Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Movie Review

The Eyes of Tammy Faye

This 1999 documentary traces the life of Tammy Faye (Bakker) (Messner), from growing up in an Assembly of God family in Minnesota, to meeting Jim Bakker, to starting 2 television ministries from which they were later pushed out (the 700 Club and TBN), to founding PTL, to Heritage USA, to Jessica Hahn, to her painkiller addiction, to the trials, to the divorce, etc .... and shows what her life was like at that point in time.

This is a surprisingly sympathetic portrait of a woman who got in way over her head, and then just lost control of her life as the waves swept everything away from her. I confess I never liked or respected the Bakkers, and was never a fan of Tammy Faye, but have mellowed out towards her over the years, and this film made me view her in a different light. I found it a disconcerting film, and I am still digesting it.

2 comments:

Alan said...

we are all such mixed bags of humanity

Alan said...

Well, I'm glad I saw the movie before her death -- that would have added a whole other layer of emotion.