Burning Love

By Elaine Viets                                                        

Exploding Fireworks.                        

Trains rushing into tunnels.

These used to be the cinematic signs of love. Now these sex symbols have a hot replacement – candles.

 

 

Have you noticed how many burning love scenes there is on TV and in movies?

I’m not talking about a candle or two. I mean enough candles to light colonial Williamsburg.

I first noticed the phenomenon in "Bull Durham," one of the sexiest movies ever made. Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon have sex on the kitchen table, in her bed, on the floor, and in the bathtub. Talk about hot sex. There are enough candles flickering around that bathtub to light a cathedral.

Candlelight can cover awkward moments. The first gay daytime TV sex scene was on the soap, "One Life to Live" in 2009. No bathtubs with a thousand points of light on that show. The gay couple Oliver and Kyle lit candles, kissed and took off each other’s shirts. The camera concentrated on the candle flames during the rest of the romantic interlude. Any viewers who weren’t sure what gay sex involved would still be in the dark after that scene.

Teen sex went from steamy wrestling matches in the back seat to candlelit encounters on TV. The first time now requires enough candles to start a wax museum.

In "Beverly Hills, 90210," Donna Martin (Tori Spelling) finally has sex with David Silver (Brian Austin Green) after an epic 208 episodes, according to Wetpaint.com. The couple had safe sex and lit candles "although it looked an awful lot like a menorah," the blog reports.

 

"Dawson’s Creek," the 1998 teen TV drama, follows four friends —Dawson Leery, Joey Potter, Jen Lindley and Pacey Witter—in the mythical seaside town of Capeside, Massachusetts, and later Boston.

Joey Potter (Katie Holmes) and Pacey Witter (Joshua Jackson) waited 81 episodes before they consummated their love. Their romantic scene happened in a ski lodge.

Yes, boys and girls, there were candles. And a fireplace. And music by Bryan Adams. I hope it was good for them, because it made for dull viewing. You can watch the scene here.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/6rd5cfk

But Joey and Pacey’s not-so-hot love scene spawned countless teen movies and TV shows.

Even the undead use candles to light their fire. "True Blood" is based on the Southern Vampire series by Femme Fatale Charlaine Harris. Jessica, Vampire Bill’s ward, has sex with her human lover, Hoyt, for the first time in a vampire hotel. Hoyt covers the bed with red rose petals and buys candles in the hotel gift shop.

"Blood-scented," he says, in one of the show’s more endearing lines.

I like a candle or two myself. But when your pulse is pounding and your knees are weak, do you really stop and light a zillion candles?

 

This trend has definitely changed the meaning of safe sex. Now you have to bring protection – and make sure there are batteries in the smoke detector.

What about you? What are your favorite TV and movie love scenes?

 

Comments

[Laraine]

Ah, romance. Well, sort of. After my sister-in-law nearly burned down their house in the middle of the day with a single candle, AND because I live in earthquake country, I'd be anything but 'in the mood' if there were fifty lit candles in my home!

I did notice some prime time love scene recently where there sure seemed to be more candles than either party would have had time or interest in lighting on the way to the bed.

For me? Romance = clean and orderly home, tranquil lighting, and I guess I'll stop there, short of TMI.

[Elaine Viets]

I do think the set designers over-do the candles, Laraine. You'd need a full-time staff to light that many.

[Diana in STL]

Each time I hear Unchained Melody by the Righteous Brothers I think of the pottery wheel scene in Ghost. I do think some times less is more.

The over the top candle scenes crack me up. The practical side of me always thinks about fires, difficulty in manuevering around them and how long it took to set them up instead of the romantic element.

[Elaine Viets]

"Ghost" was a gorgeous movie, Diana. You have the same thoughts about those "searing" love scenes that I do.

[Karen in Ohio]

Elaine, you crack me up, always.

When I was young... but never more than three! I'd be afraid of the candles burning up all the oxygen in the room.

However, for our Halloween parties, I've been known to light more than a hundred candles, most of them actual candles, although I'm collecting more and more battery-operated ones. It does set the mood!

[Dana]

Ah, Elaine, I'm afraid the candles just bring out my practical side. How did they light them all, and why aren't the first ones nearly burnt out by the time they're done lighting the last? What about the wax on the woodwork? Fire hazard, fire hazard!

Plus, candles mostly say "hurricane" to me.

[Hank Phillippi Ryan]

I'm terrified of candles. I ALWAYS think they're going to cause a fire.

We had people over for dinner the other night, and I woke up in the middle of the night thinking--OH I didn't blow out the candles!

I had, of course.

[Elaine Viets]

Battery lamps say "hurricane" to me, Dana. I had a "miner's lamp" I strapped to my forehead for Hurricane Wilma. Allowed me to read in bed.
I've got to go to you Halloween party, Karen!

[Elaine Viets]

They do cause fires, Hank. In fact, Don burned his thumb yesterday lighting a candle. Aloe vera works wonders, but burns still hurt.

[Karen in Ohio]

I'll send you an invite this year. You and Don would be a welcome addition!

We went to a wedding once, very pretty, where each guest was asked to light a candle in a votive and place it on the altar before the ceremony. Unfortunately, no one was monitoring the proceedings, and most people put their candles on the lower tiers of the cascade, making it more likely that filling the next tiers above would be hazardous to the placers.

It was miracle that no one was burned.

[Elaine Viets]

LOL -- you know there's now a "lighter" ap for your cell phone, so you can hold it up at rock concerts. Maybe the guests should have used that for safety.

[Chocolate gabache]

Personal knowledge that the candle thing is less romantic than it's cracked up to be - "lotsa candles" was part of my son-in-law's proposal plan. And he left my daughter in the car for about 20 minutes while he lit them. And the first ones lit were dead by the time she was allowed in. And he was sweating profusely from the exertion. And there was a semi-fire that interrupted the kissing after the question. No matter - they celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary last week.

[Elaine Viets]

A hilarious story with a happy ending.

[krisneri]

I have noticed the movie and TV trend of indicating romance with loads and loads of lit candles. The sight of all those burning candles always makes me nervous for them. But then, I came from earthquake country, and I've had to use them to light the house, when the electricity was out, while the aftershocks were shaking it, so I associate candles with fear of fire, not romance. I also worry about my cat's puffy tale catching fire.