Review We Owe Pamela Anderson an Apology

Hulu’s limited series takes us through the couple’s relationship from when their sex tape was stolen and released online to the media’s response to it.

Those are the words of Lily James’ Pamela Anderson in Hulu’s Pam & Tommy, where she tries to explain to her then-husband Tommy Lee, played by Sebastian Stan, the double standards of the media and the world.

The limited series is about the couple’s 1995 stolen sex tape and the way it affected both of their lives. We learn about their love story: from Lee’s obsession with the Baywatch actress that led him to stalk her until he got a date with her, to how they tied the knot after only four days of knowing each other. Because of how fast they got married, the show depicts a troubled marriage, with the couple learning new (and basic) things about each other throughout the eight episodes.

The plot revolves around Rand Gauthier, played by Seth Rogen, the contractor who broke into Lee’s mansion and stole his safe after being fired without pay. Gauthier plans the robbery and then sells the tape online, making this scandal the first celebrity video to be leaked online for a price. Its success grabbed the attention of entrepreneurs that invested in Internet pornography, which also becomes a small plot on the show.

The producers based Pam & Tommy on a 2014 Rolling Stone article because Anderson and Lee chose to not be involved in the series. The research is based on published works by the ex-couple in the past, but fictional moments of the couple’s intimacy were added to create more impact. However, being inspired by an article means it is mainly one-sided. The story is being told by Gauthier, and the increments of the romance and interviews in the show were based on what is available to us, not the actual facts that the couple lived through privately. This means whispers of the truth were used, but they are still violating the private life that Anderson was deprived of.

Going back to real life, Pamela Anderson, who is originally from Canada, had a difficult childhood. It was filled with abuse; from a babysitter, who molested her from ages six to ten, a

Pamela Anderson

○ B. July 1, 1967 in Ladysmith, Canada.

○ Modeled for Playboy cover 14 times.

friend’s boyfriend who tricked her into being alone with him, resulting in being raped at age 12, to her grade nine boyfriend and six of his friends gang raping her “for fun.” Even after all this trauma, she continued being positive, worrying about animals and human rights, and working towards the good that the world could still offer. However, It was her beautiful features that made her discovered.

She was featured on the jumbotron at a B.C. Lions football game, and soon after, she started her career with Playboy. Up until today, she believes that Hugh Hefner and Playboy helped break a barrier for women to feel sexy and comfortable in their skin. She believes that, contrary to expeculations by the media and society, women who posed for Playboy had the option to do the job, rather than being exploited or forced by Hefner. Therefore, she also believes that Playboy is not pornography.

Then there is Baywatch. The role she is known for, where she plays CJ, a lifeguard who runs in slow motion. The show explores the professional and personal lives of good looking lifeguards, and it became an instant hit, running for eleven seasons from 1989 to 2001. Its popularity was so important in pop culture that the red one-piece swimsuit is still an iconic piece in fashion.

○ She does not see posing nude as an industry that exploits women; she believes that Hugh Hefner gave women the option to work for Playboy, and that the pornography industry is what is violent towards women.

○ She has openly talked about being sexually abused as a child: “We naturally blame ourselves I did not tell my mother for a long time, and even when I told her she’s like ‘it’s in the past, don’t even think about it anymore.”

○ She has had an encounter with Harvey

Weinstein; he has threatened her after being considered “difficult” to work with on set for not wanting to work with animals. She was not surprised when accusations against him came out: “It’s common knowledge.”

○ She is an advocate for The National Domestic Violence Hotline. She had a difficult childhood, filled with abuse from a babysitter to an ex-boyfriend.

○ Pamela Anderson Foundation was founded in 2014, supporting the protection and preservation of human, animal and environmental rights.

However, Anderson is mainly known for the sextape in which Pam & Tommy is based on, due to an unfortunate turn of events. After being stolen from her own home, Anderson completely lost the right to her own body, and due to her past modeling gig with Playboy, she had no voice to protect herself from the violent media of the 1990s.

The nineties will be remembered for media violence against celebrities, or people in the spotlight in general. The rapid growth of the Internet and the demand for quick information, paparazzis had the best decade to make quick money, as long as they had a photo that others might not have yet. Think Princess Diana, who could never have alone time without a paparazzi following her around, Monica Lewinsky, who got harassed by the media after being involved with ex-president Bill Clinton, and even a young Britney Spears, who was still a teenager at the time, had to deal with cameras and flashes following them around.

So when Anderson and Lee’s sex tape got exposed online, they were the couple be harassed by them. Everyone wanted a quote, a photo, a moment that could easily become news, and to do so, paparazzis would camp outside the couple’s mansion, follow them around, even provoke them to get a reaction, because anything would sell.

Pam & Tommy shows exactly that. It is well made and the acting is exceptional. James’ physical appearance as Anderson is immaculate, and her performance embodies the struggles of a woman with no voice about her own body. Stan’s impersonation of the wild Mötley Crüe drummer is believable, his obsession masked as love was forthcoming, and the chemistry between the two actors strengthened the love story between Lee and Anderson. The problem with the show is how violating it is for the real Pamela Anderson.

The directors claim that it was sypathetic to Anderson, yet nudity was present in every episode, from the couple’s intimate scenes, parts of the sex tapes, to Anderson giving birth to her first son. Utilizing nudity to tell a story of a woman that is still dealing with the consequences of her intimate moment being shared online is not ideal. There is time for artistic nudity, but recreating parts of the tape that people might still have access to was senseless. There was no consent from the couple back in 1995 when the tape was stolen and published, and neither party consented to the creation of the show this time, either.

James reached out to Anderson to hopefully have her involved prior to production and during filming, but never received a call back. Sources close to Anderson have said that the actress has no intention of watching the show now or in the future, and that she has avoided watching the trailer or seeing pictures of the characters.

It is an understandable reaction, considering Anderson is still dealing with the consequences of the spread of her sex tape. Lee was seen as the “cool guy” for being intimate with Anderson, while she lost the rights to her own body simply because she had already posed for Playboy and she was playing a “sexy” character in “Baywatch.” The most heartbreaking moment of the show is when Anderson realizes that she is losing job

Tommy Lee

○ B. October 3, 1962 in Athens, Greece.

○ His real name is Thomas Lee Bass.

○ Founding member and drummer of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe opportunities because she is solely seen for her body. Societal double standards are very clear throughout the episodes, while Lee is making jokes about his penis size with people at a bar, a pregnant Anderson auditions for roles that she would not get as a result of the leaked tape.

○ He was in a marching band in high school.

○ Even though his band was popular in the 1980s and part of the 90s, his marriages to Heather Locklear and Pamela Anderson is what made Lee a household name.

○ Spent months in jail in 1998 after Anderson accused him of hitting her in front of their children.

○ They divorced while he was in prison but reconciled just to break up again later.

○ He had a reality TV in 2005 called Tommy Goes to College, where he documented his journey as a student at the University of Nebraska for a few weeks.

○ He is also an advocate of animal rights.

○ He has 50+ tattoos.

○ Lee and his son Brandon got into a physical fight in 2018, leaving the drummer with a swolen lip.

○ Currently married to ex-Vine star Brittany Furlan since 2019.

It is gratifying to see social media defending Anderson decades after the occurrence; as painful as the past being brought up years later is, the show created conversations regarding pornography, sex tapes, and double standards online. TikTok accounts shared content about Anderson and Lee in a respectful manner, explaining to a younger audience the facts about the ex-couple and their lives, before and after the leak of their tape.

TikTok commentator @hellotefi made a very informative thirteenpart video where she went down the timeline of Anderson and Lee’s relationship. Sympathetic towards the actress, Tefi defended Anderson and explained the turbulent life she had with Lee back in the mid-1990s, and even added in what their relationship is today. However, one of her followers did not like this series: ex-Vine star — and current wife of Tommy Lee — Brittany Furlan thought her personal life would not be invaded for being “mutuals online.” Furlan unfollowed Tefi claiming that the content creator’s “Perez Hilton vibes” upset her, and that some “facts” Tefi shared were untrue.

This TikTok drama exposed two sides of media consumerism. Tefi, as a commentator, shared her sympathy to Anderson’s pain and explained what a toxic relationship looks like, while mainly focusing on facts through the actress’ point of view. On the other hand, Furlan, the follower who defended her husband (and herself for that matter) claimed that she did not understand why a mutual follower would talk about the past. However, Furlan followed @hellotefi, who regularly posted celebrity gossip, and had no issue with the content until she was involved (her name was never mentioned, though she was referred as “his current wife” once), revealing a hypocrisy on her part. The Vine star chose to ignore the message of Tefi’s series, which was how little voice Anderson had throughout her career, and how a toxic relationship can become an addictive cycle that could be hard to break.

After refusing to be involved with the Hulu series, Anderson signed with Netflix to work on a documentary of her own. Directed by Ryan White and co-produced by her son Brandon Thomas Lee, the news was shared by the actress on her Instagram account with a note with Netflix’s logo, claiming that she’s “not a victim, but a survivor & alive to tell the real story.”

This is her time. She deserves a spotlight to tell her story, without the sexualization and dramatization of her traumas. In an era of the #MeToo movement, where women are supporting other women more than ever, and where the media is beginning to raise awareness about the double standards and misogyny of Hollywood, Anderson finally has the opportunity to share her version.

We owe her this moment, but most importantly, we owe her an apology for how we, as media consumers, have treated her in the past.