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Considering how much fuss Richard Gere has gotten over his “obscene” attempts to plant an unwanted Hollywood-style kiss on Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty (Indian extremists have been salivating over the images and calling for Gere’s arrest), we figured we’d investigate a few other lip-smacking shockers. You know, things that stunned the world, stopped the presses, or were thoroughly over-hyped for one reason or another.
1. The Iranian Gloved Kiss
While we’re not exactly fans of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian Prez was recently accused of “indecent behavior” when he got caught kissing the thickly-gloved hand of his first grade teacher. Quick to act, a Hezbollah newspaper berated the smooth operator for behaving contrary to Sharia law. Of course, this isn’t the first time the so-called forward-thinking Ahmadinejad has been criticized for his lefty views. The conservative leader has taken flak from ultra-conservative leaders for making such inflammatory statements as “women should be allowed to watch soccer matches.”
2. Star Trek’s Interracial Kiss
I’m not sure what’s most amazing about Nichelle Nichols—that the actress was discovered by Duke Ellington, that she became the first black character on TV to play a non-stereotypical role, that she was involved in television’s first interracial (black/white) kiss, or that she actually got Martin Luther King, Jr. to become a Trekkie?! I’d have to say the last, since it was the civil rights activist who convinced Nichols to weather the public harassment and stay on the show, but the kiss was pretty revolutionary as well. Except that it wasn’t really a kiss. Despite the public outrage and supposed banning of the show in various cities, Captain Kirk and Lt. Uhuru never actually locked lips– NBC censors insisted that the two remain an inch apart at their closest.
3. Al Gore’s Convenient Kiss
Who can forget when old Al planted one on the Tipster in 2000 to highlight his faith in monogamy and energize the Democratic National Convention? While ostensibly spontaneous, the make-out session was conceived to separate himself from Bill’s lecherous ways while making a wooden Gore seem far more red-blooded. And the stunt worked. While turning off some, The Kiss gave Gore a significant boost in the polls. Who knows? If only he’d gotten to second base on stage, maybe he’d have sealed the election.
4. Superman’s Kiss
Perhaps one of the most expensive kisses in history, producers on the 1982 film Deathtrap believed that the peck between former Superman actor Christopher Reeve and Michael Caine ended up being box office kryptonite. The quick smooch startled moviegoers, and set the filmmakers back at least $10 million dollars in bad publicity and lost revenue.
5-7. Awards Show Kisses
Since these are all a little too gossipy, but should probably be included, let’s lump ‘em together and keep them quick:
5. The Infamous Angelina Jolie/brother kiss. “I did not give Angie a French kiss, it was something simple and lovely,” James Haven insists. Ugh. Simple and lovely? Debatable. Quick? Definitely not.
6. Madonna/Britney MTV kiss. I’m not sure why this was considered controversial and press-worthy since the whole affair was so blatantly manufactured. Perhaps it was just because despite her “I’m not that innocent” declarations, Britney still seemed pretty innocent at the time? What’s funnier about the whole thing is that Christina Aguilera was involved in the smooching as well (pictured), and got zero buzz out of her part in the show.
7. The 1994 Michael Jackson/Lisa Marie “We’re so in love” kiss. Clearly.
8. Ellen’s TV Kiss
Easily one of the most talked about television smooches, the 1997 kiss between actress Laura Dern and comedian Ellen DeGeneres on the “coming out” episode of Ellen sparked a national firestorm. A few Baptist groups boycotted ABC/Disney for months for airing the show, and the Jurassic Park actress Laura Dern said her career was by hindered by the backlash—she was blacklisted in Hollywood for a year following the episode.
Thanks to Sandy Wood and Kara Kovalchik for providing the research. If you spotted any big, controversial or important kisses we missed, drop it in the comments below. You know we dig it when you learn us some facts!
Well, it’s a bit dated, but how about when Judas kissed Jesus on the cheek to signal to the soldiers that he was the one to take.
posted by Jenny on 5-8-2007 at 12:17 pm
oh, smart! a definite miss on our parts…
posted by Mangesh on 5-8-2007 at 12:23 pm
When I read, “You know, things that stunned the world, stopped the presses”, my first thought was of the infamous picture of a sailor kissing a nurse to celebrate the end of WWII.
posted by caitlen on 5-8-2007 at 1:31 pm
And, I’m not 100% certain, but wasn’t the kiss between Kevin Kline and Tom Selleck in “In and Out” of the first mainstream movies to show two guys kissing?
I could be totally wrong here, but it came to mind.
posted by Milica Moore on 5-8-2007 at 1:49 pm
Getting blackballed in Hollywood for kissing Ellen DeGeneres doesn’t sound right to me. (Heck that is how Anne Heche made her career.) So, I looked up Laura Dern’s IMDB record. Both before and after ‘the kiss’ in 1997 she has one or two acting credits per year much of the time.
If Dern was shut out of the business for a year, it didn’t affect her productivity much.
posted by n2y2 on 5-8-2007 at 2:28 pm
Here we go with the self-centered America again… Kirk and Uhura was a COMPLETE NON EVENT in anyplace outside the US… “kisses that changed the world”… pfft!
posted by UGH on 5-8-2007 at 3:04 pm
There are several online print interviews with Laura Dern where she claims to have been locked out of acting gigs due to her “Ellen” kiss.
And Harry Hamlin and Michael Ontkean lip-locked in 1982’s “Making Love” long before “In and Out.”
posted by Jill on 5-8-2007 at 11:28 pm
2 kisses to consider:
Marlon Brando & Larry King
Sammy Davis, Jr. planting one on Archie Bunker
One more thing about Nichelle Nichols; her brother was one of the “Heaven’s Gate” cult members who went to ride Hale-Bopp with a fresh pair of Nikes.
posted by Daylightrambler on 5-9-2007 at 7:44 am
The Roseanne & Hemingway kiss was a pretty big deal back in the day.
posted by mike on 5-9-2007 at 10:24 am
Way before “In & Out” was the movie Making Love, with Kate Jackson. I can’t remember the actors, but they played her husband and the man he was having an affair with. Major makeout scene between the two guys.
posted by Karen on 5-9-2007 at 11:01 am
Nirvana’s “Saturday Night Live” performance on January 11, 1992, ended with Kurt Cobain French-kissing Krist Novoselic. It may not have been Earth-shaking, but it’s been edited out of every subsequent rebroadcast.
posted by Mike on 5-9-2007 at 4:41 pm
man, I’d completely forgotten about that… I think I watched that SNL with my Buddhist-leaning parents, and they were thoroughly confused about why someone would trash their instruments at the end of a show, and call themselves Nirvana.
posted by Mangesh on 5-9-2007 at 5:26 pm
In response to UGH’s comment…The very fact that you dismiss this blog with a “pfft” indicates that you seem to think you are above all of this which, of course, shows how self-centered you truly are. Oh, and by the way, it’s not news that Americans are self-centered…get over it or move to France.
posted by American Mark on 5-10-2007 at 10:34 am
The very first kiss on film was between a Victorian couple seen in the Edison kinetoscope The May Irwin Kiss (1896) (aka The Kiss, or The Irwin-Rice Kiss in a filmed scene from the stage play The Widow Jones). This titillating short 20-second film, with a close-up of a kiss, was denounced as shocking and pornographic to early moviegoers and caused the Roman Catholic Church to call for censorship. See filmsite.org
posted by MikiD54 on 5-14-2007 at 5:36 pm
Or how about the instance of Russian leader Putin kissing that kid’s stomach? That was kinda creepy.
posted by Fletch on 8-21-2007 at 10:16 am
@UGH:
Gee, an American magazine and an American website, and yet you feel the need to bash America…funny that.
Oh, and by the way, the title of the article is “8 Smooches That (sort-of) Shook the World” not “kisses that changed the world.” Note the “(sort of)” part. I would encourage you to practice literacy.
posted by Ed Hands on 8-21-2007 at 3:43 pm
Let us not forget the kiss between Seann William Scott and Ashton Kutcher in “Dude Where’s My Car?” in 2000.
I hate to see posts that dwell on same-sex kisses, because there are many other shock-the-world kisses between straight couples that have caused a media circus.
posted by Dan on 8-21-2007 at 4:27 pm
How about the kiss in the final episode of M*A*S*H when Hawkeye kisses “Hot Lips” just before they all go home? Definitely a great one!
posted by Sam on 8-22-2007 at 1:43 am
“Star Trek” is too often pointed to as TV’s first interracial kiss, and as the article says, it wasn’t really a kiss. It was a rare episode of “I Love Lucy”, however, that didn’t end with Desi Arnaz (Cuban) and Lucille Ball (Caucasian) locking lips.
posted by Biff on 8-22-2007 at 5:09 pm
I guess later on they showed the full Uhura/Kirk kiss because I’ve seen Plato’s Children several times and there is definate full-on lip lock. Guess it’s time to break out the DVDs and rewatch.
Personally, I would’ve rather made out with Spock.
posted by Jami JoAnne Russell on 8-22-2007 at 8:52 pm
Michael Corleone kissed his brother Fredo and told him he knew he had betrayed him.
It has since been referenced to and/or parodied in films and on TV. It may not have changed or shaken the world, but it made a strong impression.
posted by pro-persian (the cat) on 8-23-2007 at 3:05 pm
….what ever happened to the supposedly (1-million dollar kiss between Linda Evans & Cary Grant) trying to prove AIDS was ONLY a sexually transmitted disease!
posted by Tony on 8-24-2007 at 12:29 pm
Linda Evans and Rock Hudson, you mean. I gotta say, that’s one thing that gives me respect for Linda Evans.
posted by Salome on 8-27-2007 at 8:36 am
I have read interviews with Linda Evans, she did not KNOW that Rock Hudson had AIDS at the time.
posted by vikki on 8-28-2007 at 12:38 pm
I believe the first gay kiss (between two men) to ever be shown on national US television was on MTV in the early 1990’s.
posted by Nick on 8-28-2007 at 12:46 pm
Oh, Please! The 1945 sailor & nurse photo is a cultural icon symbolizing the end of 4 years of death and sacrifice and the beginning of an era of prosperity and security. These pop culture moments are tabloid fodder.
posted by Fred on 8-28-2007 at 12:46 pm
If you are looking for a kiss that caused uprising, try the Opera “Salome” whereas some chick kisses the “recently beheaded” head of John The Baptist. I am pretty sure it was in the 60s but at it’s premiere it caused people to exit the theater puking. I cannot remember the composer off the top of my “still attached” head.
posted by Jason on 8-28-2007 at 2:12 pm
How about lucy lui and calista flockhart on allie macb. Hot stuff
posted by Joey on 8-28-2007 at 3:33 pm
The “iconic” photo of the sailor kissing the nurse has a bit of a dark side to it.
That sailor wasn’t fresh off ship as many are led to believe. He had been on leave and was on his way back to his ship when the world went crazy around him. The lights of wallstreet (I think its wallstreet) are visible behind and him and scrolling news about victory. In his excitement he grabbed the first woman he saw (our hapless nurse) and planted one on her. The shutterbug who caught the “tender” scene was simply in the right place at the right time. The woman herself was stiff as a board in the photo and instantly after the kiss was complete she hit the guy. In the years following the sailor tried to write letters of appology to the poor woman and was rewarded for his efforts with return letters of legal threats.
So being said I wouldn’t really call the photo an American icon of a return to prosperity. Maybe one of sexual conquest but not the innocent and heartwarming icon they would like us to buy into.
posted by mark on 8-28-2007 at 3:57 pm
What about Jim Brown and Raquel Welch?
posted by Terri on 8-28-2007 at 5:10 pm
duh..biggest kiss Romeo and Juliet it’s been re-lived a million times..all others are just an attempt to duplicate.
posted by smarter then ewe on 8-28-2007 at 7:59 pm
OMG - can’t believe that this has not already been mentioned… Hally Berry’s notable kiss at the Academy Awards! I’m not sure how many successful, surprise dips there have been in history. Adrien Brody’s celebration of his award was certainly a moment to remember.
posted by Donna on 8-28-2007 at 8:45 pm
Without kissing, we’d all be shaking hands. And that would really, really suck! (No pun intended)
posted by Robin on 8-28-2007 at 9:46 pm
if you know the answers to my questions, please respond: godraiden2@yahoo.com
with subject line: msn kissing thank you.
1) news to me: I thought (obviously not a Trekkie) that those two had kissed
2) Richard Gere was (?still is?) married to that gal — they were on their honeymoon — it was a mutual kiss, not what that picture shows.
3) who can tell more about the Superman kiss? not sounding familiar?
4) re) The Infamous Angelina Jolie/brother kiss: when you’re Angelina, you can do whatever you want. since you’re reading this memo on a computer, you know about upgrades — so does Angelina — she upgraded from Billy Bob to Brad Pitt!
5) re) 5-7 once you reverse 5 & 7, the pix make sense — a bit confusing at first.
posted by dionysus on 8-29-2007 at 8:27 am
@UGH: Welcome to the world, my friend. I hope you haven’t just noticed that self-centeredness is an American trademark. Proud and proud of it. And as was said, “that (sort-of) shook the world.” Read any English?
Applause for American Mark and Ed Hands.
An entertaining article. Fun trivia to bring up in conversations with teachers, eh? Nothing memorable to offer, sorry, but this was kind of funny. Well done.
posted by Kaye on 8-29-2007 at 3:31 pm
What, no mention of Bill and Monica?
posted by Pat Phillips on 8-29-2007 at 9:08 pm
Didn’t Martin Luther King Jr. die before Uhuru and Kirk kissed on the air? If so, how could he have convinced her to “weather the embarassment and stay on the show” as you say?
posted by Julia on 9-28-2007 at 4:02 pm
I loved the kissing in Brokeback Mountain when the two stars, homosexuals, reunite after years of separation. This was pure passion. And I am a Christian.
posted by Karen Ochotnicka on 9-28-2007 at 5:48 pm
In regards to what Jason said, Salome is an opera by Richard Strauss. And in the version I saw, which of course each version will be different in slight interpretations, my entire class was completely disturbed by the scene with Salome and the head of John the Baptist. Granted, this meant the woman playing Salome was a great actress — but still. She took it to the extreme, and I do enjoy the opera, but I would have to agree it deserves to have at least been in the running for this list.
posted by Rae on 9-29-2007 at 12:55 pm
Don’t forget PeeWee Herman’s kiss in Big Top PeeWee,longest kiss in movie history.
posted by Rosco on 9-30-2007 at 10:20 pm
What about the ‘reunion’ kiss between Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain? Lots of people were stunned (and turned on) by that. It was voted Best Movie Kiss atheeh MTV Movie Awards in ‘06…
posted by devilgirl on 10-3-2007 at 1:54 pm
was NO ONE else freaked out by those weird pecks between liza minelli and uh…what was his name? SCARY.
posted by CourtB on 10-4-2007 at 6:44 am
How about Hillary kissing Arafat’s wife? Shameful display of antisemitism completely ignored for political convenience
posted by bubba on 10-4-2007 at 8:59 am
Two I can think of:
Ian McKellen on Saturday Night Live - layed one on Jimmy Fallon. Clearly wasn’t rehearsed!
And one of the first lesbian kisses on television - between Willow and her girlfriend Tara on Buffy the Vampire Slayer
posted by Dawn on 5-27-2008 at 4:45 am
I remember reading the kiss between Barbra Streisand and Omar Shariff caused a stir at the time.
posted by keith on 5-27-2008 at 7:29 am
I don’t know what dionysus’s source is, but Richard Gere is married to Carey Lowell since 2002, not the Indian Bollywood actress shown in the picture.
posted by Lisa on 5-27-2008 at 11:06 am
There was a great girl/girl kiss on LA law. one wanted too, the other wasn’t sure, then got into it.
posted by Jazzy on 7-25-2008 at 2:22 pm
How about when Jesus kissed the whore named Mary? I wonder if he paid.
posted by Tired of the blather on 7-25-2008 at 3:29 pm
I remember watching that Star Trek episode as a young child, and I didn’t understand why Kirk & Ohura didn’t kiss on the lips. It was blatantly obvious that they were cheek-to-cheek. My parents never made a big deal about interracial dating, so I didn’t know that it was supposed to be “shocking.” Thanks, Mom & Dad!
posted by Amy on 10-31-2008 at 12:36 pm
1. Regarding the Trek kiss, it’s kind of funny, Uhura was the only constantly recurring female character on Star Trek and Kirk never once tried to bed her. I guess she only had eyes for Sulu.
2. Phew, I was afraid I was the only one who saw the Ally/Ling kiss. I want to find it again.
3. What about the Xena-Gabrielle kiss. I swear, I think Xena was one flannel shirt away from swinging for the other team.
Oh yeah, and on a side note:
“No naked Gabrielles were harmed in the making of this episode.”
Best tag line ever!
posted by Stephen on 10-31-2008 at 3:13 pm
What about Archie Bunker and Sammy Davis Jr.???????? Interracial, 2 men, how could you miss that???
posted by JIM on 10-31-2008 at 3:24 pm
What about Rodin’s sculpture?
posted by Elizabeth on 11-1-2008 at 3:16 am
Ellen did not kiss Laura Dern during her Coming Out episode (or in any episode of Ellen). What are you talking about?? Ellen just came out in that episode, that’s all. The Ellen character fell for the Laura Dern character, but the Dern character was in a relationship.
posted by Sara on 11-1-2008 at 3:26 pm
Fred wrote: Oh, Please! The 1945 sailor & nurse photo is a cultural icon symbolizing the end of 4 years of death and sacrifice and the beginning of an era of prosperity and security. These pop culture moments are tabloid fodder.
It was 6 according to most history books . . . Good Lord, some people just don’t get it, like the one that puts Toronto in Canada - is there another one?
posted by Ian J on 11-2-2008 at 1:34 am