Love 101 ?

Have you ever wondered about those long, lingering kisses that one sees in films?

The other day, I was watching some mindless film that had a love story entrenched in it and I began to think. What are those vacuum-like kisses all about? Are they a reflection of love in general or are they a plot to idealize what love is and what it should look like? And how did kissing start in the first place?

What I really want to know is, is this what true love is supposed to be like? If our love does not look like this, are we fooling ourselves? Should we feel inferior because our “love” doesn’t fit the “norm”?

Then I began to think about kisses in the media (on film & in photographs)...

We all know that the people that we see in these films are actors. They are not in love with each other at all and, in fact, are being paid to kiss like that. Knowing all of this, why are we buying this whole cinematic “love story” shite?

Why are we accepting that this is what it should be like if we are in love? If you ask me, we have to stop trying to measure up to the ridiculous standards of fictional cinema, and just let things evolve in a way more realistic way. After all, intimacy doesn’t come from the ideology of kissing, it comes from a connection that is far deeper.

It really is frightening how much we are manipulated by media and this issue really brought it to the forefront of my thoughts for the week. It’s no wonder we are always searching for what’s on the other side of the fence. We can’t help but be barraged by these media images, can we? I suppose that we’ll just have to turn it all off.

In the meantime, just enjoy who you’re with and make an effort to stop trying to live up to those silly “ideals” that are out there. Live and love folks. You don't have to behave like a vacuum to be in love.