Almost every generation has witnessed a celebrity scandal or controversy centered around legal or illegal activities. The Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, 1 Night in Paris, Kim Kardashian Superstar, the sex tapes of Tonya Harding, Chelsea Handler, Rob Lowe, Hulk Hogan, Pamela Anderson (the topic of today’s review), and The Fappening. There are two things to note from this recurrent phenomenon. The frequency of these incidents has increased with the advent of the internet. And, in most of the cases, the women in question have been scrutinized by society way more harshly than men. Hulu’s biographical drama mini-series Pam & Tommy largely dissects these topics, among many other themes, while giving us a look into Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s life together.
Developed by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, Pam & Tommy is based on Amanda Chicago Lewis’ Rolling Stone article, “Pam and Tommy: The Untold Story of the World’s Most Infamous Sex Tape.” Initially, the story is told through Rand Gauthier’s (Seth Rogen) perspective, one of the contractual workers renovating Tommy Lee’s (Sebastian Stan) mansion. Tensions are already high due to Tommy’s ever-changing demands and lack of payment. But things take a ugly turn when Rand accidentally comes across a semi-nude Pamela Anderson (Lily James) and Tommy fires Rand for allegedly being a pervert. Additionally, when Rand tries to retrieve his tools from the mansion, Tommy shoos him away with a death threat. Rand exacts revenge by stealing Tommy’s safe, in which he finds Pamela and Tommy’s sex tape, which he leaks. And that’s when Pamela and Tommy become the show’s POV characters.
The writing in Pam & Tommy (especially when it comes to the dialogue) is crisp, funny, and at times, incredibly emotional. They cut back and forth between timelines to give us as much insight into Anderson, Lee, and Gauthier’s personalities as it is humanly possible. And their intention to use one of the most popular scandals in modern history to comment on sexism, fame, the dark side of the internet, and make us empathize with Pamela is commendable. But here’s the thing. Given how the actual Pamela Anderson refused to respond to Lily James when James reached out to get to know her more, the existence of this show seems counterproductive and borderline unethical. For instance, the show recontextualizes the leak of Pamela and Tommy’s sex tape and says that it was a private affair that should’ve been nobody’s business. However, it was made public and monetized without their consent, thereby turning Pamela into an object and dehumanizing her horribly. Pamela’s rejection to be associated with this show says that she didn’t want a retread of this section of her past and see people treat her as a “character” rather than a human being again. Which also means that, no matter how sensibly Pamela’s story is handled, it doesn’t have her blessing and the showrunners are basically using the loophole that the series is based on an article to earn some moolah.
This kind of dichotomy is present in the direction as well. Cinematographer Paula Huidobro and the editors bring a sense of kineticism to the visual storytelling. Everything from the production design by Ethan Tobman and David Batchelor to the costume design by Kameron Lennox emulate the 90’s aesthetic to a T. The hair and make-up team of Pam & Tommy are definitely going to sweep all the awards just for Lily James’s transformation alone. Let’s just say that if you don’t know that that’s Lily James playing Pamela Anderson, you’ll think that it’s actually Pamela Anderson who has been de-aged. But, coming back to Pamela’s aversion to the concept of this show altogether, the act of fictionalizing her life and some of her most intimate moments seems wrong. Even if it looks like the show’s purpose is to illustrate how liberated of a woman Pamela was and still is and how pure her relationship with Tommy was, the graphic nature of the sex scenes undercuts that purpose very blatantly. And the fact that the explicit episodes that sexually objectify Pamela are directed by a man (Craig Gillespie) doesn’t help the show’s moral standing at all.
On top of that, there’s the case of Tommy and Rand. So, through the rivalry between these two men, the minds behind Pam & Tommy show that Pam was essentially collateral damage in Rand’s revenge saga. We get to see the horrid treatment of Rand by Tommy. We get to see how trivial, in hindsight, the inciting incident for the sex tape leak looks. And we get to see how men suffer from a fundamental misunderstanding of the way misogyny works as Tommy constantly questions Pam why the leak is a bigger issue for her when he’s on the tape as well. They successfully demonstrate that society, the media, and especially anonymous people on the internet will always slut shame a woman for the same reasons that they’ll deify a man. Since all these are issues that still remain unresolved, their highlighting and presentation seems important. But, in this process the show humanizes not just Tommy (someone who is accused of physically abusing Pamela, leading to their divorce), but Rand as well, the man responsible for Pamela’s unimaginable and undeserved harassment. Tommy’s portrayal gets a pass because, according to the show, Pamela reveres him as the love of her life. Why make Rand a pitiable figure though? To caution viewers who partake in similar endeavors? To forgive him on Pamela’s behalf (which doesn’t seem fair?) Well, at this point it remains unclear.
Although, everything from the writing to the direction is confusingly gray in terms of morality (which is not necessarily a bad thing as it incites discussion,) there’s no uncertainty about the brilliance of Pam & Tommy’s acting department. As mentioned before, James is barely recognizable as Anderson. Not just because of the mind-boggling makeup, but due to her body language, vocal inflections, and facial expressions. The show has a ton of long monologues. James has one where Pamela describes her love for Jane Fonda in an uncut take. The cadence and flow at which James delivers it is hypnotizing. This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime performance and, as cliché as it sounds, it’s tough to imagine anybody else in this role. While James is clearly doing a mixture of an impression and an evocation of Pamela Anderson, the rest of the cast’s performances are much more straightforward. Yet they’re as impactful. Sebastian Stan aptly channels Tommy Lee’s mood swings and his chemistry with Anderson feels palpable. He probably gets the wildest scene in the whole show where he has a one-to-one with his penis, which is voiced by Jason Mantzoukas. It’s a sight to behold. Seth Rogen is the comic relief here. But the tone is much more dry and that allows him to shift gears smoothly to portray Rand’s tragic and traumatic side. His relationship with Taylor Schilling’s Erica is very sweet. Nick Offerman is so slimy as Uncle Miltie, a porn movie director. Andrew Dice Clay as Butchie looks like he has just stepped out of a Martin Scorcese gangster flick. Fred Hechinger as Seth Warshavsky, the owner of a company that hosts cam girls, is sharp, witty, and beautifully holds his own in front of such seasoned stars.
Now, the aforementioned names are certainly the highlights. That said, every single person in the packed cast who shows up from anywhere between 10 minutes to 10 seconds nails it. And the credit for that should go to the actors as well as the casting directors, Lindsay Graham and Mary Vernieu.
It is too early to say but Pam & Tommy has a good chance of ending up in a lot of people’s “best shows of the year” lists on the basis of the performances alone. The other reasons are the show’s message about ethical use of the internet, respecting one’s privacy, and making the world a better place for women. In addition to that, if you keep Pamela’s act of distancing herself from this miniseries aside for a second, it’s a graceful reclamation of her image. Yes, Pamela has done that on her own in a tremendous way. But the reach of said reclamation being equal to the reach of the infamous sex tape is questionable. However, since this show will be made available worldwide, it has better odds of educating people about Pamela. Then again, if you bring back Pamela’s unspoken opinion on the show into the foreground, the whole exercise spearheaded by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen feels wrong. Still, it’s worth a watch and there’s a lot to appreciate even if you disagree with the ethos of Pam & Tommy.
