Has anyone ever exercised such a tungsten grip on its own image as the Walt Disney Company? For decades, you saw the name Disney, and you knew exactly what you were going to get. Flying elephants. Singing lions. Fresh-faced kid heroes. This was a studio that was unremittingly wholesome. Sex? Forget about it. Violence? Only what children can stomach. In recent years, Disney characters have been forbidden from so much as lighting up a cigarette on camera, lest some supple-skulled infant sees glamour in the smoke. This week’s marquee Disney Plus release, then, ought to come as some surprise. Nestled somewhere between Aladdin and Toy Story in the streaming service’s catalogue is Pam & Tommy – a buzzy biopic focusing on Baywatch star Pamela Anderson (Lily James) and Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee (Sebastian Stan) and their infamous 1998 honeymoon sex tape.
Pam & Tommy takes a playful approach to its subject matter, and doesn’t skimp on the raunch. Episode two features a lengthy discussion between Tommy and his own penis, which is animated in quite startling clarity. Other scenes see the couple have sex, dance, have sex, take drugs and have sex. Make no mistake about it: Pam & Tommy is scarcely better suited to the Disney brand than The Human Centipede. And yet, the series is premiering in the UK and internationally under Disney’s Star banner (a subsection of the main service).
