In the final episode of the series, we get a glimpse of Angelyne’s secret past. Spoiler: she’s a redhead! I don’t know what was more shocking, Angelyne’s natural hair color or the terrible wig they put on the actor portraying her as a child. Second spoiler: the wig was.
Through flashbacks, we learn her real name is Rachel, and she’s a child of Holocaust survivors. Clearly, her parents were dealing with a lot of trauma, which was then passed onto her and her sister. From a young age, Angelyne used fantasy to escape, which explains, well, everything. She wanted to escape her past, her mother’s untimely death, her cruel father and stepmother, and live in a vibrant world of color and love. So she created that for herself. Can you blame her?
While on a cruise, she and her sister sneak into the dinner club her parents are at and catch her father enamored by the blonde singer serenading the crowd with “I Wanna Be Loved By You.” Rachel then pictures herself as Angelyne onstage singing. This reminded me that Emmy Rossum can sing! Remember when she was in Phantom of the Opera? I didn’t. This scene is actually heartbreaking. While onstage, she’s literally telling her father, “I want to be loved by you.”
These flashbacks also provided insight into her relationship with her first husband. While seemingly happy, she did not want to be controlled in any way, so she left him and completely disappeared before emerging years later as her true self. We all should have the nerve to live our lives how we see ourselves, instead of conforming. Dress outrageously, life is too damn short not to!
Towards the end, the show lost me with its fantasy sequence where Rachel meets Angelyne in her pink fur alien ship command center. I watched the episode twice and am still unsure what happened. Sure, Emmy looked FANTASTIC in that pink Barbarella look, but what exactly occurred to me is confusing. Was this when Rachel transformed into Angelyne? Was it her just imagining it?
Overall, the series was a bit all over the place, but so is Angelyne’s life. Full of ups and downs, and plenty of sequins. But one thing this series did well was shine a new hot pink spotlight onto Angelyne, one that not only provided insight to who she is and why, but made me respect her a helluva lot more too. This series highlights how tough she is, as well as smart, confident, and not willing to compromise for anyone or anything. We should all strive to be a bit more like Angelyne.
Most admirably she knows exactly who she is, even if it’s been completely manufactured. What matters is that she’s the one who manufactured it. Forget the bible, Angelyne is the greatest work of fiction!
Angelyne is a series that might require a second watch to fully understand her (as much as one can). Rumor has it she’s going to make her own documentary, which I can’t wait to see. Whether full of the truth or lies, I want to take a peek into Angelyne’s world, which we’re all just living in anyway.
