The
Eyes of Tammy Faye (2000)
I figured out why gay people love Tammy Faye so much.
It isn't just that we know that she is a real sweetheart.
Or simply because we know that she is a nice person
with a heart of gold. It's that the average people just
don't see this. They see crazy make-up and a sort of
goofball personality. They can't look past the woman's
appearance to see the real Tammy Faye. Gay people can
relate to that. We know what it's like to be judged
on one aspect of our persona. We know what it's like
to be dismissed for how we appear to the outside world.
Tammy Faye is a gay icon in the truest sense of the
word. "The Eyes of Tammy Faye" reminds us of when Tammy,
on the "PTL Club," a religious program she hosted with
her then- husband Jim Baker, interviewed a man with
AIDS and condemned many Christians for turning their
backs on such people. This was in the mid-80's. A beautiful
and warm acceptance of people suffering with AIDS was
not only unheard of in Christian broadcasting at the
time, it was almost unheard of in the secular media
as well. Tammy Faye came to our defense in the beginning
of the battle. She was a true Christian. She seems to
only have love in her heart for people - all people.
And it is easy to love Tammy Faye in return.
And millions do. God knows... millions do. "The Eyes
of Tammy Faye" is a vastly knowledgeable documentary
on the woman. Almost everything you could ever want
to know about her story is here. Much of it has not
really been told before. Tammy's humble beginnings in
the church, her marriage to Baker, their tribulation
beginning a ministry "on the air," her early days as
a children's show host - all of this is spotlighted.
Eventually, Tammy and her husband amassed a vast fortune
through "the electronic church" only to be brought down
in shame by the same medium that propelled her to stardom,
television.
But there is much more here. "The Eyes of Tammy Faye"
is also a vehicle to get this amazing woman back in
the public spotlight. She is working to kickstart her
career and this film should shed much of the vastly
needed spotlight back to her favor. She is a remarkable
woman, a true survivor.
Filmmakers Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey, who also
made the abysmal documentary "101 Rent Boys," aren't
the best people to do this film. They often try to hold
Tammy Faye up too close to the spotlight, and, at times,
seem to be wanting to make fun of her. But you begin
to get the impression that they too were won over by
her charisma as the segments were filmed. By the end,
the wind up creating a wonderful film about the lady,
jam packed with information. And they even tie it together
with one of the most humorous and delightful segue devices
ever to be conceived. Sure, there are some laughs in
the film but we begin to see that Tammy Faye is in on
the joke. And it isn't a joke really, it's her open
heart and her giving nature that we find so disarming.
It's her honesty that allows us to see her for herself
and to be delighted by her lack of presumption, her
absence of pretensions.
The real question for the perspective viewer is, "Do
you have an interest in Tammy Faye Baker Messner? If
you hate her, you probably won't have your mind opened
by this film. And if you love her, this film will simple
rekindle that love; it's like returning to an old friend
after too many years apart. But the film's true wonder
might be it's reception by the indifferent. Given a
chance to spend sometime with this awesome and curious
and loving woman, she will win their hearts with ease,
in much less time than the 90 minutes it takes for the
fascinating, honest, in-depth and insightful film to
unspool.
Notes:
Jim J. Bullock, Jim Baker, and Pat Boone are interviewed
for the film. Jessica Hahn, Roseanne, Jerry Falwell,
and Pat Robertson appear in clips as do Bullock and
Baker.
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