User blog comment:Cartoonprincess/Creddie vs. Seddie: Which kiss was more meaningful?/@comment-3092491-20101230022929

Well, the Sam and Freddie kiss.

Why? Because everything about it points towards a very meaningful moment in the series, while the (first) kiss between Carly and Freddie was a big moment for the series it wasn’t meaningful in the same respect. Though the kiss on the cheek at the very end of iSaved Your Life was meaningful, not in the same way the Sam and Freddie kiss was.

I will explain if you want? I know this is a long post, I may turn into my own blog, but if you bear with me I’m sure you’ll agree with what I have to say.

Okay, in iKiss, the moment between Sam and Freddie was built up and laid out in such a way that, from a film perspective, it proves itself very meaningful.

Case One being that it was the last scene of the episode. It was the conclusion. Sam and Freddie sharing a kiss was the END of that episode. Sam walks away, Freddie looks after, the credits roll…

Dan made it a point to make sure that this kiss was the last thing on your mind in the episode. We didn't go and see any of the characters reactions too it, or have any subplots being tied up (heck, there weren’t even any subplots). We just had them kiss and then that's the end, that’s the big conclusion of this story. That Sam and Freddie shared a kiss.

While the Carly/Freddie kiss happened in the middle/beginning of the episode and continued on. Not only did a whole episode happen after they kissed but their kiss was even interrupted. Freddie’s mom came home and a lot of screaming ensued. The kiss, while romantic, was at the end of its scene played for comedic effect. While the Sam/Freddie kiss was all seriousness and scene/

Sure jokes were sprinkled into the writing during the iKiss scene (iCarly is a comedy after all) but it was built up with a serious atmosphere and it was left with a serious atmosphere. While the Carly/Freddie kiss came crashing down around a lot of yelling, jokes, spraying, sticking fingers in mouths and hitting people with underwear.

On top of that the show went on to have a whole story other than just the kiss, as well as a rather crazy hilarious subplot. The monumental-ness of the kiss wasn’t something in of itself. There was a whole other story there. It wasn’t just Carly and Freddie kissing. That wasn’t meaningful enough. The story had to be Freddie saving her life, then they kiss, then they date, then they break up. The conclusion of this story was Freddie leaving Carly after he finally got her, a noble act but nonetheless - with a whole lot going on in-between. Not just their kiss.

Moving on – Case Two: Atmosphere. Music and sound. During the Sam/Freddie kiss there was a song playing. A song with lyrics. Lyrics that surprisingly match up to what is happening.

And it’s not merely background music from Freddie’s ipod. It’s playing when Sam enters the scene, then Freddie turns it down during their conversation, and when they lean in and kiss the music swells back up. Lines play that seem to match up to some sort of story between Sam and Freddie (and to note, the song WAS edited to do this specifically, since if you play it through from where it starts at the beginning of the scene, the same lines won’t be playing during the kiss as are in the episode). Then the music dies down again as they take in the kiss, and then as Sam walks away the music rises once more, again with very fitting lyrics - as you all know.

Music isn’t our only thing to take note of here either. Sound besides the music. Or lack of sound. Or, more specifically, lack of a laugh track. iCarly has a laugh track, as annoying as it may be at times, but whenever something funny happens we hear laughter. Whenever something amazing happens we hear clapping, whenever something sweet happens we hear “awww,” and whenever something big happens we here, “Ooooh.” We did not hear “Awww” or “Ooooh,” during Sam and Freddie’s kiss, and we certainly didn’t hear laughter. That does not mean it wasn’t sweet or big. In fact, it means it was sweeter and bigger than a cheap laugh track from a silly comedy would be appropriate to accommodate.

Basically saying; the kiss was so important and so meaningful that it wasn’t to be ruined by having an invisible audience react to it. We are the only audience and we are taking it all in without interruption or interpretation from an outside source. It’s a big moment. With its own special song. All to itself, to be savored and unsullied.

Carly and Freddie’s first kiss…what do I say here that isn’t already obvious? They got an “Oooooh, awww,” mix with clapping along side. They didn’t have a special lyrical song playing. They had a nice piano piece leading up to the kiss, but that’s all. Carly and Freddie’s song was really during their slow-dance at the Groovy Smoothie. But we’re talking about the kisses here.

I mean, sure, I could debate that Carly and Freddie’s song never swelled in volume at opportune moments, it was built into the scene cause they were dancing, and it wasn’t just Carly and Freddie’s moment as iKiss was, because Sam walked in on it and much of the focus of that scene was on her. But I won’t ruin it all for you :p

In fact, every single kiss between Carly and Freddie has a track, with hooting and laughter even. Even the last on-the-cheek-kiss, that was very important, but even then the audience “awwww”ed. The only significant thing going on with sound during those kisses were big crashes of thunder and lightning every time they happened in the last scene (I think Carly and Freddie kissing made Thor angry). And trust me as an editor; these sorts of things don’t happen by accident.

I could go into a lot more about the merits and demerits of the two kisses from this sort of perspective. But I think I got my point across. Comparing Sam and Freddie’s kiss to Carly and Freddie’s kiss, in this light, I think it’s pretty clear that the first was meant to be made more meaningful than the latter. It was made meaningful through the part it played in the story as a whole and mostly, through the way it was given to the audience.

It was what we define as “A Moment”. I don’t really see the Carly/Freddie kiss “A Moment”. It’s a small part of a larger chain of events that began to take place, while the Sam/Freddie kiss was an Ultimate Result of a chain of events, and that’s reflected very clearly through the atmosphere of each. The Sam/Freddie kiss – that was surely something special.