History Main / TheVJDayKiss

** In "Sometimes You Hear the Bullet", Frank claims that the last time his back went out was "VJ Day in Times Square when this big sailor hugged me."

* Parodied by John Oliver, and an unknown actress, on ''Series/TheDailyShow'' in a [[http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-january-11-2011/verizon-iphone-announcement feature]] about the iPad getting the use of the Verizon network ('VZ Day'). While kissing the woman, Oliver makes the picture himself with his iPad.

** In "Bart the General", Bart and Milhouse parade Nelson, tied up in the wagon. Lisa stands in the street surveying the damage, when a soldier boy rushes up and kisses her, the moment captured forever in a photo. Lisa slaps him and yells, "Ewww, knock it off!"

* Once parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. From "Bart the General", Bart and Milhouse parade Nelson, tied up in the wagon. Lisa stands in the street surveying the damage, when a soldier boy rushes up and kisses her, the moment captured forever in a photo. Lisa slaps him and yells, "Ewww, knock it off!"

!Examples:

Taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt and originally appearing in ''LIFE'' magazine, the photo's subjects melted into the crowd before he could catch their names. As a result of this (plus the natural obfuscation of the subjects' features in the picture itself), several different people over the years have come forward claiming to be the kisser and/or kissee.

[[quoteright:305:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/VJ_Day_Nurse.jpg]]

[[quoteright:308:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/VJ_Day_Nurse.jpg]]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/VJ_Day_Nurse.jpg]]

-->-- ''Website/{{Cracked}}'', [[http://www.cracked.com/article_19307_6-famous-people-whose-identities-we-still-dont-know.html "6 Famous People Whose Identities We Still Don't Know"]]

The famous kiss an ecstatic sailor plants on a very surprised nurse he just grabbed off the street for the express purpose of kissing (see page image) when the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII is announced in [[BigApplesauce New York City]] is the most [[StockParodies commonly parodied]] [=VDay=] photograph, though there are others.

Taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt and originally appearing in ''LIFE'' magazine, the subjects of the photo melted into the crowd before he could catch their names. As a result of this, and the natural obfuscation of the subjects' features, several different people have come forward claiming to be the kisser and kissee.

Taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt and originally appearing in Life Magazine, the subjects of the photo melted into the crowd before he could catch their names. As a result of this, and the natural obfuscation of the subjects' features, several different people have come forward claiming to be the kisser and kissee.

* ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'': Ice, the former love of Guy Gardner's life, was resurrected after years of being deceased during an affair between the ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey and the ComicBook/SecretSix. In the aftermath of the ComicBook/SinestroCorpsWar, the two ex-lovers met once again in Times Square and shared a single long and passionate [[http://images.wikia.com/marvel_dc/images/7/74/Guy_Ice_together_again.jpg kiss]].

[[folder:Film]]

* Larry and UsefulNotes/AmeliaEarhart jump into a large print of it in ''Film/NightAtTheMuseum: Battle of the Smithsonian''. This scene also leads to a BrickJoke in the credits after Larry loses his phone in it.
* ''Film/LettersToJuliet'' begins with the main character attempting to find someone who saw the photo being taken.

* ''Webcomic/LeifAndThorn'': Mata and Pato, [[http://leifandthorn.com/comic/landslide-bring-me-down-5775/ celebrating an engineering success]].

* ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'' puts the openly lesbian character Silhouette in the place of the Sailor. [[AllohistoricalAllusion A sailor walks past them as they kiss]], even briefly glancing at them before moving on. This apparently started a relationship, as that same nurse was seen sitting with Silhoutte at a Minutemen dinner and then murdered along with Silhouette later in the title sequence.

* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': In the fourth episode, Lestat de Lioncourt [[https://64.media.tumblr.com/e94a180fb08835e3b73544fe2090f001/9402f360ff217da7-6f/s540x810/dc5b5b1d944d2f4a62ce61203a13c39161ec8e7b.gif dramatically drops]] a female victim in this iconic pose before draining her to death. InUniverse, it would be incorrect to say that Lestat is parodying the famous photograph because the scene is set in 1923, 22 years before the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.

* A variation in ''The Master Sniper''. A young American soldier turns a corner and sees a Red Cross girl with gorgeous lips who's looking a bit upset, so he kisses her (naturally this gets his face slapped). It's only ''then'' that he discovers the Germans have surrendered, which is why she's in tears.

* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': In the fourth episode, Lestat de Lioncourt [[https://64.media.tumblr.com/5cb10263b4418895dfb5565bed00dd00/2f2344d0c3594030-91/s540x810/20a0d4c715874b73f23619e9efffc0e510a563e0.gif dramatically drops]] a female victim in this iconic pose before draining her to death. InUniverse, it would be incorrect to say that Lestat is parodying the famous photograph because the scene is set in 1923, 22 years before the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.

* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': In the fourth episode, Lestat de Lioncourt [[https://64.media.tumblr.com/5cb10263b4418895dfb5565bed00dd00/2f2344d0c3594030-91/s500x750/20a0d4c715874b73f23619e9efffc0e510a563e0.gif dramatically drops]] a female victim in this iconic pose before draining her to death. InUniverse, it would be incorrect to say that Lestat is parodying the famous photograph because the scene is set in 1923, 22 years before the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.

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[[folder: Live Action TV ]]
* In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', at the end of ''[[FilmNoir Noir]]'', Jimmy does this to Chloe. Fitting for an affectionately old-fashioned episode.
* ''Series/{{Frasier}}''. When Frasier and the gang return to KACL after it reverts back to talk show format.
-->'''Bulldog:''' God, I didn't think I'd ever see this place again. It's like we're soldiers comin' back from the war.
-->''(grabs a passing woman and imitates the VJ Day kiss. She gives him a tremendous slap and storms off.)''
-->'''Bulldog:''' ''(ecstatic)'' I'm home!
* At least four references in ''Series/{{MASH}}'':
** In "Sometimes You Hear the Bullet", Frank claims that the last time his back went out was "VJ Day in Times Square when this big sailor hugged me."
** In "Dear Dad", Hawkeye walks up behind Frank and Hot Lips and surprises the latter with a passionate kiss and embrace very much like the one in the photo.
** In "There's Nothing Like a Nurse", Hawkeye and Hot Lips strike a very similar pose when he grabs and kisses her just before the nurses leave for a bug-out.
** "Abyssinia, Henry" has Colonel Blake recreating this with Major Houlihan, after the former is inaudibly advised/dared to do so by [[HandsomeLech Hawkeye]].

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[[folder: Real Life ]]

* Three references in ''Series/{{MASH}}'':

* The ''Series/{{MASH}}'' episode "Abyssinia, Henry" has Colonel Blake recreating this with Major Houlihan, after the former is inaudibly advised/dared to do so by [[HandsomeLech Hawkeye]].

* Among those claiming to have been the subjects of the photograph were [[http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-33816_162-57491471/sailor-nurse-from-iconic-vj-day-photo-reunited/ Greta Friedman and George Mendosa]]. Serves also as a FunnyAneurysmMoment as it turned out that Mendosa was drunkenly kissing everyone at the time and the kiss was [[ForcefulKiss non-consensual from Friedman's side]]. As noted in the introduction, however, others have also made the claim to be the ones in the photo and no agreement has been reached on the validity of one over the other.

->''“She ran out into the street, and a sailor embraced her and kissed her. Feeling gratitude for the services rendered by the U.S. armed forces, she let him do it. Plus, he was trained to kill people, so there’s that.”''
-->-- ''Website/{{Cracked}}'', "[[http://www.cracked.com/article_19307_6-famous-people-whose-identities-we-still-dont-know.html 6 Famous People Whose Identities We Still Don’t Know]],"

* In ''VideoGame/WolfensteinTheNewOrder'', the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlvfqfGTar4 E3 trailer]] has a variation on this at the 30 second mark... with [[DayOfTheJackboot a Nazi]] doing this to a nurse instead, forcing himself on her in Nazi-occupied France.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Surf N' Turf", [=SpongeBob=] shows Sandy an old photo of Mr. Krabs doing this with a large bag of money.

* A variation in ''The Master Sniper''. A young American soldier turns a corner and sees a Red Cross girl with gorgeous lips who's looking a bit upset, so he kisses her (naturally this gets his face slapped). It's only then that he discovers the Germans have surrendered, which is why she's in tears.

-->-- ''Website/{{Cracked}}'', “[[http://www.cracked.com/article_19307_6-famous-people-whose-identities-we-still-dont-know.html 6 Famous People Whose Identities We Still Don’t Know]],”

Likely the modern TropeCodifier for TheBigDamnKiss and a RealLife example of a [[SmoochofVictory Smooch of Victory]].

See FootPopping for what that nurse was doing with her right leg.
She also seems to manage the BoobsAndButtPose.[[note]]Putting several fictional examples to shame with over 45 degrees of rotation between torso and pelvis.[[/note]]

* Among those claiming to have been the subjects of the photograph were [[http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-33816_162-57491471/sailor-nurse-from-iconic-vj-day-photo-reunited/ Greta Friedman as the nurse and George Mendosa]]. Serves as a FunnyAneurysmMoment as it turned out that Mendosa was drunkenly kissing everyone at the time and the kiss was [[ForcefulKiss non-consensual from Friedman's side]]. As noted in the introduction, however, others have also made the claim to be the ones in the photo and no agreement has been reached on the validity of one over the other.