Documentary About Tiffany Fans
‘I Think We’re Alone Now’ Tells Other Side of Story
In its East Coast Premiere at the Florida Film Festival, Sean Donnelly's new documentary focuses on two fans obsessed with the pop singer Tiffany.
I Think We’re Alone Now, a revealing documentary named after the hit single by 80s bubblegum pop singer TIffany, introduces the world to two of the singer’s most devoted fans, Santa Cruz, California’s Jeff Turner and Denver, Colorado’s Kelly McCormick.
Memories and Memorabilia
Then 50-year-old Turner, who has been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome and lives on disability checks, claims to be best friends with Tiffany, citing an unusual mind link between them where they share thoughts through “radionic psychotronic” devices that use energy released from photographs of the two of them together. In the film, he talks about one day marrying the singer – or at least taking their relationship to the next level. With his collection of books about stalkers and obsessions, and his even larger stack of magazine articles, amateur photographs, and nude pictures of Tiffany, he says he has wonderful memories of times they’ve shared together, usually in the moments following one of her concerts.
Likewise, McCormick is equally sincere about her love for the married singer who launched a career as a teenager in the late 1980s performing at shopping malls. McCormick, a 35-year-old intersex person (i.e., hermaphrodite) contemplating a sex change operation, says that many years ago, Tiffany helped her recover from a tragic bicycle accident that left McCormick in a coma for several days. She, like Turner, longs for a more meaningful relationship with Tiffany and has covered the walls of her home with a trail of eye-level photos of the singer.
Lonely, But Not Alone Now
Although labeled by the media and other Tiffany fans as potentially dangerous stalkers, Turner and McCormick see themselves as completely harmless – though completely devoted – fans and friends of the pop star. At one point, Tiffany got a three-year restraining order against Turner, but in the film, he freely shows up at her concerts and a promotional event she attends for adult film stars and nude models. Security guards hover in the background whenever he approaches her, however.
Turner and McCormick seem eager enough to share their side of the story, and even meet each other briefly to share their hopes, dreams, and memories about the singer. Both people have personal problems to overcome, in addition to their fanatical devotion to Tiffany (who is not interviewed in I Think We’re Alone Now). Although sprinkled with occasional humor, this darkly disturbing film offers a ray of hope for these two over-zealous fans: Each has real friends (shown in on-camera interviews) who sympathize, understand, and provide companionship.
- I Think We’re Alone Now
- Director: Sean Donnelly
- Run time: 70 minutes
For more reviews of documentary films, read Movie Review of Pageant, Young @ Heart Movie Review, and Air Guitar Nation on DVD.
