My Name Is Barbra

Streisand falls in love with the play The Normal Heart, about the early years of the AIDS epidemic, and intends to make it into a film. Initially, she works with playwright Larry Kramer on the screenplay; when he sues for the rights to the story, Streisand doesn’t give up on the project and convinces him to commit to it again. Nevertheless, more complications in their relationship force Streisand to get another screenwriter; Kramer rails against her changes that soften his focus on sexuality. Eventually, she steps aside after Kramer vindictively outs her son in the press. The movie is finally made in 2014, but without Streisand’s involvement. She still regrets that she was not able to make the film.

Richard Baskin moves in with Streisand and suggests her for a part in the legal drama Nuts (1987). She finds the way the film examines “the mystery of appearances” (786) intriguing and takes the leading role, Claudia. She reworks the script with two other writers. While researching her role as an incarcerated sex worker, Streisand visits prisons, brothels, and mental hospitals to better understand her character. As with roles like Yentl and Fanny Brice, Streisand deeply connects to Claudia and uses her personal experience with her family to influence her acting choices. However, she also channels her frustrations with her misogynist director, Marty Ritt, into Claudia’s anger toward the position she is put in because of her gender.

Streisand and Baskin live together for three years, but they put an amicable end to the relationship once Streisand realizes their views about her career don’t align. She dates the actor Don Johnson, appreciating that he gets lots of press attention and also feels misrepresented. However, when Johnson starts to withdraw, Streisand does the same, and the relationship ends.

In the late 1980s, Streisand falls in love with the novel The Prince of Tides (1986) by Pat Conroy and is working on a script for a film version of this story of family trauma and recovery. The film is struggling financially, so she has to decide whether to use her own money to fund it. She fears that she will receive the same criticism as Yentl if she agrees to direct again, but believes she must. She meets with Conroy to better understand the characters and interviews therapists to better understand the part she will be playing, a psychologist counseling the movie’s protagonist. She relates to Conroy’s vulnerability and throws herself entirely into the production of the film, even casting Jason as her character’s son.

Though Streisand has the same creative freedom directing and producing The Prince of Tides that she did with Yentl, she still experiences misogyny from the cast and crew. She tries to be a gentle rather than a demanding director to get the best performances, yet the men involved react negatively to both her softer and sterner approaches to directing.

Streisand feels calm when she can focus exclusively on a movie, feeling “tunnel vision” (868) while directing. She hires James Newton Howard to score The Prince of Tides and the two begin to date. But, like many of Streisand’s partners, he eventually withdraws from her, while they are still working on the film. The movie receives excellent reviews, especially from Conroy.

Streisand wins the directing award from the Directors Guild of America, but yet again she is not nominated for the Best Director Oscar. A premiere of the film is held in London as a fundraiser for Princess Diana Spencer’s AIDS Crisis Trust, where the princess suggests Streisand break royal protocol and stand when the audience applauds.

Streisand is still criticized by men who have not seen her work, but by this time in her career Streisand has more courage to stand up for herself and for her choices as a filmmaker.

Streisand doesn’t recall who first suggested she write a memoir, but in a 1984 meeting, former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis suggests writing a book would be valuable for both her audience and Streisand herself. Streisand considers this idea, but feels that “life got in the way, and [she] was too busy living it to sit down and write about it” (889). Her next album, however, is a musical autobiography she calls Just for the Record (1991). She finds putting together this album “freeing” and finishes it just before the release of The Prince of Tides. For the film’s publicity, she gives an interview to the TV newsmagazine 60 Minutes, in interviewer Mike Wallace attacks her, misconstrues her words when the segment is released, and later lies on air saying that Streisand loved the piece.

After The Prince of Tides, Streisand gets romantically involved with the tennis star Andre Agassi, who is younger than she is. When she again receives a Women in Film award, her acceptance speech is about disparities in the ways men and women are treated in Hollywood. In general, she speaks out more about the causes she cares about, such as women’s rights and fighting against AIDS. She also works on her 50th album, Back to Broadway, returning to her roots.

Uncomfortable with the state of American politics in 1992, Streisand campaigns for future President Bill Clinton; she becomes good friends with the president, his mother Virginia Kelley, and future First Lady Hillary Clinton. In turn, Streisand is criticized for both her interest in politics and her outfit; she is especially offended by the trivial criticism she receives from other women.

Trips to Washington, DC, give Streisand “a new sense of optimism” (934). She considers performing live in concert for the first time in 27 years, but when a friend invites her to sing at a party, she gets so nervous that she freezes. Streisand calls herself a performer, but doesn’t enjoy the act of performing as much as she does the process of making art—this is partly why she turned from theater to film, where performing is more private.

When Streisand is invited to sing at the opening of a Las Vegas hotel, she only agrees because they offer money for the charity of her choice on top of her performance fee. She directs the concert, which is somewhat autobiographical, pretending to be speaking to therapists when introducing songs that describe different parts of her life. As with all her other projects, she pays attention to the smallest details to make sure the audience gets the best experience. Her two performance dates sell out in 18 minutes. Streisand panics before the first concert, but it is an absolute success. Nearly everyone close to her attends—except her mother.

Streisand is always anxious for her mother to see her perform. On the opening night of Funny Girl, Streisand looked out to the crowd, but couldn’t find Diana, leaving her feeling helpless.

The night of Streisand’s first concert in Las Vegas is New Year’s Eve, so Diana decides to go out with her friends rather than see her daughter. For years, Streisand has recognized that her mother resents her success—Diana too always wanted to be a singer, but never pursued her dreams. Streisand’s friend Marilyn Bergman suggests that the root of Streisand’s problems is that her mother does not know her at all, which results in a sense of insecurity. Streisand recognizes that her mother loved her in her own way, but “everyone needs to be told they are loved,” (962), which Diana has never said. When Diana does attend the second concert date, Streisand gets a photo of the two of them and Virginia Kelley—who has become a maternal figure to her. In the picture, Streisand and Virginia are holding hands, but Streisand and her mother are not.