Pam & Tommy: Why Penthouse Won In Real Life & What’s Left Out
Warning: this article contains SPOILERS for Pam & Tommy episode 7.
Pam & Tommy is right about Penthousewinning the lawsuit filed by Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee in episode 7, «Destroyer of Worlds,» but there's more revealed in why they won and what the show left out. Set in the mid-'90s around the tabloid fodder that was the infamous Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee sex tape scandal, Pam & Tommy takes a more empathetic approach to the unapologetic scrutiny the couple received. Despite the show's producers and creators stating their good intentions, Pamela Anderson's vocal disapproval of a show ironically about consent clouds over Pam & Tommy.
Pam & Tommy's irony runs deeper with its portrayal of the Penthouselawsuit that went against Anderson's favor. As Pam & Tommy recreates Pamela Anderson's depositions, it depicts Anderson's traumatic ordeal in order to build her character arc in the show. While sympathizing for Pamela Anderson (Lily James) the character, the show still pays little regard to the wishes of Pamela Anderson the person by depicting the scandal and its accompanying lawsuit in the first place.
Related: Pam & Tommy: Did Tommy Lee Ever Have His Own Deposition?
Nonetheless, Pam's episode 7 monologue about the lawsuit rulings opens conversations about the stigma surrounding sexualized women, particularly in the '90s. Penthouse's right to free speech regardless of Anderson's right to privacy and bodily autonomy helps affirm how her status as a sex symbol nullifies her consent to release revealing depictions of her. However, deeper conversations about female bodily autonomy notwithstanding, there's more to why the lawsuit favored Penthouse.
In March 1996, Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee sued Penthousemagazine for
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