Much is being made of Harry Potter's first kiss. The story from the set of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is that the crew had to be removed to shoot the scene in which Harry kisses Cho Chang. Apparently it was a moment most of the film crew did not want to miss.
That's understandable. First kisses are always special, probably even more so for the boy who lived.
But there are two problems with Harry's first kiss.
First, he kisses the wrong girl.
Second, JK Rowling doesn't exactly have a fondness for kissing.
Ginny Weasley gets so cheated in all this. Yeah, thought I was going to say Hermione, didn't ya.
No. Ginny's had a crush on Harry since the Sorcerer's Stone. She finally gets to Hogwarts, gets to spend some time with Harry away from her parents, and he decides he has a crush on Cho Chang. Moody, unpredictable Cho Chang.
Personally, I don't see the attraction. Silly Ravenclaw. Thinks she's so smart and creative.
Ginny's tough. She can fight with the best Gryffindors. She's not afraid of her brothers or her professors.
But most importantly, she treats Harry like another kid. At first, she is a little intimdated by his celebrity. But by the time she gets to Hogwarts, Harry is just another wizard in training, not the boy who lived.
That's all Harry wants to be. The one person who recognizes it is the one who gets dismissed.
But this might be an intentional oversight because JK Rowling doesn't like kissing.
All I have to point to is the dementor's kiss. It kills people. Not only does it kill people, it sends them to the darkest, coldest place imaginable. It steals the soul. It destroys happiness. It consumes with fear and hopelessness.
Rowling REALLY doesn't like kisses.
So maybe it is by design that Harry kisses Cho Chang first. In Rowling's mind, it's not that big a deal. First kisses are a little silly anyway. They always have high expectations and very rarely reach them.
Which got me thinking: What are the most anticipated movies kisses that actually lived up to the hype.
1. The Princess Bride -- The self-proclaimed best kiss ever, at the end when Wesley kisses Princess Buttercup. Highly overrated. Not even their first kiss. But still passionate and encompasses the definition of true love.
2. The Empire Strikes Back -- The near kiss between Han Solo and Princess Leia. Great tension. Good bitterness. But it doesn't really count as a kiss because it didn't happen. Close. But Princess Leia comes to her senses and conveniently slips away before becoming overcome with her emotions.
3. Casablanca -- Rick and Ilsa did more than kiss. Rick even tells Laszlo, Ilsa's husband, that she pretended she still loved Rick and well Rick let her pretend. Ataboy Rick.
4. The Godfather II -- Best sequel ever. And the kiss of death shocked everyone, especially the recipient.
5. Lady and the Tramp -- Meatball scene always gets me. And dog kisses are some of the best kisses around.
We'll have to see if the Order of the Phoenix kiss can crack the top five.