Pamela A Love Story Review: Netflix Documentary Film in Which Pamela Anderson Talks About Her Life and Career
Cast: Pamela Anderson, Tommy Lee
Director: Ryan White
Streaming Platform: Netflix
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 4/5 (four stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Pamela A Love Story, on Netflix Pamela Anderson, finds her space and her truth. Since the release of Pam and Tommy, the public debate around the character Pamela Anderson has been reawakened. Many things have been said and insinuated, even with malice. Now, finally, the word is given directly to the protagonist of so much talk, so much cruelty and so many errors of assessment: Pamela Anderson herself. This is Pamela A Love Story, a documentary about the model and actress directed by Ryan White and produced by Jessica Hargrave, Ryan White, Julia Nottingham, and Brandon Thomas Lee (eldest son of Pamela and Tommy Lee Jones).
As we will see in this review of Pamela A Love Story, Netflix’s intention with this new documentary is precisely this, to give a voice to those who – perhaps from the beginning of their career in show business – had never had one. The image of Pamela Anderson that we have built over the years as an audience is tarnished by her role as a Playboy bunny, as a sexy lifeguard in Baywatch, as a femme fatale in the flop Barb Wire and, above all, as an involuntary star of a risqué video in the company of the husband, who quickly went viral. In the documentary film produced by the streaming giant, Pamela Anderson is allowed to tell her story from her point of view, in a stream of consciousness that starts from her childhood (and from the traumas she suffered before becoming famous) up to the numerous failed marriages. A key point in her story is precisely the episode of the stolen VHS.
Pamela A Love Story Review: The Story Plot
Pamela A Love Story manages to be an intimate and humanizing portrait of the woman, from her childhood (very difficult, marked by an alcoholic father and various cases of abuse) to her worldwide fame with Baywatch, from her beginnings as a model, from covers of Playboy, from the formation of her image which, piece by piece, frames and imprisons her as a very blond and brainless sexy bomb. Great space is given to the stolen video scandal. Pamela herself sees in this absurd violation of her privacy and her humanity, and all the useless media process and not only that will follow, the definitive end of her ambitions as an actress and star in the round, as well as the end of her marriage to Tommy Lee, also crushed by pressure, fatigue, an impatient and impulsive nature.
After the scandal and the divorce, Pamela decides to use the stereotype that had been forced upon her, she embraces it, and she uses it as a way to carry on her causes: the animal rights one and the one linked to her friendship with Julian Assange. The tone is intimate, delicate, and respectful. It’s nice to see a woman tell her story without finally having to defend herself from her exploitation, at her ease in her space and with the respect due to her. From her property overlooking a lake in Canada, Pamela Anderson retraces her entire life, with the help of home videos accumulated over the years, with photos and above all with the diaries she has kept and which have always accompanied her.
The woman tells us about her childhood, the problematic relationship between her parents and the abuse suffered at a young age, and her rise to the limelight, first of her locally and then internationally, with photos of her in Playboy. In all these years a central element is her relationship with men – with her numerous boyfriends and finally with her husband Tommy Lee – and her fairy-tale conception of love. The tone of the first part of the Netflix documentary is just that of a fairy tale. The dream of passionate and perfect love is the common thread of the entire narrative, Pamela is not discouraged even after the first divorce and allegations of domestic violence against Tommy Lee. There will be several husbands, but none will occupy the same place in her heart as her first great love, with whom she is still on good terms.
Today’s Pamela is cloaked in an aura of maturity and peace, also due to her relationship with her two adult children who are very close to her, and who here have the opportunity to tell the story of her mother from their point of view. After the cathartic journey undertaken by the actress with this documentary, we find a new experience, the Chicago show in which she was the protagonist in 2022 and which was quite successful. Something Pamela did just for herself, not caring about the opinion of others, especially that of the men in her life. From Playboy to Broadway in a liberating journey that deeply affects the viewer, making this documentary an undoubtedly interesting and engaging product.
Pamela A Love Story Review and Analysis
What is striking in this documentary is the overwhelming awareness that Pamela Anderson is a victim. A victim of those who abused beat, loved and abandoned her, of course, but also a victim of those who didn’t defend her. Of those who obsessively asked her about her breasts, about her sex life; of those who didn’t contradict the sexist insults she received. But also, of a misogynistic public opinion that should get on its knees to apologize. And in the face of all this, Pamela has always fought very strong, always retorted, always responded in kind, diverted, niched, and loved against everyone and everyone. To survive. Even against herself, when she decided to leave the man she loved madly because he had been violent with her and she felt the need to protect her children.
Another element that often returns throughout the film is the role that the media played in the most negative moments of his life and professional career. Pamela tells of how she found herself stuck in the part of the sex bomb and how any kind of press talk about her was inevitably linked to the sex tape affair. The point on which the woman dwells the most is how she has felt violated for years, how she has been deprived of the possibility of deciding about herself, her image and her body, in a sad parallel with the sexual violence suffered in youth. The Pamela Anderson we discover in this documentary is fragile but at the same time strong figure, who has overcome periods of enormous difficulty but who still seems capable of facing life with a smile.
The portrayal of the Baywatch blonde that we found in this film is very different from what we expected and is radically different from what we were given of the woman in the Hulu TV series. As the actress points out — that she won’t see the show, like she’s never seen the sex tape that was stolen from her — the picture they painted of her will never come close to reality, because no one knows her. Thanks to this Netflix documentary, we seem to know her a little better, and the Pamela we discovered has an intriguing and intelligent personality.
Not that Pamela A Love Story leaves us with a feeling of completeness; also in this case the narrative is a bit sweetened and partial (we don’t dwell on all the stars’ relationships and Tommy Lee’s domestic violence is limited to a few minutes). Having said that, however, the viewing experience is pleasant and – perhaps for the first time – completely managed by its protagonist. The excerpts from diaries read during the film only underline – even if at times in a somewhat redundant way – how revolutionary this operation is in its way: Pamela Anderson finally has the opportunity to tell her version of events, without an annoying and opinionated interviewer (such as Jay Leno, who gave her worst during the sex tape period) to interrupt her and put words that weren’t hers into her mouth. Pamela A Love Story is indeed the story of a love story, but not that of her protagonist with Tommy Lee and with her other lovers of hers, but the most difficult of all of her, namely that of her in comparison to itself.
Pamela A Love Story Review: The Last Words
Pamela A Love Story manages to be an intimate and humanizing portrait of the woman, from her childhood (very difficult, marked by an alcoholic father and various cases of abuse) to her worldwide fame with Baywatch, from her beginnings as a model, from the covers of Playboy, from the formation of her image which, piece by piece, frames and imprisons her as a very blond and brainless sexy bomb. Pamela A Love Story is a captivating portrait of its protagonist, who finally has the chance to tell her own story. A documentary that involves and strikes the viewer, portraying Pamela Anderson originally and intriguingly.
