Tickled

2016 1h 32min

Available on HBO

This documentary isn’t really about tickling. Rather, it’s a documentary about masculinity, domination, fetishes, and the media. It’s also my favorite documentary of the year, thanks in part to an additional 21-minute update just as bizarre as the film itself. Tickled is basically a film about how the YouTube-based world of “competitive tickling” is a run by a secretive exploitative millionaire named David D’Amato, a man who inherited his fortune and served as an assistant principal to 8 different high schools over the course of just 10 years. D’Amato would pay young straight men to tickle and be tickled by their friends, all on film, all completely clothed, and all under the guise of a homophobic, pseudo-religious media organization called Jane O’Brien media. D’Amato would entice young, working-class men to do humiliating, homoerotic acts on video and eventually use such tapes as blackmail to retain their financial dependency. What we essentially see is a cowardly man accomplishing masculinity through threats, intimidation, and the brutalization (and emasculation) of younger men. When a gay filmmaker from New Zealand begins to investigate this matter, he becomes a target of D’Amato's abuse as well. We get to see a mess of drama, provocative discoveries, and candid confrontations between the filmmakers and “Jane O’Brien Media”. The film's captivating suspense is made even more fascinating by the fact that all of this competitive tickling nonsense is still going on at this very moment.

Sociological themes include: Masculinity, power & control, sexuality, deviance, the media, and the law...

NOTE: Developments after the film’s release are captured in a 21-minute follow-up called “The Tickle King”. Furthermore, another significant development happened after this follow-up’s release! Since I don’t want to spoil anything, I will simply suggest you search for these updates after watching the film.