NEWSWEEK: You’ve explained this documentary by saying, “I was trying to show people in the blue states, like me, that there’s this whole other world out there, a whole community of people who have their own wrestlers, their own miniature golf, their own rock concerts.” Given the news about Ted Haggard, though, it’s hard to imagine anyone watching the film as you intended it.
Alexandra Pelosi: That’s the problem with real-life events. They have the power to eclipse another reality, and the reality is that I spent two years, in earnest, trying to document this group of Americans, this group of 50 to 80 million evangelical Christians. And now, all anyone wants to ask me is, “What was wrong with your gaydar?”
Haggard’s fall from grace essentially upended your movie. How did that feel?
I was happy in a way—because it brought people to the movie. The media would not be interested in my movie if Ted Haggard hadn’t fallen from grace. So what I’m hoping is, curiosity about Ted Haggard will bring them in, and then they’ll stick around and learn something.
When I watched the film, though, I found it hard to remain neutral toward the evangelicals you profiled, because Haggard’s presence made me suspicious of everyone, and everything they said.
I know, and that’s unfortunate, because Pastor Ted is just one of about 80 million people. There are bad apples in every group, and unfortunately, I just happened to pick one to be my tour guide through this world. But when I met him, he wasn’t a bad apple. I picked him to be my tour guide for a reason: he was an unusually reasonable guy. He was honest. He was open. He wasn’t a fire-breathing dragon. He broke the stereotype, and that’s why I liked him.
It sounds like you got to know him very well.
Oh yeah. He took me to Texas with him for a book tour, he took me to Arizona for a Promise Keepers rally. He came to New York with me and we stood in Times Square and we talked about red states versus blue states. He took me to the top of Pikes Peak and taught me how to shoot a rifle.
And have you spoken to him since the news about him broke?
No. He doesn’t talk to any reporters now, and at the end of the day, as far as he’s concerned, I’m still a journalist.
How did you react when you first heard the truth about him?
I was heartbroken. My initial reaction was that he ruined my movie. I spent a year and a half on the road trying to meet evangelicals and make a documentary that accurately depicted them. And Ted Haggard was my tour guide through all of it, so when he fell, my credibility… Basically, he completely undermined the mission of my documentary.
But by the time the news broke, you obviously liked him. So aside from the impact on your film, what were your personal feelings about him ?
[ Long pause ] He was married with five children. I roasted marshmallows in his backyard with his kids. So I instantly thought about them. When something like this happens, the first thing you think is, ‘Oh, those poor kids.’ They live in a small town. They know everybody. Can you imagine? Can you imagine if that was your father? I know all the evangelical-haters out there say, “Look! They’re all hypocrites!” But that’s too easy. It’s too easy to say something like that.
Did you think about re-editing the film in light of what unfolded?
I turned in the movie at the end of October, and then about a week later, he fell. Then came the election, then I had a baby. And with a newborn baby, I couldn’t go re-edit the whole movie. We talked about what to do for a long time. Should we take him out altogether? How do we handle this? But in the end, we went with the easiest answer: we just put a slate at the beginning of the film explaining what happened and the timing of it.
Early on in the film, Haggard tells you, “Surveys say that evangelicals have the best sex life of any other group.” He then asks a pair of married, young male parishioners standing nearby how often they have sex with their wives. One of them responds, “Every day. Twice a day.” Then Haggard asks the man how frequently she climaxes. “Every time,” the man says. Leaving all the subtext aside for a moment, I’m wondering if this exchange was in the very first cut of the film, even before the revelations about Haggard came to light?
Yes, it was just a pure, weird coincidence.
What did you think of that conversation when you first witnessed it? And what do you think watching it now?
Well, look, evangelicals have issues with sex. The two biggest issues for them are gay marriage and abortion, both of which are about sex on some level. And he’s standing in the parking lot of a church talking all about sex.
But when I saw that exchange, I wasn’t thinking about either issue. I was thinking about Ted Haggard’s dishonesty. And it also made me wonder about how truthful the other two men were being.
I just think that they’re the only three men in America who have sex with their wives every single day. And hey, good for them. Seriously, though, you’re right. And that’s why, after Ted fell, all the other evangelicals in the movie ran away from him. Like Jerry Falwell saying that Haggard didn’t speak for that many people. Right, only 30 million.
Is it true that Falwell wasn’t aware who your mother was until after your interview with him?
That was great. I was sitting in his trailer, I had just done the whole interview with him, and when I turned the camera off, his son came up and told him. And he just said [in a deep voice], “Your mother is very bright; she’s very smart, but very wrong.” And then I was kicked out of his trailer. That was actually the only time in a year and a half that my last name came into play.
Really? I’m surprised to hear that. I would’ve thought your evangelical subjects would approach any big-city journalist with so much skepticism that they’d at least Google you.
But I didn’t walk in the front door and introduce myself as Nancy Pelosi’s daughter. Also, she wasn’t the Speaker of the House yet, and polls prove that no one knew who she was before this election.
Speaking of your mother, she referred to her devout Catholicism during her introductory speech before the House. You’ve spoken about your non-devoutness. Is this film a kind of atonement for you?
This film has nothing to do with me. It’s about them. It’s about 80 million people in America. I don’t know why reporters like to go there. It’s not about me.
But surely there’s a reason why you chose to spend two years on this particular subject.
Because I was trying to get away from politics. [Pelosi’s previous documentary, “Journeys With George,” covered the Bush campaign when he ran against Al Gore.] So I pitched this idea to HBO: there are two things you’re not supposed to talk about in polite conversation, politics and religion, and I’ve done politics, so now I’d like to try religion.
How did your subject respond when you showed up, camera in hand? Did they believe you were sincere in your intentions?
[ Pause ] I’d say they were very Christian about it. I didn’t get nearly as much resistance as you’d expect. I think evangelicals would get much more resistance if they came to New York than I got going there. We’re much more judgmental. Also, I’m not Tom Brokaw. I wasn’t airlifted in for an afternoon. Sometimes I spent a week talking to people so they were comfortable with me before I pulled out my camera. And don’t forget that their job is to evangelize. It’s their job to spread the word.
