The Eyes of Tammy Faye | 2021 | PG-13 | – 5.2.3

Why is “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “sexual content and drug abuse.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a couple of near sex scenes without nudity, several flirting scenes, several discussions of extramarital affairs and several arguments, and moderate language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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A sympathetic look at the rise, fall — and recovery as an ironic cultural icon — of prosperity televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker (Jessica Chastain). In the ’70s and ’80s, along with her husband (Andrew Garfield), she created the world’s largest religious broadcasting network and theme park, until rival televangelists, financial fraud and accusations of rape and payoffs, toppled their empire. Also with Vincent D’Onofrio, Cherry Jones, Sam Jaeger, Fredric Lehne, Louis Cancelmi, Coley Campany, Randy Havens, Joe Ando-Hirsh, Kimberly Hester Huffstetler, Gabriel Olds, Chandler Head and Jay Huguley. Directed by Michael Showalter. [Running Time: 2:06]

The Eyes of Tammy Faye SEX/NUDITY 5

 – A man flirts with a married and very pregnant woman, and asks her when she was last touched; he kisses her on the neck, she instructs him not to leave a mark, she straddles him, he unfastens his pants, thrusts on his lap briefly and stops when her water breaks. A man and a woman dance closely together and hug; the scene shifts to the couple fully clothed and kissing in bed and the man caresses the woman’s clothed breast as she reaches to touch his crotch and they moan. A husband sits in a bathtub (we see his bare shoulders and chest) and his wife reaches into the water presumably to stimulate him and the man moans.
► A man puts his arm around a married woman as she sits on the arm of his chair and he seems to be flirting in a couple of scenes. A wife hugs and kisses her husband. In a suggestive scene, two men wrestle and play fight on the floor and one man tickles the other. A husband and his wife hug a few times.
► A husband accuses his wife of depraved behavior with another man. A husband confesses to having an affair with a woman and that he paid her to keep quiet. A man tells another man that he knows of his “homosexual advances.” A man presents a penile pump on a television show and we see a phallus shaped balloon being pumped with air and becoming erect. A man talks about “having urges” while driving and listening to music (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). A man and a woman talk in a Bible study class about the human form and quote a scripture that describes the breasts as fruit and the man says, “Take hold of the fruit.” A wife complains about her husband not touching her “enthusiastically” while she is pregnant. A woman applies lotion to her face, hands and arms while in bed and her husband complains saying, “And you wonder why I don’t snuggle you.” A man talks about having told a pastor that he is gay and the pastor freaked out and told him not to tell anyone and that it would go away; he says that he tried to program himself to not be gay. A protestor holds a sign that reads, “Sodomy kills.”
► A woman wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage and bare leg to the knee and thigh. A woman wears a low-cut nightgown that reveals cleavage. A man’s shirt hangs open and reveals part of his bare chest.

The Eyes of Tammy Faye VIOLENCE/GORE 2

 – A man talks about being distracted while driving and running over a child and rupturing the child’s lung. A woman tells her young daughter that she is not welcome in church because she is the child from the woman’s previous marriage and because she is divorced, the child is viewed as being an embarrassment. A husband reprimands his wife about debating with another man about social issues. A husband tells his wife, “Don’t get it my way.” A husband accuses his wife of depraved behavior with another man. A husband and his wife argue and he storms out of the room. A man talks about having told a pastor that he is gay and the pastor freaked out and told him not to tell anyone and that it would go away. A wife says to her husband, “I’m so sick of my faith in you.” We hear reports of a man diverting funds from a ministry. A man talks about people being exposed to sins and the decay of the country’s moral fabric. People complain about the “secular press” publishing negative reports about a ministry. A man says that he is being “Persecuted by the secular press.” A man refers to being at war. A man encourages TV viewers to “Give the devil a black eye,” by donating money to his ministry. A man talks about putting a picture of another man’s buttocks on a punching bag. A woman overhears her husband and three other people making fun of her appearance. A man tells another man, “I’m not a gambler,” when he is presented with a project. A woman says that they should, “Keep politics out of the church.” A woman says, “I’m gonna throw up” three times during an argument. A woman is shown pregnant and she complains about having to stay home and not do the work that she enjoys. A woman says, “I look like a bear,” when she puts on a mink coat. A woman says, “We’re all just people and God doesn’t make any junk.” A man asks, “Where’s the privy?”
► A woman collapses on stage while on TV after taking too many pills and we hear that she is going to the Betty Ford rehab clinic; the woman’s mother tells her that there could have been brain damage. A man and a woman leave their motel room and find that their car is missing and they determine that it must have been towed away because of missed payments. A man is escorted out of a courthouse and he cries after being found guilty of fraud.
► A preacher talks about the devil and a woman in the congregation thrashes and seems to be speaking in tongues. A child falls to the floor of a church and thrashes while speaking in tongues. A young girl prays about not being loved. A woman applies lotion to her face, hands and arms while in bed and her husband complains (please see the Sex/Nudity category for more details).

The Eyes of Tammy Faye LANGUAGE 3

 – 7 sexual references, 1 scatological term, 2 anatomical terms, 5 mild obscenities, name-calling (harlot, miserable, rotten, your blind if you follow blindly, firecracker, boss man, boy prostitute, wife swapper, pitiful, sinful behavior, fragile, the shrieker, blasphemers, gay cancer, loopy, depraved, fussy, clown, bamboozled, bottomless pit, whiny grating Betty Boop voice), exclamations (oh no, oh goodness, shake a leg, good grief, gosh darn it), 35 religious exclamations (e.g. Jesus, Jesus Loves Me, Count Your Blessings, Gift From God, Builder For Christ, Golly Moses, Godly Gabfest, Praise God, Thank God, Jesus Loves You, Oh My God, God Bless You, Praise Be To God, Oh Dear Lord, Oh Lord, PTL [Praise The Lord], Amen, God Bless You, God, Glory To God, Hallelujah, Praise The Lord, Satan, Spread The Word Of God ). | profanity glossary |

The Eyes of Tammy Faye SUBSTANCE USE

 – A woman takes prescription pills in several scenes, a woman takes several prescription pills at one time in a scene, and a husband says that his wife is taking so many drugs (presumably prescription, like Ativan). A man drinks from a flask. A woman says that she is not addicted to prescription drugs and that the only thing that she is addicted to is diet Coke.

The Eyes of Tammy Faye DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – TV evangelism, AIDS, faith, greed, fraud, poverty, deprivation, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, feminism, homosexuality, debt, tax-exempt status, divorce.

The Eyes of Tammy Faye MESSAGE

 – While Tammy Faye Bakker was tolerant, she was also responsible for living in gaudy luxury and creating a ministry financed by a credulous congregation.