History Main / TarAndFeathers

* Glue and feathers on Creator/JoePesci in ''Film/HomeAlone 1''.

[[caption-width-right:298:A ProfessionalGambler gets his comeuppance. [[note]] If you're curious, that sign reads, "Stranger, if you have put down more than 4 aces, you risk being put down too"[[/note]]]]

In TheWildWest and other American Frontier settings, a common form of mob justice short of actually lynching a wrongdoer (or suspected one) is to cover him with tar and feathers, parade him through town riding a rail, and run him out of town. May be found in other settings as well, and the sticky substance may not always be tar. Tarring and feathering seems to be the epitome of American folk justice (well, if we exclude [[TorchesAndPitchforks lynching]], that is). The belief that it is extremely dangerous seems to be an overreaction to the belief it was purely comic, there seems to be no corroboration on the use of boiling tar for this purpose (frankly, pouring boiling tar over a person's body is moving into lynching territory). The essential aspect of the punishment was to use the filthiest feathers possible.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' episode, "Keeping Up with the Bigheads", while attempting to re-tar his driveway, Rocko accidentally squirts Mr. Bighead with tar thanks to [[GardenHoseSquirtSurprise Heffer standing on the hose and stepping off]]. Then an army of featherless chickens target Mr. Bighead with a plane and drop a load of feathers on him.

* In the 1988 film ''Creator/ElviraMistressOfTheDark'', Elvira is tarred and feathered in a spoof of the movie ''Film/{{Flashdance}}''.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' had Mr. Crocker trying to set up a ZanyScheme involving a giant magnet dragging Timmy into a pair of roller skates and sped through this, with the added elements of sticking a glove on his head and throwing him into a nearby [[BlandNameProduct Dimmsdale Fried Chicken]] restaurant. It backfires when [[HilarityEnsues he walks out wearing a metal video camera headset.]]

* ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryFreakshow'': [[spoiler:Vince]] is tarred and feathered by the freaks in retaliation for his mutilating [[spoiler:his daughter Penny]]. He comes out of it horribly burned and permanently scarred.

* ''Literature/MotherHolle'': The lazy daughter requests to enter into Frau Holle's service, fails to fulfill any of her duties, and expects to be given gold in return for doing nothing. Tired of her attitude, Frau Holle sends her back after spilling a large keetle full of pitch over her head. The pitch does not seem to be harmful, but it is impossible to remove.
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[[folder:Fan Works]]

* "Literature/MotherHolle": The lazy daughter requests to enter into Frau Holle's service, fails to fulfill any of her duties, and expects to be given gold in return for doing nothing. Tired of her attitude, Frau Holle sends her back after spilling a large keetle full of pitch over her head. The pitch does not seem to be harmful, but it is impossible to remove.

* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'': Harold tries to stop the moving train in "[[Recap/TotalDramaGetAClue Get a Clue]]" by throwing something at the wheels to block them. First he throws a bottle of soda pop. It bursts open and the sticky substances splashes all over Harold. Next he throws a pillow. It also bursts open and the feathers blast all over Harold. Due to the layer of soda pop, the feathers stick to him.

* In one ''WebOriginal/ProtectorsOfThePlotContinuum'' mission into ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'', the Agents tarred and feathered three of the four Modern [[MarySue Sues]] and two [[MartyStu Stus]] and left them, claiming to be pirates, to the mercies of the townspeople. One of the Modern Sues accidentally set another on fire shortly thereafter.

-->'''Sign on the page picture:''' Stranger, if you put down more than four aces on the table, you risk being put down too.

* In ''FanFic/ItGetsWorse'', a Rube Goldberg-esque chain of events causes supervillain Lung to be tarred, feathered, lifted off the ground by a giant balloon, blown up, and then dropped into a sinkhole full of wet cement when he attacks a chicken festival that a parahuman with the power of causing unlikely events that chain together to comically neutralize any threat to her or anyone she likes is attending.

* In a ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle''-themed Taco Bell commercial, [[ThoseTwoBadGuys Boris and Natasha]] invite all of Frostbite Falls to [[AGoodOldFashionedPaintWatching watch the 12th annual grass-growing]] so [[TakeThat they can sell them McBoris Burgers]]. After Rocky and Bullwinkle manage to awaken the town from their boredom with the crunch of a Taco Bell taco, a huge muscular guy punishes Boris and Natasha by covering them in tar and feathers.

[[caption-width-right:298:A ProfessionalGambler gets his comeuppance. [[note]]"Stranger, if you have put down more than 4 aces, you risk being put down too"[[/note]]]]

Often played for comedic effect, but the reality was that this was hardly a mild punishment; being run out of town without your belongings was harsh in itself, and the physical damage inflicted by the tar varied wildly, ranging from being a mild irritant requiring hours of scrubbing to clean off your skin if it's relatively cool (pine tar becomes a spreadable liquid at about 25° C / 77° F) to causing life-threatening burns if the tar is near boiling. In addition, [[GroinAttack they tended to suffer fairly severe injuries from being forced to straddle the rail]]. And worst of all, tar can completely envelop pores to the point that the skin can't breathe.

In WildWest and other American Frontier settings, a common form of mob justice short of actually lynching a wrongdoer (or suspected one) is to cover him with tar and feathers, parade him through town riding a rail, and run him out of town. May be found in other settings as well, and the sticky substance may not always be tar. Tarring and feathering seems to be the epitome of American folk justice (well, if we exclude [[TorchesAndPitchforks lynching]], that is). The belief that it is extremely dangerous seems to be an overreaction to the belief it was purely comic, there seems to be no corroboration on the use of boiling tar for this purpose (frankly, pouring boiling tar over a person's body is moving into lynching territory). The essential aspect of the punishment was to use the filthiest feathers possible.

* ''Literature/SpponRiverAnthology'': Carl Hamblin, DaEditor who crusades against political corruption, and is subjected to tar and feathers for his pains.

* ''Film/SmokeyAndTheBanditIII'': For all his flaws, Buford [[EvenEvilHasStandards has no respect for the Ku Klux Klan]], and causes a truckful of Klansmen harassing an African-American group to get covered in tar and feathers.

* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'': "The Gang Cracks the Liberty Bell"