Yesterday I watched Netflix’s Pamela Anderson documentary entitled Pamela: A Love Story. This woman is a person. She is someone’s mother. She is someone’s daughter. She is someone’s friend. And she has been reduced to nothing more than a sex object by most of us over the years. Yes, she is gorgeous. But, like everyone else, she is layered, complicated and many things. A centerfold body and a beautiful face is not all that she has to offer.
Like many of you, I have seen countless interviews where Anderson joked along with interviewers, particularly male late night talk show hosts, who could do nothing more than make crude jokes about her 2 most famous attributes, while simultaneously laughing about her infamous home movie. All the while making light of the fact that she was the victim of a crime and, instead, painting her as someone who not only benefitted from said crime but also enjoyed the notoriety she received from the burglary of and mass production of her personal property. Yes, she did laugh but think of it from her point of view. What else is she expected to do? She tried to fight the original crime. She tried to get the tape back. Much of this was to her personal and physical detriment, as you will see in the documentary. She did not accept any type of payment for the tape [per the documentary] and, honestly, after the tape was out, it was out. What else was there to do? Maybe she felt that laughing these actually rather rude interviewers off was her way of taking back some semblance of control in this unfathomably messed up situation.
Reader, I ask you to think about this. How many of you have done things you would not want the public to be aware of? I mean, what you do in your bedroom with another consenting adult is really only your business unless you choose to share. How many of you have made your own home video perhaps? How would you feel if someone broke into your home and stole it and then uploaded it to the internet. Would you feel you were to blame? Would you feel it not your right to do what you want in the privacy of your home? Or would you lay blame with the rightful owner – the one who committed the criminal act? If you would feel the criminal responsible for the crime, why not use that same litmus test for all people suffering the same issue? Why are you different from Anderson?
I have never seen her home video. Honestly, I just never felt it was my business, given the way it came to the public. So I chose never to watch it. After watching Netflix’s Pamela Anderson documentary, I am really glad that was my decision all those years ago. You might argue “She was naked all those times in Playboy.” Yes. She was. And she chose to do that. And she was paid for her work. This video was not something she chose to share and that is where the issue lies. People using this argument to rationalize the release of this video sound an awful lot like people who say “She slept with me once and now I can have it whenever I want.” That is not the case. We always have the right to say no. We always have the right to choose what we want to share and what we do not want to share. And really there is no other explanation needed.
Have you seen Netflix’s Pamela Anderson Documentary? If so, what did you think? Please share your thoughts in the comments.