Trigger Warning: Topics such as sexual assault and abuse are discussed in the following article. If you are sensitive to such, I recommend checking out some of our other articles instead!
We all know and love Miss Pamela Anderson but after watching “Pamela, A Love Story,” I am beginning to think we didn’t know her at all. Ryan White’s enticing documentary captivates the real Pamela as he allows her to tell her side of the story as she looks back at her peak years through her personal diaries.
Pamela Anderson has always been honest and open-book when it came to interviews. It was widely known for her to be asked questions about her breasts, her boyfriends, and her overall image. She never knew that she could create these boundaries and not answer questions if she felt uncomfortable. In fact, she even mentions that she learned to answer the questions with such grace and confidence. From the moment Pamela was spotted at the Canadian football game in 1989, the image of Pamela Anderson no longer belonged to her but to everyone else.
Pamela’s life is complicated so to speak. Her parents had a complicated and sometimes violent relationship. She was molested by her babysitter at a very young age. Lived on welfare for a while. Raped by a 25 year old at the mere age of 12. All of these things during her childhood. Anderson mentions that all of these things caused her to be a shy and timid girl. She didn’t feel she had control over her body and didn’t feel beautiful. Ironically enough, her body was her ticket out of this mess. Anderson addresses her time with Playboy and how it was empowering, as she was taking back control of her own body again. Pamela loved modeling and she expresses that Playboy allowed her to be comfortable in her own body and display it in the way she chose. Despite the fact that Pamela was positively impacted personally, unfortunately now the world now viewed her as less than a person and more of an object. Even when her sex tape was stolen from her own home, no one truly sympathized for her as she had already put her body out to the public like that. Pamela discusses how Playboy was a choice for her and how having the tape stolen was an invasion of privacy and hurt in a way most couldn’t begin to comprehend.
Although her life has been one hell of a ride, Pamela makes it clear that she doesn’t regret a thing. She speaks of Tommy Lee, the father of her two kids and ex-boyfriend, in a positive light despite their differences. She doesn’t regret not fighting the sex-tape case and even states that she “didn’t settle” but rather let the case go for her own sanity and peace. And she most certainly doesn’t regret her time at Playboy, although she wasn’t perceived differently after. She took these experiences and her voice and became an advocate for PETA, putting out ads to make people aware about animal cruelty and taking shows/interviews to spread word about her upcoming projects.
After many love affairs and scandals, Anderson has pulled through and decided to leave the past in the past. She had taken the time to heal from her past relationships and try to look past the sex-tape leak, although it still stings a bit. This documentary serves some purpose to her; reminding her that she is still a person who feels and loves, not some character people have made out of her. Ryan White does an incredible job at shedding light on Pamela’s voice and allowing her to speak for herself. Documentaries like these allow people like Pamela Anderson to reclaim their narrative and correct the record themselves.