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Their style and personalities are so outlandish, especially from the enlightened perspective of 2022.
We know this story.
They are absurd, and Tommy in particular is cruel and violent.
Rogens character, Rand Gauthier, meanwhile, is trod-upon, maligned.
The villains and the victims are clear.
Inevitably, we will discover, our unexamined assumptions about this story were wrong.
What if Pamela is not just a laughingstock, but a human being?
What if being stiffed for a bill did not justify Rands actions?
But also,whata dick!
As an entry in this genre of period-piece redemption arcs,Pam & Tommyfulfills the brief.
Its portrait of Pamela is overwhelmingly sympathetic, and James and Stan are incredibly effective in these roles.
Their chemistry has that incredible capacity to make something clear that you didnt quite grasp before.
With subjects so hyperfocused on how things look, its appropriate thatPam & Tommyis as well.
Jamess Pamela is an incredible combination of performance and honestly astonishing feats of hair, makeup, and wardrobe.
All the other hop-skipping time jumps are frustrating, but this choice has real weight.
So,Pam & Tommysays, we were wrong about Pam, and maybe we also misunderstood Tommy.
The we there is always a little fishy, always involves its own level of underexamined cultural presumption.
Neither is easy forPam & Tommy.
What happened to all the later years?
Or, in other words, what should an ending look like?
Its not a questionPam & Tommyreally knows how to answer.
