How '60s And '70s TV And Movies Made Us Scared Of Quicksand

Why were we afraid of quicksand? On TV shows and in movies of the '60s and '70s, quicksand was a go-to plot twist that could be inserted virtually anywhere for a jolt of suspense. Quicksand scenes were common, far more common than actual life-threatening quicksand is in the world. The insidious and nearly inescapable wells of malevolent sand struck a disproportionate amount of fear into the hearts of those of us who are over 30.

Yet, thanks to Hollywood, young people spent an inordinate amount of time planning precisely how they would escape one of these death pits, should we ever happen upon one while out walking the dog. According to one quicksand enthusiast, quicksand appeared in nearly 3% of all movies made in the '60s. So what's the deal with quicksand?

In 1960, the quicksand trend was clearly gaining momentum. Quicksand played a role in Disney’s Swiss Family Robinson and the hokey sci-fi film 12 to the Moon -- yes, we went to the moon and found quicksand there. Few directors could resist quicksand's persuasive tug, as the stuff appeared in 1 out of every 35 movies in the ‘60s. The ubiquity of gloppy, suffocating danger would eventually make its way into our everyday lives.

The most notable cinematic quicksand moment -- the Citizen Kane of quicksand scenes, if you will -- occurs in the 1962 epic Lawrence of Arabia. David Lean's biopic of T.E. Lawrence is one of the greatest films of all time, and it won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. And yes, it includes a scene in which a major character dies when he's sucked into a vortex of quicksand. Apparently, the slow inexorable pull from the earthly depths was too enchanting for even the best directors to pass up. 

Quicksand wasn't just a movie thing. It was constantly being used to spice up storylines on TV shows. Perhaps it was to be expected on The Lone Ranger, The Wild Wild West, Sea Hunt and The Rifleman -- but quicksand also figured in episodes of Gilligan's Island, Batman, and Lost In Space (twice -- damn that space quicksand!). In the second episode of The Incredible Hulk, David Banner (Bill Bixby) found himself sinking into quicksand, his cries for help being ignored -- which made him so angry he turned into the Hulk (Lou Ferrigno). Can you blame us for thinking quicksand was literally everywhere?

Yes, there were some sketchy uses of quicksand as a plot device -- possibly having to do with the fact that it was a special effect that literally any TV show could afford. But the most ridiculous and surprising instance of quicksand might have occurred in a 1967 episode of The Lucy Show, when Lucille Ball and Jack Benny found themselves mired in quicksand.

As quicksand forced its way to the forefront, people began using its merciless, unrelenting pull to death as a metaphor for catastrophic current events. The first was the Vietnam War. Two books, Lucien Bodard’s The Quicksand War and David Halberstam’s The Making of a Quagmire compared the political mess of Vietnam to the slow asphyxiation of quicksand.

Then, during Martin Luther King’s incomparable "I Have a Dream" speech, he correlated the devastation of racism, both subtle and overt, to the demise one meets at the hands of quicksand. "Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood."

Ironically, La La Land eventually beat quicksand so far into the ground it died out. According to Carlton Cuse, Emmy-winning writer, and executive producer, filmmakers ran out of ways to use it, “Adventure storytelling has to evolve. People use up gags. If you're working in an old genre, you have to figure out ways to make it fresh. I love love love adventure gags, but the best years of quicksand are in the past."

Ask any kid today, as Slate did,  and they just can’t understand the visceral fear that comes with sinking into sand one inch at a time. "I think people used to be afraid of it," says one fourth grader. "It was before we were born," explains another, "Maybe it will come back one day." Sigh, kids today. 

Since sex is always lurking in any pop-culture phenomenon, it stands to reason that someone out there is getting aroused by quicksand. And indeed, thanks to the ‘60s explosion and the connectivity of the internet, quicksand has become a fetish for thousands of people.

Whether it’s a desire deep in the loins to personally feel the suck of quicksand or simply watching clips of quicksand slurping down people in movies, the quicksand fetish is a real thing. Despite quicksand’s disappearance from film, it’s supposedly a golden era for the fetish thanks to the internet and imagination, "we just happen to be at the golden moment," says quicksand aficionado Duncan Edwards.