Alright, I'm letting you know right up front, this is a weird one. There's really nothing like it out there, so drop whatever you're doing and watch Tickled before it's gone. I was bored and looking for an interesting documentary to watch and lemme tell ya, I did not know what to expect. What pops into your mind when you hear the words "competitive endurance tickling"? I'm thinking something along the lines of a Mr. Beast clip or a Jackass stunt. However, what was exposed was something far darker.
Now, I didn't even know this was a "thing" out there. Apparently, there are chapters based around this "sport" all over the world. An ad is placed and people are paid a decent amount of money to endure being tickled for as long as they can stand. All of this is filmed and the videos are uploaded on the internet, but this is a genre I'd never heard of, have you? But of course all is not sweetness and light and in this doc we get to peer into the hidden recesses of this very dark and strange world.
I really don't want to give too much away, as I love how the filmmaker uncovers this mystery like peeling layers of an onion. The title alone intrigued me as I imagined young nubile girls being teased with giant fluffy feathers as they giggle sweetly. That is not the case here. When it comes to being tickled, I don't think I'm particularly ticklish myself, but I had no idea just how many people respond to fingers running across the soles of their feet. I must have soles of steel, because it does nothing to me. Are you guys affected by that? In Tickled we find out that many people are very sensitive in that area...
The film takes us from Australia to Los Angeles and all across the USA. David Farrier is the latest in a long line of Brits, Aussies, Canadians and other former members of the British Empire and Europe that seem to love coming to the states, filming the seedy underbelly for profit, then leaving. As if they don't have any at home.
If this country didn't exist, they'd have to invent it. From the trickery of Martin Bashir in his "interview" with Michael Jackson to the coverage of the death of Timothy Treadwell in the doc Grizzly Man by Werner Herzog, there seems to be a cottage industry in showing America in the worst light possible.
When I lived in Germany, I remember being constantly accosted about the election of Donald Trump in 2016 even though the majority voted for someone else. As soon as they recognized that we were Americans, here they come...
I recall telling some students from Finland: "Please try to separate your hatred of the policies of the US government, from your feelings about the American People." The President doesn't call me up for advice when he's about to do something stupid. Hate our government if you must, but leave the people alone. Yet if Europe has its back against the wall again in a future war, I'm sure we'll do the right thing and answer the call.
But the film does relate true events that actually happened and I encourage you to see it. There's a mystery involved that slowly unravels as you get deeper into the film. However a nice change would be to see representatives from our "allies" making an effort to show some of the things we do right here in America. There's a good side to this amazing country and it would be refreshing for a change to see that reflected in a future documentary.
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