I'm rather unsettled by what happened at the Emmys this week. Bryan Cranston 'made out' with Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Not a peck, but a passionate, need-to-be-pulled-apart kiss (thanks Jimmy Fallon). Whether it was staged or not (it's been reported as being the latter, but who can tell in show business), the act itself appeared to border on the aggressive, with the aggressor being Cranston (male) - a demonstration of gender power imbalance at its best.
But that's not all. The trivialization of the display by the media, whether inadvertently or otherwise, further normalises man's 'taking' of woman, condoning impulsive sexual aggression. It also tragically and shamefully cheapens the sacred act of kissing.
Whilst one can explore any one of these issues, for the purpose of this post, I'm going to focus my attention on the most obvious: the kiss itself.
Both of these high profile individuals are married. Both are revered by millions for their success in Hollywood. And as far as I am aware, both are perceived as respectable, with little controversy surrounding them in the past. So one would have hoped that they would take their roles in the public eye a little more seriously, and show a little bit of restraint, if not maturity. French kissing on a whim is not what one would consider befitting behaviour of people of their profile. Or anyone with a bit of decency really.
Nevermind anything else, a kiss is not something we ought to make light of. There has been much research around its function and significance; from hypotheses about it being a physiological mechanism for choosing the suitability of sexual partners, to it being a psychological expression of trust, intimacy and openness. Overwhelmingly, the consensus is that it is a profoundly intimate act between lovers, some would argue that it is the single most intimate act of all.
So what sort of message does this send? That it's okay to be exchanging bodily fluids indiscriminately? That marriage is no barrier when impulse or attraction take hold? That there is nothing off limits when entertainment is at stake? What a sad, sorry state the world is in if this is the case.
So yes, I did find it unsettling. Not because I'm prudish (I'm not) but because it meant so much more than its seemingly 'spontaneous moment of insanity' veneer.
End rant.
But that's not all. The trivialization of the display by the media, whether inadvertently or otherwise, further normalises man's 'taking' of woman, condoning impulsive sexual aggression. It also tragically and shamefully cheapens the sacred act of kissing.
Whilst one can explore any one of these issues, for the purpose of this post, I'm going to focus my attention on the most obvious: the kiss itself.
Both of these high profile individuals are married. Both are revered by millions for their success in Hollywood. And as far as I am aware, both are perceived as respectable, with little controversy surrounding them in the past. So one would have hoped that they would take their roles in the public eye a little more seriously, and show a little bit of restraint, if not maturity. French kissing on a whim is not what one would consider befitting behaviour of people of their profile. Or anyone with a bit of decency really.
Nevermind anything else, a kiss is not something we ought to make light of. There has been much research around its function and significance; from hypotheses about it being a physiological mechanism for choosing the suitability of sexual partners, to it being a psychological expression of trust, intimacy and openness. Overwhelmingly, the consensus is that it is a profoundly intimate act between lovers, some would argue that it is the single most intimate act of all.
So what sort of message does this send? That it's okay to be exchanging bodily fluids indiscriminately? That marriage is no barrier when impulse or attraction take hold? That there is nothing off limits when entertainment is at stake? What a sad, sorry state the world is in if this is the case.
So yes, I did find it unsettling. Not because I'm prudish (I'm not) but because it meant so much more than its seemingly 'spontaneous moment of insanity' veneer.
End rant.
