Based on an awfully entertaining true story, Hulu’s “Pam and Tommy” is more exploitative and inconsistent than enticing.
The limited series follows Pamela Anderson, played by Lily James, and then-husband Tommy Lee, played by Sebastian Stan, as their sex tape gets leaked by an angry electrician Rand Gauthier, played by Seth Rogan, who worked on their house but was fired in 1995.
Anderson, a model and actress known mostly for her character C.J. Parker in 1989 TV show “Baywatch,” suddenly became a prominent public figure after the leak of her and Lee’s sex tape. The show is based on an article published in Rolling Stone in 2014 which chronicles the sex tape saga that traumatized the couple.
The show opens with an interview between Jay Leno, played by Adam Ray, and Anderson. Leno pesters her about the tape and it’s clear that she’s uncomfortable. Leno jokes that he hasn’t watched the tape but only because he hasn’t found a copy. The scene started a serious tone I thought the show would carry.
When behind the scenes photos were shared of James and Stan, my jaw dropped, staring at my screen as my brain tried to convince me that the woman I was looking at was Lily James.
This role is so different for James, who usually plays into the sweet kind of girl-next-door vibe. She’s probably best known for her role as young Donna in “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.”
Barry Lee Moe, head of the show’s hair and makeup department, told Variety in an August 2021 article that James spent anywhere from three to five hours in hair and makeup each morning.
The hair and makeup would be the only five star rating I’d give for the show until I saw the appalling prosthetic breasts they slapped on James’ chest.
The show focuses on Anderson, a woman who’s been exploited and objectified her entire life. The cast claims consent is key and that the story is feminist but doesn’t treat the real Anderson with respect.
The tape was labeled “PAMELA’S HARDCORE SEXTAPE” and Lee wasn’t used to promote the corrupt sales. It was all about Anderson. A show about the horror of a nonconsensual sex tape being shared was without the main character’s real-life consent.
Neither Lee nor Anderson are affiliated with the series.
Lee said the television portrayal of the story was “cool” and he was “stoked” it was being made, according to a Sept. 13, 2021 Entertainment Tonight (ET) article.
Entertainment Tonight is a talk show that sources on entertainment and celebrity news.
Lee’s still in the same mindset as he was in the 90s, a mindset where any publicity is good publicity. While Anderson has not spoken about any aspects of the show.
If Pam and Tommy is such a movement for her, why make it without her input? Why not come up with an original idea for a show instead of another biopic?
Showrunner D.V. DeVincentis said Anderson never replied after they reached out about her portrayal on the show, according to a Sept. 13, 2021 Entertainment Tonight article.
“Considering what she's been through and the time that we were reaching out, that was understandable,” he said in the same ET interview.
Why make the show? Why put someone's trauma out there again if you know the amount of effort it took for her to get over it?
Something doesn’t sit right with me about how DeVincentis reached out to Anderson but when there was no response, producers continued to make the show without her input.
The Hulu character is supposedly giving her a voice, but I guess the real Anderson doesn’t deserve privacy because she’s a symbol.
The show missed out on portraying feminist themes but hit the nail on the head for creating an entertaining show.
I do applaud the use of puppetry in the form of Lee’s talking penis, but at what cost? In episode three, Lee talks to his penis about his love for Anderson, which was creative and authentic since Lee has actually admitted to it in his 2001 book “The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band.”
But on that note, the show itself has no consistent tone. Am I supposed to laugh? When am I supposed to start crying?
It claims to be a biographical drama with dark humor, but I don’t see any dark humor. If I laugh, it’s because of the irony or because of Gauthier’s mullet hairstyle.
In episode four, the couple realizes their tape is stolen and decides to take action. This takes a toll on Anderson because her world unravels in front of her. She says to Lee that she feels “violated,” to which Lee replies that he just feels anger.
The couple gets into a fight because Anderson said it’s a bigger deal for her. Lee will be called cool and be congratulated while she gets called a slut, which is something anyone with a brain would realize.
I’m glad that the show is taking on an “I, Tonya” feel in the sense that the show is depicting a man ruining a woman’s life because he feels belittled.
“I, Tonya” is a 2017 film that takes on the story of Tonya Harding. It centers on the incident with Nancy Kerrigan that claims Harding didn’t have a say in, it was all her ex-husband and his goofy friend claiming to be her bodyguard.
It’s nice to see people talk about Anderson in a more significant way.
I hope that after the latest episode, which was about Anderson feeling violated, upset and shameful, the show can take a more serious tone.
The fourth episode also sold me on the cinematography. I loved when Lee and Anderson went to the public library to see if their tape was really being sold online. Lee has a black hat on, sideways of course, and Anderson has her hood up. They are both wearing dark sunglasses as they hold hands frantically trying to find a computer in the library.
As they manually enter the website URL and the computer takes forever to load, the shot lingers on their faces of frustration and shock. Anderson takes off her sunglasses in disbelief, breaking the fourth wall.
After four episodes, I’d give the show two and a half stars out of five. One for cinematography, another for acting and half for hair, makeup and costumes.
The show is released every Wednesday on Hulu.
So sure, continue to watch weekly to see how cool Stan and James look, but the show itself is ironic and ill-favored.
