What drew most people to Hulu’s 2022 miniseries “Pam & Tommy” was its glittery exterior and salacious subject matter. But what lies beneath the surface of this gossip column retelling is a story that never should’ve been retold in the first place. Hulu did a good job of dressing up “Pam & Tommy” to be a fast-paced and torrid tale of star-crossed lovers Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee, but the reality is a lot less pretty.
The backbone of “Pam & Tommy” isn’t Anderson and Lee’s volatile marriage, but rather the unwanted release of their 1995 honeymoon sex tape. Tumultuous relationships have always been a dime a dozen in Hollywood, but before the Internet boom, celebrity sex tapes getting leaked was significantly less common. Anderson and Lee’s tape was in a safe that was stolen by carpenter Rand Gauthier after he was fired during renovations on Lee’s home. After that, the recently forged world wide web was used to advertise and sell the tape to whoever wanted it.
The distribution of the tape put Anderson and Lee under the microscope for millions to scrutinize, but in true patriarchal fashion, the one who took the biggest fall was Anderson. In the wake of the tape’s release, Anderson became patient zero for worldwide slut shaming and was the butt of every late-night comic’s set. The scandal is something that has followed her career ever since and is still brought up today, hence the idea for “Pam & Tommy.”
Films and television shows retelling infamous pop culture moments have been on the rise, such as “I, Tonya” (2017) and FX’s “The People vs. OJ Simpson” (2016), along with numerous documentaries about Britney Spears’ conservatorship. Networks and production companies have become more and more interested in telling stories that have already played out in the public eye with the goal of giving an insider look, instantly drawing in viewers who simply want to know the truth.
Bringing true stories to the fictional screen has always been done, and is something that will continue to be done, but there is a fine line between retelling past events and capitalizing off of them with no regard for the real people associated with them.
According to a source who talked to Entertainment Weekly, Anderson did not consent to the filming of “Pam & Tommy” and also has no desire to ever watch it. It’s understandable that the series would bring up old wounds, and the fact that the public gets to relive one of the worst and most exposing moments of Anderson’s career, without her permission, puts a bad taste in many viewers’ mouths.
The tape getting leaked without Anderson’s permission and her becoming a comedic and moral punching bag, only for that situation to be exploited once again years later for the goal of entertainment is repulsive. The cycle of exploitation continues without regard for the person it’s exploiting because people rarely view female celebrities as humans.
Anderson’s body and private life were commodified in 1995, and they are still being commodified in 2022. The creation of “Pam & Tommy” shows that the sexual exploitation of women is still seen as something appropriate for entertainment and judgment. The minute a woman decides, on her own accord, to portray herself sexually, people decide to take that and run with it, assuming that every aspect of her is free game at all times for anyone. After all, if Anderson was willing to pose for Playboy magazine and wear a skimpy bikini on “Baywatch,” then why wouldn’t she be okay with having her 54-minute honeymoon tape be broadcasted for the whole world to see?
The answer is very simple: consent. A woman giving consent to a sexy photoshoot and a television role is not a green light for her entire private sex life to be exposed, and that’s exactly what happened to Anderson. The root of this problem is the fact that women’s bodies aren’t viewed as human; they’re viewed as a product. Those who distributed Anderson’s tape weren’t seeing it as an invasion of privacy, but rather as a great business opportunity for themselves. Women should be allowed to portray themselves in any way they want without the fear of being dehumanized, but rarely is that ever the case,
Arguably the worst aspect of “Pam & Tommy” is the fact that it tries to pass itself off as feminist. However, the show patting itself on the back and essentially saying, “Oh poor Pamela, isn’t it so awful what happened to her?” is hardly progressive. How can “Pam & Tommy” claim to have Anderson’s best interest in mind when the show didn’t even get her permission to portray her story? Production companies want to create projects that pander to feminism and other progressive topics, but their main motive at the end of the day is how many viewers their shows get, and how much money those viewers bring in to the network. More often than not, they’re willing to go against the moral themes in their films and shows just to get on Twitter’s trending page. “Pam & Tommy” is an entertaining show at face value, but the background of its creation goes against its core message.
The finale of “Pam & Tommy” is set to air on March 9, 2022, ironically in the middle of Women’s History Month. Viewers will tune in to see how the show will wrap up the end of this persisting issue into a deceiving bow. The show will end, but the exploitation of Anderson and other women worldwide will not. Revenge porn will still exist, slut shaming will still exist, and somewhere in between, “Pam & Tommy” will remain as a show retelling something that didn’t want to be retold, and shouldn’t have been retold. “Pam & Tommy” didn’t hurt the feminist movement, but it didn’t do much to help it either. It is a meta-commentary on how the worth of women is boiled down to their sex appeal.