[HPforGrownups] Kissing

[Neil Ward]

No: HPFGUIDX 1810

Penny said - on kissing:

>It strikes me that it would be a bit unusual to do this in the UK
>(basing this on the stereotypical reserved Englishman).  In any case,
>JKR says it's something Hermione had never done before.  Yeah -- it
>could be platonic.  But, as far as we the readers are concerned, Ron
>didn't even get a platonic kiss good-bye.  My feeling was just that
>there was some subtle emphasis there on JKR's part, and it will be Book
>5 or later before we know for sure if meant something or nothing at
>all.  And, in any case, the final tally so far is one kiss for H/H and 0
>kisses for R/H.  <g>  Sorry, couldn't resist.

I just dropped in, briefly, to comment on this major debate:

Many British people have a ten-yard exclusion zone when it comes to being
tactile, but it's not a universal trait.  I'm a reserved Englishman and I
kiss people all the time, sometimes on the lips but usually on one cheek.
However, I'm also inclined to shake hands or wave 'hello/goodbye' from
across the room if I don't like the look of the person.  Most other
Europeans go for two or three kisses on alternate cheeks and it comes more
naturally to them, I guess (I remember the first time I visited Germany: I
was quite taken aback at being hugged and kissed by friends of my friends -
I think I'd been expecting them to be really stiff and aloof, possibly
bowing formally and clicking their heels together).    

If Harry and Hermione were 25, a kiss on the cheek could mean nothing at
all, but as young teenagers there is much more significance to it.  A kiss
on the cheek is pretty much 'first base' when you're that age.  Perhaps JKR
was putting old heads on young shoulders though; it would be quite easy to
forget how young these characters are and write in a kiss on the cheek
without thinking about the likelihood of it.

Neil, vanishes again, in a puff of green smoke.  


            Flying-Ford-Anglia

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   "Then, dented, scratched and steaming, 
   the car rumbled off into the darkness, 
   its rear lights blazing angrily"

 [Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]

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