View Full Version : Was Pamela Anderson truly a victim of the "Hollywood Hype Machine"


TMC
02-11-2024, 05:42 AM
Or does she not really fit (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/article_history.php?article=HollywoodHypeMachine.ExamplesThatDidntHoldUp&page=12#edit39649299) there because she was arguably, extremely successful and she is an icon of the '90s and early 2000s? To give you some context (https://web.archive.org/web/20230420102730/https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/HollywoodHypeMachine/ExamplesThatDidntHoldUp):

Pamela Anderson (https://web.archive.org/web/20230420102730/https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/PamelaAnderson) is one of the saddest cases of this, having been put through the wringer by the Machine in the worst ways possible. She started out on television with a slew of guest spots early in The '90s before nabbing her Star-Making Role as C.J. Parker on Baywatch, which made her a sex symbol overnight. Hollywood at once began capitalizing on her Ms. Fanservice qualities, giving her role after role in Direct to Video schlock that emphasized her beauty. Her first theatrical release, Barb Wire, became a Box Office Bomb and received a negative reception, with critics noting it barely was a cut above her DTV work. Anderson kept working on Baywatch before scandal struck in 1997 when her sex tape with then-husband Tommy Lee (drummer of Mötley Crüe) was stolen from their home, and later publicly released without their knowledge or consent. She faced extreme scrutiny afterwards which reduced her career prospects post-Baywatch, with her following television work (V.I.P., Stacked, etc.) being dismissed as opportunities to flaunt her sex appeal. Anderson hasn’t appeared in any major Hollywood films aside from a minor though plot-relevant cameo in Borat, with her screen appearances since that comedy mostly being limited to reality television.