Critics Circle Award. In 1986, Henley contributed
the screenplay for a film adaptation ofCrimes of the
Heart, directed by Bruce Beresford and starring fel-
low playwright Sam Shepard.
Henley’sThe Miss Firecracker Contest(pr. 1980, pb.
1985) continued in the same vein as the playwright’s
previous work—tragicomedy with bizarre characters
set in small-town Mississippi—but with a stronger
concentration on the grotesque. The longing for
spiritual fulfillment that was touched upon inCrimes
of the Heartwas amplified in the later play. The film
version,Miss Firecracker, was produced in 1988, with
Holly Hunter re-creating for the screen her Off-
Broadway performance as Carnelle, the beauty pag-
eant contestant in search of “eternal grace.” Al-
though Henley contributed the screenplays for the
film adaptations of both plays,Miss Firecrackeris gen-
erally regarded as the better film, whileCrimes of the
Heartis considered the superior play.
Henley has admitted the influence of Anton Che-
khov, whom she has cited as a favorite playwright,
andCrimes of the Hearthas been compared to Che-
khov’sTri sestr y(pr., pb. 1901;The Three Sisters, 1920).
Also, because of the presence of the decadent and
grotesque in her work, Henley has been compared
to fellow southerner Tennessee Williams. Some crit-
ics have also noted a resemblance between Henley’s
writing and that of Flannery O’Connor, though
Henley has said she had never read O’Connor until
after those comparisons had been drawn. Henley
is frequently mentioned alongside contemporary
playwrights such as Shepard, Marsha Norman, and
Tina Howe. Henley’s other plays includeThe Wake of
Jamey Foster(pr. 1982, pb. 1983),The Debutante Ball
(pr. 1985, pb. 1991),The Lucky Spot(pr. 1986, pb.
1987), andAbundance(pr. 1990, pb. 1991).
Impact Crimes of the HeartandThe Miss Firecracker
Contestwere Henley’s most significant works of the
1980’s. They made her a powerful voice of southern
women’s experience, bringing a viewpoint that was
both regionally rooted and uniquely her own to the
American theater.
Further Reading
Bigsby, C. W. E.Modern American Drama, 1945-2000.
Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press,
2000.
Bryer, Jackson R., ed.The Playwright’s Art: Conversa-
tions with Contemporar y American Dramatists. New
Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1995.
Harbin, Billy J. “Familial Bonds in the Plays of Beth
Henley.”The Southern Quarterly25, no. 3 (Spring,
1987): 81-94.
Henly, Beth. “Interview with Beth Henley.” Inter-
view by John Griffin Jones. InMississippi Writers
Talking, edited by John Griffin Jones. Jackson:
University Press of Mississippi, 1982.
Thad CockrillSee also Film in the United States; Literature in
the United States; Shepard, Sam; Theater; Women’s
rights.Heritage USA
Definition Complex housing recreational,
commercial, and residential facilities, as well as
the PTL television ministry offices and studios
Date In operation from 1978 to 1989
Place Outside Fort Mill, South Carolina
Heritage USA’s twenty-three hundred acres included a
theme park, a water park, campgrounds, a shopping center,
and homes. For many critics of televangelism and the
abuses that attended it during the 1980’s, the complex epit-
omized the fraudulent excesses of evangelical Christian
preachers who had been gradually shifting their attentions
from traditional ministr y to valueless consumerism.
Jim Bakker’s vision for Heritage USA represented
the pinnacle of his dreams for a ministry he had
been developing, together with his wife Tammy Faye
Bakker, since the 1960’s. The two former Bible-
college students were pioneers in the development
of televised ministries with Christian networks. They
began with Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting
Network (CBN), then helped create the Trinity Broad-
casting Network (TBN) with Paul and Jan Crouch,
and finally started their own PTL (praise the lord, or
people that love) network. Viewers of the Bakkers’
show on PTL became enthusiastic supporters of
the likable and friendly couple, sending checks to
help achieve the ministry’s fund-raising goals. When
Bakker offered incentives connected with the theme
park and resort he was constructing, supporters
upped their donations and became “partners” in the
potentially lucrative investment. In exchange for a
donation of $1,000, for example, investors were to
receive free nights at one of the park’s hotels and dis-
counts at its shops.460 Heritage USA The Eighties in America