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The Eyes of Tammy Faye

The Eyes of Tammy Faye

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The Devil Done Did It (or, Elevator Music for the Soul)
Review: Jerry Fallwell is the demon in this new testament of the religious right that, despite its pleasantries, is both more entertaining and more substantial than Tammy Faye Bakker�s eyelashes. She comes off as a good egg and when we hear Fallwells unctuous appraisal ("Her elevator doesn�t go to the top floor") after engineering the fall of PTL, one of the several Christian broadcasting networks that the admittedly over-the-top Tammy and her Jessica Hahn-tempted ex-husband started, we have to wonder what floor he�s getting off at, considering that the down button was pressed and we seem to be hovering here in the basement already. The best line was from the co-host of Tammy�s short-lived show with a gay man reflecting back on his relationship with her after his lover had died from AIDS: "She�s a survivor. After the holocaust, there will be roaches, Tammy, and Cher."

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Tammy rocked my planet
Review: People this is a must see documentary. There is so much to this woman that I never realized. Okay, maybe I did think it was a network fluke of camp and glitter when they match good ole Jim J. and Tammy Faye but this documentary explains the marriage of the 2 on the short lived talk show they share. Tammy Faye has been delicately combating the heterosexist empire that her now foes Pat Robinson and cronies have been building brick by hate filled brick for the past 30 years. Unlike Linda Carter, Tammy has not been fighting for our rights in her satin tights, but the woman has a heart unmatchable by even the likes of, dare I say, Oprah Winfrey? Tammy may not have a truth lasso, or an angel network but, her eyeliner is tattooed on (I'm not lying), and those tears, every one of them, are genuine and real. You'll learn, that no one, not even my own mother, has suffered and overcome more times than Ms. Tammy. Through comical segment headers with sock puppets as chapter announcers, we go into detailed and somewhat comical yet tragic life tales of Tammy and Jim. Don't get me wrong. This is Tammy's movie. They've even made Rupaul the narrator. And the eye shadow. Woe is the eye shadow.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An Empathic Look At Tammy Faye
Review: Since the PTL Club scandal in the 1980s, Tammy Faye Bakker has become one of the all time greats of the eccentric pop-culture icons. The PTL financial scandal and Jim Bakker's affair with Jessica Hahn have faded from front page news stories and into a tiny dot on the historical map. Tammy Faye, however, still pops up in pop media frequently enough to be more recognizable than ex-hubby Jim, not to mention the almost forgotten Hahn.

"The Eyes of Tammy Faye" delivers a well documented history of Jim and Tammy Faye's rise to fame on the TV Evangelist circuit, their fall from grace, and where the dice landed for Tammy Faye. If this were a film exclusively about the PTL scandal, this docu would come up short; but the main focus here is on Tammy Faye the individual. In doing so, the film makers did an excellent job of presenting the most important aspects of the scandal in a nutshell, and giving us a three-dimensional view of Tammy Faye.

Early on, this documentary shows a genuinely sweet side of Tammy Faye, telling of her unhappy childhood, and how the religion she grew up with was just one big monolithic intimidator, threatening the believers with eternal damnation. Instead of Tammy Faye taking this fear into adulthood, she instead turns it upside down, and preaches Christianity to the TV public with compassion. Particularly moving is a clip from a PTL Club episode where she has an AIDS activist on the show; wherein you would often see TV preachers brag that they will cure AIDS victims of their lifestyle and illness, Tammy Faye brings the activist on the show with compassion. They discuss the battle against AIDS, never bagging on the gay lifestyle.

Another reason to check out this documentary is to catch the disturbing info on Jerry Falwell taking command of The PTL Network. Dislike Falwell and his Moral Majority? You will despise both after seeing this account of his betrayal.

Much of the film is presented with snipets of old Praise The Lord Television footage, narration by Ru Paul, lots of funky hand puppets (an explanation for that comes early on in the film) and through the lips of Tammy Faye herself. While the documentary is sympathetic to Tammy Faye, she shows through her own words that she is still in denial about the misappropriation of funds husband Jim tolled. Tammy Faye is eccentric, strong, unethical and sweet, all rolled up into one. All in all, I went away with a soft spot for Tammy Faye, something I have never before had for a TV evangelist. Whether you come to a similar conclusion or not, I think you will find this an excellent piece of work.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: REVELATION!
Review: Tammy Faye Baker, who took up more than her fifteen minutes of fame throughout the excesses of her then-husband Jim's PTL digressions, always struck me as pathetic and possibly manipulative; her mascara-stained eyes seemed to become water-works like an actress who is able to cry on cue. This affectionate, albeit skewed-in-her-favor documentary paints a portrait of the woman that surprised and charmed me. With a campy sensibility, and obvious gay humor, this film exposes facts about Tammy's human fraility, her early embrace of homosexuals (particularly the scourge of AIDS in its earliest days), her naivete and ignorance of much of the politics of her husband's empire, and her "simple country girl" heart. Her present-day tears created a true hush in the packed house, and stirred more than a few hearts. Tammy Faye may be seeking the limelight because that it is a place where she feels at home -- but in the final moments of this riveting, entertaining and engagingly fresh documentary, I believe her testaments of faith and her renewed sense of priorities as never before. All great documentaries should illuminate their subjects in ways that inform, entertain, and challenge -- even with its heart on its sleeve, this one does precisely that, and provides key glimpses into the telegenic power and real talent that propelled a nation of Bible-thumpers to love Tammy Faye in the first place.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good Documentary But Hit Harder Next Time!
Review: Tammy Faye Bakker does a good job convincing most people in this documentary that she is a very real and warm person, who was mainly misunderstood by most of her and her husband's Christian followers in the long run. There are a lot of people who obviously are quite taken with her in this documentary and I can even see why. She is a very pleasing, warm, "hands on" kind of person throughout. I have some doubts about her though and I think the film makers needed to be a lot more hard hitting than they were in probing their subject. For one, I can understand finding yourself married to one man who goes to prison but try evaluating someone who marries two such men. Yes, after being divorced from Jim Bakker, Tammy Faye marries another man who promptly ends up in prison serving a sentence for several years too. This tells us that she is attracted to this kind of guy and likes the wrong side of the law more than she will admit. Much better than the examination of how culpable or not Tammy Faye may be in defrauding her and Jim Bakker's followers, however, is the examination of Christian television. I was absolutely open mouthed as I saw how absolutely awful Christian television is in terms of performing arts quality. Tammy Faye cannot sing or act, or even speak well in public, yet she was a major star of Christian television. This is not a huge surprise though when the film makers show you segment upon segment of Christian television. To a person, these are the most dreadful performing artists I've ever had the misfortune to see. I generally watch little to no television because the quality level is so low. After seeing Christian television as used by the Bakkers, Jerry Falwell, et al, I now think that regular television should be awarded the Pulitzer and Nobel prizes! If someone wants to make a documentary finding out why the programming is so awful for this form of television, please send me a ticket to whatever film festival it plays and I will be there on the first plane out of here!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: it's my trademark
Review: tammy faye bakker is one cool lady. this is one creepy movie. it might be a little one-sided but hey! i'm a gullible cow. the music is pretty eerie. much like her television ministry.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Never thought I'd see the day!!!!
Review: Tammy Faye is now someone I admire!

I purchased this as a vague curiosity after reading some other reviews. I thought these people have GOT to be wrong. No...it turns out I was.

This is actually a very telling account not only of Tammy Faye, but of televangelism (If you thought Jerry Falwell was evil before...you will see him as Satan Incarnate after viewing this). I will say that I thought of Tammy Faye as master media manipulator...but after seeing this...I honestly don't think so.

One of the things this documentary subtley conveys is that Tammy Faye is more resilliant than she is brilliant. I think it's just her natural tenacity that has kept her going and has drawn media attention like flies. I think she's a person who has a genuine good heart who has just too much naievete for the world of evangellical broadcasting.

Overall, I was amazed how much I had warmed up to her by the end of the film, and honestly gained a whole new respect for her ability to never say die.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: You MUST see this film to get to the TRUTH!
Review: This film really shows the true Tammy Faye Bakker. She lets go of her guard to explain what happened to her and her ex-husband during the TBN scandal.

She shows her sensitivity and vulnerability in this documentary. This is not any boring documentary. It is engaging and honest.

You owe it to yourself to see this film! Find out what kind of Christians Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and the Crouches REALLY are! You've judged her before. Now you can take back everything you ever thought about her. I did.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Praise the lord and pass the kleenex
Review: This is a remarkable documentary, not for any other reason than it's indomitably spirited lead. Yes, Tammy Faye is a cartoon, a travesty of taste (on the dvd it is easy to focus on her fashion, we kept going back to some sort of hat that looked like she was a huge, religious, heavily made up insect....antennae and all.) But like all good documentaries, it respects it's subject in a way that you come from it with much love and appreciation. The dvd has no special stuff but the documentary alone has enough for cult viewers, pop culturists and voyeurs to obsess over for months. There are puppets(religious puppets that they formed from porky pig heads), there is Jesus as Joy, lots of singing, Jerry Falwell(if you never hated him before, you will now) riding down a water slide, narration by a sedated RuPaul...but under all the incredible tack, Tammy Faye emerges as an amazingly passionate, forgiving non judgemental human being. Her stand considering gay christians and christians with aids is almost revolutionary. .......also there is a speech she gives at the end, when doing a sermon, which is inspired and forgiving. It gives you a very different perspective on the permanantly made up miracle maven......This is a documentary that stays with you, respectful, kitschy(love the jim j and tammy faye show), informative and at times confrontative, this is a really fun watch. You will end up liking Tammy Faye a little more than you expected...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: GREAT DVD
Review: This is an awesome DVD showing what a truly WONDERFUL woman Tammy Faye is!

There is a new site for us Tammy Faye fans! It is located at http://tammyfayefans.tripod.com.

There is even a MESSAGE BOARD! it is brand new so head on over and check it out!

Send it to all your friends who LOVE Tammy!


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