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Ice-creams, vacuums - is a kiss still just a kiss?
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By
Jill Serjeant
LOS ANGELES, Feb 6 (Reuters Life!) - There's the
flicking kiss, the ice-cream kiss, the vacuum kiss,
the Hollywood kiss and another 50 or so smoochy
variations.
Who said a kiss was just a kiss?
For everyone who's ever wanted to pucker up like a
movie star, French kiss like Johnny Depp, or simply
add variety to their love life, help is at hand.
"In our culture, movies are a major way of
transmitting romantic ideas and a lot of people get
their romantic notions about kissing from love scenes
in movies," said William Cane, author of "Kiss Like a
Star."
"More kisses are being invented all the time. People
kept asking me, can you put some pictures in so I can
see how to do it? That is why movies are so good
because you can watch them and get a whole bunch of
ideas that you can try out with your partner."
Cane uses close-up sequences from movies ranging from
"Casablanca" to "Top Gun" and "Dirty Dancing" to
illustrate in detail the techniques of more than 60
kisses.
Some, like the passionate, sweep-her-back embrace
between Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh in "Gone with the
Wind" are already famous.
One of the newer varieties -- the "ice-cream kiss"
from "The Notebook" in which Canadian actress Rachel
McAdams pushes an ice-cream cone into the face of
co-star Ryan Gosling and then kisses it off -- won a
2005 MTV best kiss award.
And, some, like the "vacuum kiss" as seen in the
little-known 1993 comedy "Coneheads," need a bit of
practice.
Yet teens, who might seem like the target audience for
crucial tips on how to avoid bumping noses on that
angst-ridden first kiss, are the least likely to be
buying the book, said Cane, which is the pen name of
former English professor Michael Christian who began
writing about kissing 15 years ago.
His first book, "The Art of Kissing," was released in
1991 and he has also written "The Art of Hugging."
"A lot of young people are afraid to get my books
because they don't want their parents to see they are
interested in kissing," said Cane, who tours the
United States speaking at college and universities
about how, who and when to kiss.
Although practice, variety and imagination make
perfect, Cane says you don't need a partner to brush
up your smooching skills.
"Make a little mouth with your left hand. Take your
right thumb and put it through. You can actually
practice a French kiss on your hand," he said.
Or you can rent the 1990 movie "Cry-Baby," and freeze
frame Johnny Depp doing it.
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