Movie review
September 17, 2021 · 126 min · PG-13
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
The Eyes of Tammy Faye is a 2021 biographical drama depicting the rise of televangelists Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker from humble beginnings through their PTL empire, scandals involving fraud and infidelity, and Tammy's later years. It centers her extravagant persona, pill addiction, singing talent, and deep faith while dramatizing key events like the couple's fall from grace. The film explicitly highlights Tammy Faye's public support for gay people, including her landmark 1980s interview with AIDS patient Steve Pieters, as her most redeeming and "ahead of its time" quality. It contrasts this inclusivity favorably against Jerry Falwell and other evangelical leaders' partisan anti-gay, anti-feminist politics, applying a modern progressive lens to the historical narrative.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for The Eyes of Tammy Faye.
Woke representation / casting
Casting matches the real historical figures and 1970s-80s white evangelical setting with no forced diversity, race/gender swaps, or audience-visible mismatches.
Woke political dialogue
Features explicit scenes where Tammy Faye affirms LGBTQ+ acceptance and rejects anti-gay "agenda" rhetoric from Falwell, framing inclusivity as the moral counterpoint to partisan conservatism.
Identity-driven story themes
Tammy's LGBTQ+ allyship and defiance of traditional female and evangelical gender norms form a central positive arc and redemption driver; her empathy for gay people is repeatedly presented as virtuous and prescient, with heavy queer-positive weighting.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Critiques the Christian right's politicization, anti-feminist and anti-homosexual stances, and prosperity gospel corruption by contrasting them with Tammy's inclusive, non-judgmental faith, applying a contemporary lens that portrays traditional structures as flawed.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant; this is a biographical dramatization without major identity-driven reinterpretations of historical figures.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Backlash is minimal and mostly confined to conservative Christian reviews questioning the sympathetic portrayal or "agenda"; no prominent anti-woke social media outrage, boycotts, or widespread propaganda accusations surfaced.
Creator track record context
Bailey and Barbato's established pattern of producing prominent LGBTQ+-celebratory media provides direct context for the film's allyship emphasis; Chastain's producing role fits her pattern of female-centered projects.
Production
