The Lack of Tickling in Mainstream Media

[MaleTickleeDC]

Sometimes I realize that it's hard as a tickle fetishist to see things as a "vanilla" person would, so maybe I'm thinking about this the wrong way, but I really feel that there ought to be a lot more tickling in "mainstream" media, given that tickling can and does occur frequently within the vanilla community. I realize that tickling isn't a fetish for most people, so I'm not suggesting that your average R-rated movie should include a tickling session along with a sex scene. That would be a bridge too far for most vanilla people. But it does seem that tickling is extremely rare in mainstream media, so rare that when it does pop up, all of us fetishists immortalize a ten-second tickling scene as if it's the greatest discovery ever made.

I can think of a number of scenarios in mainstream media, such as sitcoms, movies, etc, where tickling could presumably come into play in a "vanilla" way. For example, there are tons of crappy, barely watchable movies where some random hot girl is being tortured by "the bad guys" in all kinds of creative ways. You know, the "Saw" movies, and other low rent films with a scene for the viewers out there who enjoy watching people be tortured. It seems like tickling would be ideal for movies like this. I was watching a movie the other day where some biker gang had kidnapped the hot girlfriend of one of the "good guys" in the movie, and they were chaining her up, with her arms above her head, in order to do nasty things to her. Does no one think of tickling in these scenarios? It seems like that would be a perfect way to torture the character if the writers want to make sure that no physical harm comes to her before the hero comes to save her.

Or how about sitcoms? Playful tickling between characters would provide an excellent excuse to use the "laugh track" that most of these shows employ. Or tween dramas involving the new girl at school who is picked on by all the other girls. This is another dime a dozen scenario, and one where tickling could come into play (for example, the other girls tickle the new girl to humiliate her, etc). Just seems like there are a lot of plotlines where some writer somewhere would be thinking of introducing tickling into the plot. But maybe vanilla people think about tickling so infrequently that the thought never even enters their minds.

 

[stockytickler]

Wasn't there tickling in "The Sitter"? This in no way negates the point, but I think it does come up occasionally. The reason fetishists then proceed to glom onto the 10 second tickle scenes when they do occur is because we're fetishists.

 

[MaleTickleeDC]

Wasn't there tickling in "The Sitter"? This in no way negates the point, but I think it does come up occasionally. The reason fetishists then proceed to glom onto the 10 second tickle scenes when they do occur is because we're fetishists.

I googled "The Sitter" and "tickling" and all I found were stories about "real life" tickling by babysitters that suspiciously look like they were made up by tickle fetishists. LOL.

 

[stockytickler]

No, this was a recent Oscar-eligible release with ... oh, jeez, what's his name ... the big guy, Jonah Hill? The previews I saw had gangsters threatening to tickle him or something.

 

[LadyNerd]

I went and saw The Sitter on a date, and I don't remember there being anything related to tickling in it. Then again, it was a fairly terrible movie, so I may not remember due to that. Regardless, as to the OP's original question, my guess would be because, while we always think about tickling, it never normally occurs to vanilla folks. Besides, to most of them, tickling relates to something childish or flirtatious, depending on the person, and it would never occur to any of them to use it as torture. Even if it did, they would never bring it up for fear of ridicule from their peers unless they were trying to humiliate a man. When they have a woman, their minds are elsewhere and never consider tickling her because tickling or hearing the person laugh doesn't arouse them at all.

 

[the tickleshow]

Andy Samberg got tickled on SNL during a sketch this past week. Of course, because it was in the sketch, it was over the top fake, but Paul Brittain sees that Samberg's character is angry and says,"I think someone needs a good tickling!" then he goes over and lifts his arm and tickles his ribs/pits.

 

[Horatio]

Interesting post. Is there a parallel phenomenon to a tickle? A hair pull? A pinch?

 

[Phineas]

I'd imagine that there are a couple of practical reasons why tickling doesn't show up in mainstream media all that much.

For one, it doesn't happen in the "vanilla" world as much as you might think. At least, not in my experience. I lucked out once and went to a party where a couple of girls got tickled over the course of the night, but it stands out in my memory because of how rare it was. We're spoiled by all the stuff that gets posted on YouTube and assume it's just happening everywhere.

Secondly, there's the Law of Conservation of Details, which states that anything that gets shown onscreen, is there because it needs to be shown onscreen. If it's not essential to the plot, it has to go.

Following that, if it is essential to the plot, and needs to be filmed, then it adds a lot of overhead in terms of rehearsal, direction, and so forth. Stage combat can be faked; tickling is a weird halfsies situation where you need to either tickle the person, or fake it in such a way that it'll look... well, fake. And, while I know a lot of you are already yanking it over the prospect of Angelina Jolie being tickled endlessly in a dozen rehearsals and umpteen on-camera takes, most genuinely ticklish actors/actresses aren't going to stand for it.

So, really... it's a lot of effort for a little effect. It'd be similar to the issue of nude/simulated sex scenes and how they're dealt with; contracts, negotiations, not being able to get an actress willing to do them, etc. I think we should just be happy for what we do see, which is probably ad-libbed more often than not.

 

[milagros317]

There have been mainstream films with long, detailed tickling scenes but they are quite rare. For an M/f foot tickling scene, the best I know of are North to Alaska (1960) and The Brothers Karamazov (1958). For an F/m upper body tickling scene, see Great Catherine (1968).

Come to think of it, those are all old films. Nothing comparable comes to mind from this century.

 

[TickleMyFancy]

I almost never see tickling in my normal everyday life. Vanilla's do not spend a lot of time thinking of ways to add ticking to tv or movies- they only add it in if it adds something to the scene.

Also, some "tickle torture" in a movie would probably just be seen as weird and awkward to most people watching it.

 

[MaleTickleeDC]

Following that, if it is essential to the plot, and needs to be filmed, then it adds a lot of overhead in terms of rehearsal, direction, and so forth. Stage combat can be faked; tickling is a weird halfsies situation where you need to either tickle the person, or fake it in such a way that it'll look... well, fake. And, while I know a lot of you are already yanking it over the prospect of Angelina Jolie being tickled endlessly in a dozen rehearsals and umpteen on-camera takes, most genuinely ticklish actors/actresses aren't going to stand for it.

That's interesting. The number of takes that would be necessary when filming such a scene totally slipped my mind. I imagine most truly ticklish actors and actresses would agree to a quick tickle at most. Strongly doubt that any of them would agree to multiple takes where they are totally restrained as their ribs and pits are being prodded and poked. Since most of them don't get aroused by tickling like we do, this likely wouldn't be any fun for them. Seems like a good opportunity for a tickle fetishist director to have some fun though

 

[Marquis De Sade]

Secondly, there's the Law of Conservation of Details, which states that anything that gets shown onscreen, is there because it needs to be shown onscreen. If it's not essential to the plot, it has to go.

Following that, if it is essential to the plot, and needs to be filmed, then it adds a lot of overhead in terms of rehearsal, direction, and so forth. Stage combat can be faked; tickling is a weird halfsies situation where you need to either tickle the person, or fake it in such a way that it'll look... well, fake. And, while I know a lot of you are already yanking it over the prospect of Angelina Jolie being tickled endlessly in a dozen rehearsals and umpteen on-camera takes, most genuinely ticklish actors/actresses aren't going to stand for it.

So, really... it's a lot of effort for a little effect. It'd be similar to the issue of nude/simulated sex scenes and how they're dealt with; contracts, negotiations, not being able to get an actress willing to do them, etc. I think we should just be happy for what we do see, which is probably ad-libbed more often than not.

This 100%.

 

[chicago]

I don't mind that mainstream media is bereft of tickling. I get a little weirded out when it pops up, but Closer had a pretty hot scene in it.

 

[Marquis De Sade]

I don't mind that mainstream media is bereft of tickling. I get a little weirded out when it pops up, but Closer had a pretty hot scene in it.

There was tickling in Closer? All I remember is Clive Owen shouting.