I found this documentary to be fascinating on so many levels I hardly know where to begin. Timely, due to the Tim Tibow mania on one hand, and the politically correct mafia removing God from every conceivable public place on the other, we see where our convoluted hysteria over religion took root - the mega churches and televangelists of the '80s. It probably was always there, but television took it to a whole new level, and it was Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye who were the instigators.
I have little good to say about Jim Bakker. The documentary concentrates on Tammy but Jim and Tammy were a team for many years, and it was that team that started as puppeteers and ended with a multimillion dollar Christian TV network and theme park. Jim Bakker was a sleaze bag, there was something oily about him, but I found Tammy Faye to be smart, talented, and very authentic. I loved her. I did not love the vicious, cut-throat behind the scenes maneuverings of the evangelists during this period. These people called themselves Christians???
Back to Tammy: it was her bubbling enthusiasm that drew people to her, she reminded me of Dolly Parton. Of course if one thinks all this Jesus stuff is just so much gobbledegook, you watch with horror as crowds filled up TV studios and later stadiums to hear Jim preach and Tammy sing. I have always admired people with a flare for marketing. You have to give credit where credit is due, the duo knew how to sell a product. They had a good thing going, but then they became greedy. Jim wanted a Christian theme park to match Disneyland. As excavation began and the park materialized, they realized they were in completely over their heads. Their programs digressed into one long plea for money.
"The higher they climb, the lower they fall" unfolded before our eyes, but Tammy was a fighter, and the remainder of the documentary shows her attempts to pull her life together again. It wasn't easy. Jim humiliated her, she became addicted to tranquilizers, the marriage broke up and she found herself isolated and penniless. A thread of deep faith weaves its way throughout her life, deep faith along with her ever-present wand of mascara. Guileless, she never wavered from that faith. She was put to the test throughout her troubled life, but she remained optimistic and in love with The Lord. How many of us can say that?
It's All Temporary
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