"Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story" has already stirred up quite a bit of controversy for rather obvious reasons.
The made-for-TV movie (8 p.m., Ch. 2) recounts the story of the highest-ranking officer ever thrown out of the U.S. Army for admitting her homosexuality.Even before the movie airs, there's been a good deal of noise from various groups protesting its content - in particular, a kiss between Glenn Close, who plays the colonel, and Judy Davis, who plays her lover.
But local viewers may be interested in "Serving in Silence" for an entirely different reason - its portrayal of the LDS Church. And, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, that portrayal is one of the more positive in recent television drama.
In the movie, as in real life, Cammermeyer's ex-husband and her four sons all joined the LDS Church after her divorce - a fact that caught her soon-to-be-significant other, Diane, by surprise.
"Now, wait a minute. All your kids are Mormon?" she asks.
"Louis got converted after our divorce, so, yeah, all my kids are Mormon," Cammermeyer responds. "That's why Matt's in Norway. He's on his mission."
"Why'd he become a Mormon?" Diane asks about the ex-husband.
"He likes structure," Cammermeyer says.
Undoubtedly not a complete answer, but probably not inaccurate.
After the return of her oldest son from his mission, Cammermeyer is disturbed to learn that her ex-husband has been told that Matt is planning to get married and she has not.
"You're not Mormon. You can't do it Mormon," Matt says. "You can't even go the the ceremony. A lot of people can't.
"You've got to be an active member with a certain standing to be allowed inside the temple. Even some of (his fiancee) Lynette's relatives can't go."
An extremely accurate explanation of who can and who cannot attend a temple marriage. And this in a situation that might have been portrayed instead as discrimination against gays.
Furthermore, a later scene emphasizes the point by showing Cammermeyer waiting outside the temple with her father - who also couldn't attend the ceremony because he's a non-Mormon.
(Of course, it's also obviously not a temple they're waiting outside, and the bells tolling in the background are sort of silly.)
When, later in the movie, Cammermeyer decides to sue the Army over her ouster, her Mormon sons and daughter-in-law are completely supportive of her.
"We went to see our bishop today," Matt says.
"He was wonderful. We told him about you," Lynette adds.
"He told us it was important to support you. You're my mother, no matter what you do," Matt says.
"He's not in favor of your lifestyle, of course," Lynette says.
"Which part?" Cammermeyer interjects. "The part where I pay my taxes? The part where I hold a job? Where I make a home for my father and kids? Where I defend my country?"
But, rather than provoking a confrontation, her son expresses still more support.
"We want to testify at the hearing for you," Matt says. "The bishop said we could do that.'
Now, the impression that members of the LDS Church need permission from their bishops before testifying at hearings is misleading at best.
But, overall, the impression "Serving in Silence" leaves of Mormons is a considerable improvement upon the usual polygamy jokes and out-and-out falsehoods that are so common in network television.
A MATTER OF TASTE: Despite all the controversy, "Serving in Silence" is actually quite restrained in its portrayal of Cammermeyer's life.
There is that one kissing scene, which Close at least believes has been blown out of proportion.
"I think it's very much overblown, yes," Close said. "Because, basically, that's not what the movie is about.
"The movie is a very, very personal story about Margarethe Cammermeyer, about her family, and about the woman that she lives her life with. And the kiss is just something that comes at the very end. I think the movie would be dishonest without it. But it's certainly not the issue."
A DECIDED POINT OF VIEW: "Serving in Silence" has a definite point of view, and it's not shy about making it.
And that point of view is that gays should be allowed to serve openly in the military.
Cammermeyer, then chief nurse of the Washington State National Guard, revealed her homosexuality during a security clearance interview in the days before the present "don't ask, don't tell" policy. She was separated from the military not because of her conduct, but because she admitted to being a lesbian.
"There are thousands that are separated (from the military) every year because they happen not to be engaged in misconduct, but just because they happen to be who they are," Cammermeyer said in a recent appearance before television critics. "And that is the social outrage of the movie and the policy as it existed before the new law as it is now."
And how does she feel about don't ask, don't tell?
"Well, it's pretty stupid," Cammermeyer said.
In person as well as in the movie, Cammermeyer makes it clear that she's still devoted to the Army. (A court decision reinstated her to her position, and she's scheduled to retire in September.)
"It's the policy that was wrong. It's the law that's wrong. It's not the military," Cammermeyer said. "And until people have that possiblity of joining the military and not fearing for their lives and their careers, we will continue to have these types of struggles through the courts.
It's Congress that has made a law - don't ask, don't tell. And until that law is overturned, the military has no option but to continue to pursue and to mandate discharges."
THE STREISAND FACTOR: Barbra Steisand, along with star Glenn Close, is an executive producer of "Serving in Silence." And it was Streisand's involvement that made the movie possible.
Once her case became public, Cammermeyer was deluged with offers to buy the rights to her story.
"I really didn't know anything about Hollywood and movies and that sort of thing," the colonel said. "And then TriStar called and said, `We're calling to see if you might be interested in exploring the possiblity of a movie. And we're working with Barbra Streisand.'
"I recognized the name," Cammermeyer deadpanned.
"And so I thought, well, at least this is somebody who has some credentials and things. And the least I could do is to listen to what she had to say."
According to Streisand's partner, Cis Corman - another of the movie's executive producers - Streisand read a story about Cammermeyer and immediately became interested in turning it into a movie.
"From the moment she finished that article she wanted to tell the story, with dignity and honesty," Corman said. "And this is where all of her efforts went."
Which is not to say that Streisand was overly involved with the actual production of the movie, once Cammermeyer's rights were secured. She certainly didn't have much contact with Close.
"Actually, the only meeting I had with Barbra was the meeting with (scriptwriter) Alison (Cross) and a bunch of us sat around a table in the dining room at Barbra's house. . . " Close said. "And after that, Barbra was pretty much on her tour and working on that. And we were working on the script.
"It was thrilling to work with her. I'm just sorry that we didn't have more sessions together. But I felt her support every inch of the way."
In other words, Streisand wasn't around at all during production of "Serving in Silence."
STRANGE RESEMBLANCE: Close bears little or no resemblance to the much taller, more plain Cammermeyer - but manages, through a lack of makeup and her military bearing, to pull off the role convincingly.
Oddly enough, when she's wearing glasses in the movie Close does bear a strong resemblance to another famous face - Robin Williams in drag in the movie "Mrs. Doubtfire."