Last night marked the premiere of HBO’s Life Is But a Dream, the Beyoncé documentary produced and directed by the Queen Bey herself. (If you missed it and don’t mind Spanish subtitles, check it out here.) The movie received a very warm reception from its creator’s fans — civilian and famous alike — though, so far, no one has been more effusive than Oprah. “I thought it was riveting. I thought it was emotional,†she told Extra. Later, she gushed to CBS’s The Talk: “She opened up and became for us, not just this mythical goddess Beyoncé, she became a real woman to me. She shocked me, I was in tears. She did an amazing job. She understands that all pain is the same, and the way she hurts is the same way other people hurt, so when people see that … wow. Game changer.â€
Oprah’s enthusiasm dovetailed nicely with her sit-down interview with Beyoncé, which also aired last night. During their chat, the superstar opened up about everything from her pre-Blue Ivy miscarriage to how hard it was “letting go†of her father as her manager:
But Oprah wasn’t even the only talk show host dazzled by Life Is But a Dream. Ellen DeGeneres tweeted, “I just watched @Beyonce’s new documentary. I loved it as much as I love her.†Meanwhile, Vivica A. Fox could barely contain her excitement:
Even media mogul Arianna Huffington got in on the lovefest, tweeting a photo of herself with Beyoncé at an after-party for the film, which she called “inspiring.â€
But while the world certainly got a peak at what Beyoncé called her “vulnerable†side, let’s not forget that she is still, well, Beyoncé. Oprah recalled watching a preview of LIBAT with several graduates of her girls’ school in South Africa: “There was a moment where [Beyoncé] said she did this because she wanted to learn how to trust herself and how to be more honest and how to grow … So when we finished, all my girls said, ‘She’s just like us!’ And I went, sorta.â€