'Pam and Tommy' Fails to Learn Its Own Lesson on Consent
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Pam and Tommy, a retelling of the 1995 Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee sex tape scandal, is arguably one of Hulu's most anticipated releases ever.
Starring Lily James and Sebastian Stan as the iconic couple, the eight-episode series pulls no punches when it comes to how brutal the fallout of the stolen recording was for the pair, who met and married within just four days.
It's a story focused on privacy invasion, celebrity commentary, slut-shaming and consent, and, like we said in our review, it does successfully depict all this.
But there is just one massive elephant in the room that shadows the whole series, and it needs to be addressed—and that's the hypocrisy of telling the story.
Despite it being their story, both Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson declined to be involved.
As a result, their private lives are being dragged out once again, without their consent, in a way that is far more invasive than ever before. It somewhat diminishes the point that the series is trying to make.
It's one thing to report on what happened years after the fact, but to have a fictional naked Tommy talking with his own giant penis, to have their intimate home moments speculated on, or to recreate the moment Pamela miscarries is a whole different ballgame.
At the time of writing, Pamela has never spoken publicly about Pam and Tommy, but there have been numerous reports that the Baywatch actress finds it "shocking" the show has gone on without her consent.
"Pamela has no regrets about her life, but the only thing she would probably erase is this burglary," a source told Entertainment Tonight in January. "She feels so violated to this day. It brings back a very painful time for her."
Even actress Lily James has acknowledged that Pamela didn't respond to her attempts to reach out and speak to her.
Speaking to Net-A-Porter’s Porter, Lily said: "I was really hopeful that she would be involved. I wish it had been different.
"My sole intention was to take care of the story and to play Pamela authentically."
"I was very hopeful that we would be in touch right up until we started filming," Lily added, before stating that she was hoping the portrayal will help "start a conversation" to create "attempts at change". She also acknowledges that the subject matter itself is "sensitive and difficult".
Courtney Love has been far more vocal on her friend Pamela's behalf and, on the announcement of the project back in May 2021, denounced the series and its use of Pamela's image without her permission.
In a now-deleted Facebook post (via Daily Mail), Courtney wrote: "I find this so f**king outrageous . When Pam / tommy sex tape was out / myself @pattyschemel @xmadmx were making a record. And the lone women in many recording studios in la… Where all / ALL! The staff engineers / producers / owners / were watching the sex tape with huge schadenfraude . . Guffaws, It was disgusting. I banned anyone discussing it. It destroyed my friend Pamela's life. Utterly."
The Hole lead singer added that she declined the use of her image being used in Pam and Tommy on the cover of a Rolling Stone issue.
"Gentleman don't approve this sort of thing," she said. "My heart goes out to Pammy...further causing her complex trauma. And shame on Lily James whoever the f**k she is. #vile."
So… there's no misunderstanding Courtney's feelings on the situation, then. She may not be speaking directly on behalf of Pamela, but it certainly sets a tone on how her social circle feels about Pam and Tommy.
On the plus side for its producers, it seems that Tommy Lee was a bit more open to the fictional portrayal of this moment in his life. While he has declined direct involvement with the project, he has at least spoken with Sebastian Stan.
In fact, in September 2021, while talking with Entertainment Tonight on the VMAs red carpet, he even seemed to give it his seal of approval, though he hadn't seen the final product.
"I know Sebastian, he's playing me, and from what he's told me, it's a really beautiful story," he said. "I think a lot of people would think it's one thing, but it's really about privacy and how things got crazy then. There's different laws now, and just… the story is actually cool, what happened wasn't. But he's told me it's pretty wild."
While it's nice that Tommy is "stoked" about it, the pair's reactions seem somewhat symbolic of what the show portrays–that there's a double standard involved. While the guy can get through it relatively unscathed, it's the woman in this situation who's going to feel the brunt of the pain and have her voice ignored.
The trauma that comes with being seen in such a sexualizing light without your consent, and the brick walls you come up against because "if you can be seen half-naked in a mag, why is this sex tape not OK?" In today's day and age, we're thankfully at least at a point where we can recognize the difference between these two things. What is consent and what isn't, and how one case of yes doesn't mean you can ignore a barrage of nos.
In the almost 30 years since the incident, Pamela has achieved a lot of things, including her notable humanitarian work. But, for most, she's still the chick from Baywatch, or the girl involved in this sex tape.
Pam and Tommy does portray Pamela in a sensitive light. While there's one shot of her (fictional) boobs in episode two, female nudity in general is kept to a minimum. When things go south, the writers have done a bang-up job of showing just how badly the world turned on a girl who did absolutely nothing wrong, making her tabloid fodder and the butt of jokes.
"The show loves Pam," writer Robert Siegel told Variety. "So I hope Pam loves the show. She's certainly the hero of the show. At every step of the way, we've tried to do right by her. From the writing to working very closely with Lily, who kind of grew into our custodian of the character."
In the tail end of the series, Pam and Tommy is at times heartbreaking and difficult to watch, and to her credit, Lily James does an amazing job. But it would've been so much better without the knowledge that Pamela washed her hands of the series.
"She's chosen not to engage," Siegel said in the same interview. "So we've respected her desire not to be involved."
The comment is striking. Surely, if you respect her right to not be involved, and go to such lengths to give the character the respect she deserves… maybe you should have cleared it with her in the first place?
In the case of Pam and Tommy, as much as we enjoyed the series, surely you need to walk the walk as much as you talk the talk.
When contacted by Digital Spy, neither Pamela Anderson nor Tommy Lee's reps responded to our request for comment on the show.
Pam and Tommy launches February 2 on Disney Plus and Hulu, and will air weekly.
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