Star of Hulu mini-series Pam and Tommy, Sebastian Stan, thinks that Pamela Anderson getting her own documentary on Netflix is “great.” Anderson announced on March 2nd that she will be working with Netflix to create the documentary about her life, “to tell the real story.” The announcement came via the star’s Instagram account, as she posted a photo of a note on the Netflix letterhead, signed with a kiss.
When asked by Variety what he thinks of the documentary, Stan responded, “I think it’s great. I’m feeling grateful and hopeful that the show inspired further conversation and another deeper look that it deserves, so I look forward to seeing it.”
Stan plays Mötley Crüe musician Tommy Lee opposite Lily James as Pamela Anderson in the biographical drama, which covers the turbulent period of time during which a private sex tape of the couple was stolen and sold online. The show looks at the fallout for Lee and Anderson, focusing on, and very much sympathising with, Anderson and the trauma she faced at the hands of the media.
The controversy of Pam and Tommy is that while it broaches the topic of consent, and addresses the trauma it created for Anderson, the producers did not have her consent to make said show. The show essentially brings her whole ordeal back again, even going so far as re-creating the sex scene from the video, in parts. Though we can see that the filmmakers’ sympathies clearly lie with Anderson, it’s difficult to come to terms with the fact that the main subject of the show did not want it to be made.
There has been concerted effort recently to re-examine the actions of the media in the ‘90s and ‘00s, and to question and even condemn their treatment of women; press coverage at the time of Britney Spears, Janet Jackson, and Monica Lewinsky amounted to denouncement and slut-shaming in both published and visual media, and have been re-evaluated as the perspective has shifted over the last decade. Though it could be argued that Pam and Tommy shines a light on exploitative media coverage of women, it also enforces it, as it went ahead without the approval of the subject of the biography. Even more ironic is that Seth Rogen, who developed the series, also portrays the man who stole the sex tapes.
Anderson made the announcement regarding her own documentary just a week before the last episode of Pam and Tommy is set to air on March 9th. Per Variety, Netflix has stated that the project will be “an intimate portrait embedded in the life of Pamela Anderson as she looks back at her professional and personal path and prepares for the next steps on her journey.”