From ‘Tammy Faye’ to ‘Tick, Tick…Boom!’, Famed Female Figures Debunk Societal Stereotypes

variety.com:

Todd Gilchrist In 2021, the ways in which women can define themselves, their identities and their successes is more complex and diverse than ever before, but tradition — and the expectation of adherence to that tradition — continues to exert a powerful influence on how easily or confidently these individuals navigate the spaces they’re creating for themselves.Many of the most memorable stories told on screen this year examined that topic, portraying women of all different ages as they reckon with the roles that society believes they should fill, which come with duties their culture or beliefs tells them they must fulfill, or that lead them down paths, personally or professionally, that the world pressures them to follow.

And judges mercilessly when they don’t. When these stories are of real women — technically or actually — some of those challenges are easier to dramatize, thanks to the actual challenges they faced, or the context in which they attempted to establish themselves.

In “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” Jessica Chastain plays disgraced televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker, whose ostentatious and often buffoonish exterior the movie argues disguised a uniquely compassionate and even progressive point of view in a divisive, corrupt religious community.“Tammy really was groundbreaking in terms of courage and stepping up as a voice against the atmosphere of that religious white male establishment,” says producer Rachel Shane. “She fought for a seat at the table.

And that really was something that we wanted to portray in this story.”The film traces an important line from her own upbringing to the attitude of love and inclusion she brought to “The PTL Show,” including when she interviewed gay pastor Steve Pieters in the 1980s.