The Ellen Massage Prank
It’s painful to watch. But … people play practical jokes on different folks on television all the time. Massage therapists don’t really get to be the exception because I’m soon to become one. For those who haven’t seen it yet, here it is:
The Ellen Degeneres and David Beckham Massage Therapist Prank
Is it funny? If you’re into that type of humor, absolutely.
Is it bad press for the profession? Maybe, maybe not. There’s the whole idea that a massage therapist is a diminuitive woman who will do whatever you want her to … with all that this insinuates. But like I said, everybody ends up the butt of a practical joke eventually. It’s not as though they haven’t pulled the candid camera act on physicians, dentists, and psychiatrists before.
Whether it makes you giggle or want to throw up (I’ll admit to some of both, although now that the shock of the first viewing has worn off, I’m much more on the laughter end of the scale), there’s a lot to be learned from this video.
What do you do when a client asks you to do something you’re not familiar with?
Let’s specify that the treatment sought is definitely not going to injure or harm the client. But you don’t believe in its effectiveness. The client is paying for the treatment. Do you give them what they want, or what you think they need? Some of both? Attempt to educate the client more about the modalities that you DO offer?
What if the client is famous? What if the client is paying you a LOT of money? It shouldn’t matter. And yet, if we’re being hardcore introspective with our motivations … it probably does.
What do you do when your client is acting weird?
I know I would get seriously nervous if a client were acting that way with me. Just my personal issues showing through here, but I’d be doubly nervous if the client in question were a physically fit male.
What’s a reasonable request from a client?
Can we join energy? Can I take my shirt off? Please don’t use your thumbs? Will you hum your favorite song near the muscle? How about, can you take YOUR shirt off? Okay, that one’s probably obvious. But where do we draw our lines?
Obviously, we can’t get too specific with our boundaries. Having an “I will not hum Happy Birthday near a client’s neck” rule is probably not broad enough to be useful. But only having an “I will not do things that feel uncomfortable for me,” rule isn’t going to get the job done, either. In a moment of worry, having a precise policy and course of action memorized is really the only way of getting through the situation satisfactorily.
What did you guys think about the video? What would you have done in the massage therapist’s place? Has the video helped you think about your professional boundaries? Join the conversation.
9 Responses on The Ellen Massage Prank
This is an excellent discussion of boundaries and being prepared. It’s also interesting to think about what we would do differently for someone famous. Good job, Kat.
If that were me in the therapist’s shoes, I would have stopped the session with the hands on the shoulders. My job is to help relieve your pain or relax you and we are connecting that way, there is no need for the client to touch/connect with the therapist, regardless of who they are.
This is a disgrace to the massage profession. It is sending the message that we are dim witted idiots and do not conscience boundaries. We are willing to do anything for a buck and THAT IS NOT TRUE OF ALL OF US! Those that are in it for the buck usually don’t last.
I feel sorry for the therapist in that she was not clear of her boundaries, which tells me she is new to the field. I hope she learned something by this.
Please tell Ellen that the correct title is, “Massage Therapist,” not masseuse. Masseuse has a sexual air to it coming from “Massage Parlors” in the 60′s.
We are now considered Healthcare professionals along with doctors, nurses and other medical professionals.
I hope that Ellen will interview other massage professionals and clear this mess up.
When my client asked if I had seen David Beckham and the massage therapist on Ellen I inwardly groaned and said “uh, No”. I was thinking “Oh, No – here we go again – someone making cheap jokes about our profession”. I pulled it up on Youtube and after watching I had a couple of thoughts about it. I didn’t like Ellen using the term “masseuse” but, some people still use that term. I thought the therapist was actually very professional – she didn’t laugh (which would have been very tempting) given the proceedings). She did not cross any professional boundaries (that I saw). It didn’t come across as sexual – just silly. I think we do need to have a sense of humor and realize that pranks are played on all professions. I didn’t feel that this prank was a “cheap shot” as David himself is the one who looked like a fool – not the therapist. I posted it on my fb page and notice many other therapists have posted it on theirs. If this is the worst we were ever portrayed I can live with that.
Often, candid camera jokes are not cool. Of course, those candid scenes can be funny but, to me, it’s usually at someone’s expense.
I would be a little embarrassed and a little upset if someone played a joke like that on me but good for the massage therapist that she took it lightly enough that she consented for the segment to be aired…
I actually laughed through most of it – but I thought it more made Beckham look silly than the Therapist. I didn’t see it as negative for our profession at all, rather a joke that we see on any candid camera type reality show. I’m happy as hell that it’s not sexually-oriented. This vid? I can handle this. The crap from the view? Now that I had an issue on.
It made me giggle. But I agree that I’d be embarrassed if it were done to me — if I’d allowed it to go any further than the “joining of energies.”
I love Ellen. I think her show is awesome. Massage Therapists, just like anyone else working with the public, are unfortunately fair game to both innocent comments and pranks. Sadly, we are also in a position to be taken advantage of….IF we allow that.
I have a CLEAR WRITTEN policy that I require new clients to SIGN. If I sense that a client may “Test the waters”…my boundaries are up and they will not get away with it.
The things David Beckham did in this video were silly and harmless. All in all…it made me laugh.
I have to admit that I laughed when I saw the video, but it does show some of the problems that some in our profession have. The therapist did act professionally but I do feel like she was too willing to do what her client asked her to do. As the trained professional you must make sure that you have control over the situation and are able to work with your client. The massage David Beckham asked for in the video would not benefit him in any way. I would’ve handled the situation by explaining what I do to the client and the benefits of it. Then I would try to encourage the client to receive a proper massage. If that isn’t what the client wanted I would encourage them to see another therapist.
There were some aggressive conversational tactics; interruptions, distraction and pacing, not to mention the fame factor (which he used to his advantage.) She started off asking him what he was there for and he cut her off, after that the whole thing was most likely a blur for her. She probably would’ve put her foot down if something crossed a line or her schedule was filled or something.
I think the question of how to react to something like that is related to how comfortable you are with relaxation massages. If she wasn’t interested in practicing without treating anything, she probably would’ve been tougher.
Leave a comment on The Ellen Massage Prank
RSS feed for comments on this post · TrackBack URI