Most kissing scenes aren’t really that graphic, that I’ve noticed. I don’t see a lot of tongue–which is kind of nice. I don’t really need to see someone else’s tongue all over the place.
Actually, we were talking about Kirk Cameron not wanting to do a kissing scene with anyone but his wife, and whether kissing a woman who was not a man’s wife is considered adultery, and whether it is odd to be willing to portray a murderer but not to kiss a woman he wasn’t married to.
Movie stars don’t actually kiss each other during kissing scenes. It’s very rare that they show tongue because that means that actually have to use tongue, which they pretty much never do.
I remember an interview with Eliza Dushku where she was talking about her early work and how naive she was. On Buffy the Vampire Slayer she had a kissing scene with David Boreanaz, who was a vampire with those fake vampire teeth. After the first take she asked the director if he could take out the teeth because they were sharp on her tongue, at which point several crew members started laughing while the director explained how kissing works in Hollywood. Much to David’s chagrin, no doubt.
I would liken a kissing scene to mouth to mouth resuscitation, and I would liken groping scenes to giving a breast exam. In any of these cases the guy could definitely perv out if he wanted to, but he has to consciously do that.
Kirk Cameron not wanting to do a kissing scene because it’s adulterous is exactly as stupid as if he refused to become a doctor because it’s adulterous to give a breast exam. The reason is because in a kissing scene he wouldn’t actually be kissing the woman unless he consciously wanted to, just like a doctor doesn’t perv out during a breast exam unless he consciously wants to.
I believe Mr. McDonough feels the same way.
I think it is extremely strange. Surely they realize that acting involves pretending, correct?
I remember reading, I forget where, but that sex scenes are the most unromantic things to film imaginable. You are surrounded by cameras, bright lights, and the director muttering, “Put your hand a bit higher…there…now move…”
A lot of actors say that sex scenes are so sterile and technical that they’re more tedious than exciting. They’re fairly deceptively shot. It isn’t like they just go at it, making out naked while the cameras roll. It’s all very carefully blocked and posed. The actors are usually wearing G-strings and pasties, and it’s shot a few seconds at a time, not in one continuous shot, but this pose for 5 seconds, now this one for 3 seconds, then a lunch break, then another 4 second shot.
Plus, there’s a whole crew watching. I haven’t heard many (if any) actors ever say it’s anywhere near as erotic as it looks. It’s basically just work to them.
Of course, but the fact remains that an actor cannot “fake” a kiss without actually, in fact, planting his lips on someone else’s lips. A pretend kiss cannot be faked in the same sense that a pretend murder does not leave you with a real dead body. There is actual kissing going on, the only thing that differentiates it from a “real” kiss is the intent behind it; which is far less concrete than something like the lack of a dead body.
And yes, there’s definitely an art to balancing the technical aspects (like hitting your mark) while bringing the emotions of the performance into play (this is true of all acting, not just sex/kissing scenes); however the emotions need to be there on some level, or no one in the audience will find it believable.
It’s right there in the thread title. These other things are a part of a general discussion of sex scenes.
Then you wouldn’t understand the meaning of the word hypocrite.
Wait, what? Yes, they do. They may or may not use tongue, but they are indeed kissing – unless you’re watching an old movie from the '30s or something, when the actors just kind of smushed their faces against each other. What do you think is going on? CGI? 
This logic also prohibits mouth to mouth resuscitation scenes.
Hardly. Pretend kissing still involves the actions of kissing, not to mention holding someone close, or in the case of the scenes McDonough didn’t want to do, in a bed. (While mostly unclothed.) Pretend mouth to mouth involves the actions of mouth to mouth. Mouth to mouth whether real or pretend is not something that would affect one’s marriage vows. Your analogy doesn’t hold.
A what from when, now? Girl, you been reading the wrong magazines. Or does the phrase “free love” mean nothing you?