2011
