PAMELA ANDERSON'S QUIET COMEBACK
"Anderson has always been a controversial character —whether through voicing unpopular opinions or exposing her naked body."
When we think of Pamela Anderson, ‘quiet’ is probably not the term we associate with the bombshell celebrity. We might think, ‘loud’ even. Not loud—as in ‘shrill’ or ‘boisterous’. In fact, she often displays that delicate girl-whisper of a voice so often chosen by women (subconsciously or not) due to past trauma—a glitch that cements them as a young girl—or a coquettish playact to claim control and cover true vulnerability.
No, what comes to mind is someone untethered and wild. We remember her brashly exposing her surgically enhanced body on numerous covers of Playboy, running slow-motion in the infamous, red swimsuit, and that stolen sex tape with ex-husband, Tommy Lee.
But perhaps we were wrong all along.
Those past versions of Anderson only give us a glimpse of the true woman: a sexy, bold, somewhat manufactured beauty. Like a lot of us, the pandemic stripped Anderson of past pretenses and artificialities. She’s now back in the limelight after years of irrelevance, and (finally) claiming a comeback—on her terms.
The recent releases of the documentary, Pamela: a Love Story, and her memoir, “Love, Pamela” enable Anderson’s voice to reach an audience without the loud, garish circus of Hollywood manipulation. Now, her sexiness unveils as a radical embrace of unapologetic femininity; her past boldness seems braver now with context and hindsight. Moreover, that “manufactured” beauty of her youth has matured into a natural allure that can only come from truth.
Looking back, there were little waves in the media that revealed the depth of Anderson’s thoughtfulness. Take her 2019 appearance on “The View”. I urge you to find a better example of how to maintain class while dealing with the insufferable Joy Behar and Meghan McCain. On the program, she voiced her support for Julian Assange and advocated for his vindication. “His whole intention is to stop these senseless wars — these wars of business,” she manages to speak out against the hosts’ shouts of protest.
She also found herself in hot water when she spoke her mind about the #MeToo movement on The Megyn Kelly show, saying: “You need to have that Spidey sense or whatever it is that this is not right… when someone answers the door in a bathrobe, don’t go in that room.”
Now, after the fervor of the Harvey Weinstein allegations and its domino effect in Hollywood has cooled a bit, we can see her comments were… well, logical. Make no mistake: it is wrong for anyone to take advantage of the vulnerable. The men who have truly violated women should be held accountable. However, it’s also still true that women can participate in their own choices. Yes, you might lose out on a job, or even a whole career — but there is still a choice.
Anderson has always been a controversial character —whether through voicing unpopular opinions or exposing her naked body. However, recent revelations within her projects detail how she haphazardly tried to heal herself from past trauma (namely, a father who was an alcoholic and violent to her mother, a molestation from a babysitter, and a rape by a man a decade older than her). Her career-making Playboy appearances she later deemed a form of “self-exposure” therapy, feeling at the time that she was reclaiming her body by taking ownership of her sexuality — only to eventually realize it had the opposite effect.
Anderson is honest about her mistakes but doesn’t linger in regret. She wants us to know she’s not a victim. She’s strong in the way that you become resilient through radical vulnerability.
Now, at 56 she’s exposing her naked face instead of a naked body. No longer living on the edge with rock-star boyfriends; she’s nurturing her roots in British Columbia, and writing introspective poetry.
“People don’t really associate me with big expectations, so I can only surprise people. I don’t have a lot to live up to.” Anderson has said. That may be true. While this new iteration of an iconic bombshell may be unanticipated, it makes perfect sense if we look past the headlines and into a scarred, yet beautiful soul. This evolution feels healthy, and the warm response is earned.