July 6th, the internet told me, is International Kissing Day. Since we love love here at Frolic, it only seems right to celebrate some of my favorite on-screen smooches!
I mean, come on! This kiss is the “I’m so glad you’ve been brought back to life and are actually a human man” kiss! This kiss is so gorgeously passionate that fireworks go off and the entire castle is transformed into a beautiful, glistening home with cherubs instead of gargoyles!
But perhaps the best thing about the Beauty and the Beast kiss is that, for just a moment, both parties exhibit nervousness! They look at each other and move toward another as though to say, “So…is this really happening?” Belle and the Beast’s cautious, vulnerable approach to smooching is heartwarming and realistic, even when the rest of the movie is fantastical.
There’s no denying that this romantic moment between a fancypants cocker spaniel and a mutt from the wrong side of the tracks is iconic! Spaghetti plus the song Bella Notte plus kissing doggos equals cinematic joy!
Sure, it may not be quite as passionate as kisses like the one from Beauty and the Beast, but Lady and the Tramp gives the world the precious spaghetti kiss that makes us say, “awwww!” every time.
It’s been less than a year since Lara Jean and Peter Kavinsky waltzed into our lives with their fake relationship. But that doesn’t make their romance and kisses any less significant.
There are a couple of kisses in this movie, including the inciting incident on the high school track. However, the moment that truly takes the cake in this movie is the hot tub scene! It’s so steamy (literally, thanks to the ski lodge hot tub!). Plus, it’s rewarding to watch previously timid Lara Jean exercising some sexual agency with Peter Kavinsky–everyone’s favorite jock with a heart of gold!
This is another one with some adorable smooches. The most memorable (in my humble opinion) takes place on the date after Kat breaks Patrick out of detention!
Their game of throwing paint-filled balloons is interrupted by a literal roll in the hay. While some of us may watch and think, “Yikes! But that hay would stick to your paint-covered face!” I’m also sure that this one inspired some paintball-based fantasies for some youths out there in the early 2000’s.
Perhaps it’s not that surprising that The Office has managed to stand the test of time. I remember when the show was first on, when my high school friends and I would have actual The Office watch parties in the days of season 3 and 4. Now, an entirely new generation finds themselves perfectly content to binge the series, and a lot of the credit for that comes down to the Jim and Pam relationship.
When Jim and Pam first kiss on the season two finale, it’s an entirely memorable treat for fans of the show. Shot in the dark of the Dunder Mifflin offices after hours, after a long-building crush that Jim finally admitted, this moment is exciting, charged and romantic, even though it functioned as a major cliffhanger at the time!
I have watched all of the David and Patrick episodes of Schitt’s Creek countless times, mostly due to their endearing chemistry. It’s a wonderful fact that this show includes many on-screen kisses between these two, so fans can certainly pick the one that speaks to them.
As for me? I love the emotion and passion behind the kiss in Rose Apothecary after David has taken the leap and told Patrick he loves him (something David has only said to his parents and yelled out at a Mariah Carey concert).
All it takes is someone even quoting “Don’t cry, Shopgirl” to me and I get all shmoopy. I have a personally strong bias toward You’ve Got Mail, since it’s the first romantic comedy I ever saw. Aside from that fact, though, this purely magnificent final scene earns its space in the great onscreen kiss hall of fame (a museum that I hope will, God willing, be a reality someday).
On the one hand, this kiss works because the whole movie has been building toward it: You’ve Got Mail is a delicious slow-burn enemies-to-friends-to-lovers story. As Kathleen Kelly anxiously waits at the bend of Riverside Park, the audience can practically feel her nerves jangling with the hope that her mystery man is Joe and the fear that it’s not, or that she will be stood up once again.
Once Brinkley the dog rounds the bend and the swell of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” begins, it’s time to cue the waterworks. This kiss is beautiful for its romance, but also for all the motion and excitement leading up to it!
There’s something instantly iconic about the kiss at the end of Bridget Jones’ Diary. Maybe it has to do with the titular character’s run through the snow in nothing but a sweater and her underwear. Maybe it has to do with the otherwise entirely proper Mark Darcy responding “oh yes they fucking do” when Bridget says nice guys don’t kiss like that.
Whichever part speaks to you, there’s no denying that this final kiss provides a perfect finale to one of the most well-known comedies of the early aughts.
Almost as long as there’s been film there have been on-screen kisses. I’m sure I must have missed a few of the public’s favorites. Do you have a favorite on-screen kiss that makes you swoon? Tell @onfrolic on twitter, and then maybe treat yourself to re-watching one of your romantic favorites!
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