Hot Take: Totally Spies! is Not Fetish Fuel

Written by Daphne Bryant

Back in high school, I started seeing all these theories about how Totally Spies!, a beloved French spy fiction animated series, is actually super problematic and filled with secret fetish content. All of a sudden, everywhere I looked there were internet forums, YouTube video essays, and social media threads rife with breakdowns analyzing specific episodes down to the frame. Naturally, I scoffed at these. My memories of Totally Spies! were devoid of any such“ fetish content.” What I remember is gorgeous set and character design, thrilling adventures and laugh-out-loud humor.

However, after a re-watch, I can kind of see where these critics were coming from. Revisiting the series with adult eyes—and with full knowledge of the online discourse—has me over-analyzing silly gag moments and standard cartoon peril.

Before I dive into the fetish lore though, let me fill in anyone unfamiliar with the show. Totally Spies! follows three teenage girls from Beverly Hills California, all of whom work as undercover agents for the World Organization of Human Protection (WOOHP). Sam, Clover and Alex have unique looks and personality types that set them apart, similar to the dynamics in say The Powerpuff Girls or World of Winx. Sam is the smart, analytical redhead, Clover is the fashion-obsessed blonde, and Alex is the sweet, athletic tomboy with a bisexual ass bob. Even if you’re not into animation or children’s TV, or spies, it’s a genuinely entertaining watch complete with wild plots, iconic Y2K outfits, memorable characters, and witty dialogue. It also, unfortunately, like so many animations starring young girls, features a disgusting amount of sounds that mimic moaning and extreme female distress, as well as imagery that could certainly lend itself to sexualization. Even the theme song,“ Here We Go”, had to be almost entirely rewritten with child-friendly lyrics, as the original version is—quite explicitly—all about sex.

Nine years ago, this Reddit user made an“ official guide” to fetishes in Totally Spies!, but honestly, most of it is just classic action hero shit. Getting brainwashed, shrunk, tied-up or having to wear latex suits and/or cultural outfits to do your job: none of these things strike me as strange for a group of spies who are constantly battling supervillains and mad scientists. And yes, while there are people who are into child roleplay and uh…being covered in mud, I would say most of the things on this list are fairly common. Like, to me, being attracted to curly hair or muscular legs, even being into bondage, is super relatable, not some kind of scary red flag.

“being attracted to curly hair or muscular legs, even being into bondage, is super relatable, not some kind of scary red flag.”

In saying that something is a“ kink”, you run into the issue that everything is a kink for someone—whether you respect it or not. The internet has proven that if an object, trope, or scenario exists, a subculture will inevitably form around sexualizing it. I don’t want to completely excuse the writers or animators here. There are definitely adult jokes. There are definitely some perverted scenes. I’m side-eyeing for sure, but calling Totally Spies! pre-planned fetish fuel created to titillate young people may be a step too far.

“There are definitely adult jokes. There are definitely some perverted scenes. I’m side-eyeing for sure, but calling Totally Spies! pre-planned fetish fuel created to titillate young people may be a step too far.”

Don’t quote me on this, but I am pretty sure that around the time these theories came out, information about Dan Schneider and his mistreatment of child stars on networks like Nickelodeon was coming to light. Public awareness surrounding predatory behavior, workplace abuse, and inappropriate content in youth entertainment became heightened, especially because of a resurgence in the #MeToo movement. Suddenly, TV shows we grew up with, shows that once brought us joy and peace after school, became uncomfortable to watch. For some of us, watching even made us angry. Why the fuck were there so many scenes with feet, so many liquid projectiles spraying all over these young actors’ bodies and faces? And don’t even get me started on the behind-the-scenes camera footage…He was an absolute creep, and there’s plenty of sick men like him in Hollywood. The idea that a childhood show could actually have really disturbing sexual innuendos or content in it is not so far-fetched.

In this case, though, I do think Totally Spies! is (mostly) innocent. For example, the show leaned heavily into the stylistic tropes of anime, American pop culture, and 60s spy cinema, combining them into an exaggerated, campy visual style. What we see in the show is really no different than what we see in anime (which yes, is a whole other conversation and there’s layers there too, given Japan’s very interesting relationship with fanservice and tropes). I simply make the comparison to illustrate that sometimes the media itself isn’t actually horny… you are. 

“The idea that a childhood show could actually have really disturbing sexual innuendos or content in it is not so far-fetched.In this case, though, I do think Totally Spies! is (mostly) innocent…sometimes the media itself isn’t actually horny…you are.”

When viewers project adult desires onto lighthearted visual gags, the line between creator intent and audience interpretation gets blurred. If you’re making the argument that Totally Spies! is sending subliminal messages about kink culture to an unsuspecting audience, I actually think it may be you that’s looking at these characters and well…feeling things. Maybe it’s a fetish for you because you like maid outfits and giant cat women. Which, BTW, if you too were a minor watching this series when it originally aired, that isn’t necessarily a bad or shameful thing. So many of us had awakenings of some sort that came about because of what or who we watched on television as a kid, whether it was a cartoon character, a movie star, or a superhero in skin-tight spandex. While I personally never thirsted over Sam or Clover or Alex, in retrospect I’m sure that baby me was just as enticed by their glossy lip gloss and pretty faces as I was by the action-adventure elements and spy gadgets. Even then, I was too young to care or even notice anything out-of-the-ordinary. I just wanted to see three cool girls save the world in style, and that they did.