Anderson film falls in line with other celebrity documentaries
Documentarian Ryan White has a new film out on Netflix, an intimate portrait of a woman whom many may think they already know intimately — though not at all.
“Pamela, a love story” is perhaps the first time we have heard the life story of Pamela Anderson from Anderson herself — and it’s honest, unvarnished, raw and vulnerable.
In the wake of the critically lauded Hulu series “Pam & Tommy,” in which Lily James and Sebastian Stan starred as Anderson and ex-husband Tommy Lee, “Pamela, a love story” feels like an important corrective to the record.
While “Pam & Tommy” managed to unpack the toxicity of the tabloid story that was Anderson and Lee’s sex tape — the first viral video — and illustrate the ways in which Anderson was horrifically maligned in the public eye and in legal proceedings, the dramedy series still took some creative liberties with the story itself. Anderson dismissed the Hulu project, unwilling to revisit that difficult and damaging time in her life.
White’s film is about Anderson’s many love stories, but the most profound love story he captures is the one she embarks on with herself. Over the course of the film, Anderson sifts through the many VHS tapes and journals with which she documented her life. She tells the audience her story honestly, with humor, while wearing no makeup and sitting with her sons, Brandon (a producer on the film) and Dylan Lee at home in British Columbia.
Ultimately, we come to know Anderson as a person, not a sex object, a far cry from what was
expected for her over the course of her 30-year career.
It’s a film that falls in line with the celebrity documentaries that allow a peak behind the curtain of fame, offering these public figures a chance to be human, a chance to share their innermost secrets, on their terms and with their participation.
On Netflix, there’s the 2020 Taylor Swift documentary “Miss Americana,” directed by Lana Wilson, depicting Swift’s songwriting process and political evolution, as well as the 2022 documentary “Halftime,” in which Amanda Micheli follows Jennifer Lopez as she prepares to perform at the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show and navigate the ups and downs of an awards campaign for her role in “Hustlers.”
On Apple TV+, singing superstar Selena Gomez offers up a bit of her life in “Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me.” Directed by “Madonna: Truth or Dare” director Alek Keshishian, the documentary reveals Gomez’s physical and mental health challenges and the rigors of a
world tour.
Actor Val Kilmer found a unique way to make a film about his life and career after his battle with throat cancer, collaborating with his children on the tender memoir “Val,” streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Perhaps the closest comparison to “Pamela, a love story,” at least on paper, might be the documentary about another blond celebrity who faced the maw of tabloid culture and battled the paparazzi — the two women even share the same man in their past and reckoned with the leak of a sex tape. Paris Hilton offers a look at her life and childhood challenges in “This is Paris,” directed by Alexandra Dean. That film is streaming on YouTube.
“Pamela, a love story,” is a striking film, not just for its subject, but also for the simple beauty with which White captures this complex and complicated woman, who reveals herself in new ways in this film — intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and, ultimately, with a sense of triumph and peace. It’s a remarkable and moving portrait.