PAM & TOMMY PRODUC T I ON .
Production Fact File
LOCATION Filming was in California – including the Baywatch and Cancun scenes
CAST James Franco was initially lined up to play the part of Tommy Lee
SCHEDULE Conceived in 2018, it took only four months of 2021 to shoot
deposition – taking place for their lawsuit to go through – where she is forced to watch the entire sex tape in a room full of male lawyers, in order to ‘verify her identity’. Notably, Tommy doesn’t have to. The crisp and harsh colours of the boardroom setting are a brash ripping of the Band-Aid from Pamela’s warm and vibrant life story. The mirage of her wonderland is more than shattered. A VIRAL CATASTROPHE The fifth episode, and the concluding one, were directed by Gwyneth Horder- Payton. With a reputation for TV shows that have male characters struggling with issues of violence, including The Shield and American Horror Story , a character like Tommy Lee made her a perfect fit. Focusing not just on the final shift in the relationship between Pam and Tommy, we also see the momentous, inexorable rise of the internet. This is illustrated when the couple realise that the problem has gone beyond Gauthier’s website, where copies could merely be ordered online and shipped to people – what they are truly fighting is the unstoppable force of the web. Slowly panning from Tommy’s horrified realisation of the fact that the tape can now be streamed online for free, to the brick-like original Apple
“The crisp and harsh colours of the boardroom setting are a brash ripping of the Band-Aid from Pamela’s warm and vibrant life story”
Fidell. Known best for A Teacher , she delivers a vulnerable lull in the series with this 27-minute section. A huge shift in tone surfaces, as we see Pam lifted onto a pedestal, providing an overview of how she has ended up in the glorified spotlight we still see her in today. Where preceding episodes are centred around the Seth Rogen character
or Pam and Tommy’s tumultuous relationship, this one stands on its own as a bridge to the series’ conclusion. There are constant jumps between past and present, helping to construct an understanding of how Pamela perceives her situation – offering a clever reflection on previous experiences. A prescient moment is the flashback to her arrival at the Playboy Mansion – from her first photo shoot, to her meeting with Hugh Hefner. But we witness a contrast, following her evident unhappiness on the set of Baywatch , where she never has any lines and is controlled by men, with every shot below the neck of her legendary red swimsuit. We see a liberated Pamela instead, allowed to be herself entirely. This is highlighted by a montage sequence of Lily James standing by a window and gradually gaining confidence, ultimately taking control of the shoot herself. What makes this episode stiflingly tragic is that it leads to Pam and Tommy’s
HANDS-ON Not only does Seth Rogen play the aggrieved carpenter Rand, but he’s also an executive producer
33. MAY 2022
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