All eyes on Tammy Faye

Tammy Faye considers herself "a tough old broad"

By BBC News Online's entertainment correspondent Tom Brook

Low-budget documentary The Eyes of Tammy Faye is helping the widely derided mascara-laden, and often teary-eyed, former American TV evangelist Tammy Faye Bakker rebuild her shattered image.

The documentary, co-directed by British film-maker Fenton Bailey, was released in New York this week and will open in cinemas in other American cities next month.

I think people are seeing my heart and they are seeing that I am an intelligent woman - that I'm not just a little dumb blonde

Tammy Faye Bakker

It was an unexpected hit when it was shown at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.

Tammy Faye, whose credibility was much maligned following the spectacular collapse of her TV ministry in the 1980s, credits the documentary with providing an authentic portrayal.

She says: "I think people are seeing my heart and they are seeing that I am an intelligent woman - that I'm not just a little dumb blonde!"

Laughing stock

The documentary chronicles her rise, together with her former husband Jim Bakker, as TV evangelists who presided over PTL, one of America's largest Christian broadcasting empires.

Tammy Faye lost all credibility

It all came crashing down following revelations that Jim Bakker had been involved in an illicit affair, and allegations that PTL had been cheating its followers out of millions of dollars.

Jim Bakker was convicted and sent to jail. Tammy Faye subsequently became the laughing stock of the nation.

Since then, she has endured a divorce, a marriage to another man who ended up behind bars, addiction to prescription drugs and colon cancer.

Tammy Faye says that when she watched the documentary it definitely made her reflect.

She recalls: "I looked back at all that happened, I looked at myself and said 'you are one tough old broad'."

Film-makers Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey "appreciate Tammy Faye's excesses"

The documentary is made by film-makers who clearly appreciate Tammy Faye's excesses. Some commentators have questioned whether the film, which is very entertaining, really gets at the truth.

Although Tammy Faye reportedly had no editorial control it does advance her agenda. She charges that the man really responsible for the collapse of her religious broadcasting empire was fellow TV evangelist Jerry Falwell.

Tammy Faye claims Falwell tricked her and her former husband into giving up control of PTL. Even though Jim Bakker was convicted in court, Tammy Faye still wants to use this documentary to profess her innocence.

She wishes she had spoken up more at the time about the many charges of financial impropriety made against her and her former husband.

Tammy Faye has built up loyal gay following

She says: "People are always very leery of people that say, 'I didn't do it'. I wish to God that I would have shook my fist in every camera and said 'we did not do it and we are not going to take this anymore'!"

The Eyes of Tammy Faye has definitely increased the former TV evangelist's following among gay men, who have embraced her as a camp icon.

Tammy Faye even spent time promoting the documentary in New York with a special appearance at a gay bar where she was mobbed by adoring fans.

There's a strange irony that the gay community, so berated by American TV evangelists, should be playing such a large role in engineering her comeback.

Tammy Faye maintains she was one of the few Christians who never condemned gay people. She exclaims "me and the gays we get along fantastic!".

Tammy Faye says: "I love gay people. I understand what it is like to be in their place because I was hated by everyone at the time when we lost PTL."

The documentary, while it may be unbalanced, is compelling viewing.

It also shows how in America even the most ridiculed, fallen icons can reinvent themselves and return some lustre to their tarnished celebrity.