Line #79 Main/GaussianGirl


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5	[[quoteright:350:[[Film/TheSoundOfMusic https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maria_and_the_captain.png]]]]
6	[[caption-width-right:350:'''Left''': Gaussian Girl. '''Right''': Non-Gaussian Guy.]]
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8
9	->''"Do you remember when Captain Kirk saw a beautiful woman, the screen would go all misty? I thought his eyes were steaming up because he was so excited. Every time I talked to a girl in my class I tried to make my eyes steam up. They called me Scary Jeff."''
10	-->-- '''Jeff Murdock''', ''Series/{{Coupling}}'', "The Girl with Two Breasts"
11
12	An especially common creature in films from UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood, the Gaussian Girl is distinguishable by her supernatural blurriness and by the soft, romantic music accompanying her.
13
14	When filmed, the Gaussian Girl is shot through a soft-focus filter, a piece of translucent plastic, very sheer silk, or a quick smear of Vaseline, depending on the director's and/or cinematographer's preference. This surrounds her with a softly glowing aura, and smooths out any unappealing pores or lines on her face. The result makes her look nothing short of ethereal. If you can't tell a soft-focus shot, look at all of the light sources around her; if they have a starry-glare or halo look, it's soft focus.
15
16	Depending on the show, she might only display this quality when first encountered to show that she's the GirlOfTheWeek, or she might be blurry all the time. She'll never be blurry when a man is in the shot with her, unless they're kissing. Closeups tend to have the most blur. A limited application of the technique was also used during the days of UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode to cover up partially-exposed breasts. The technique may also be used for embellishing [[FoodPorn non-human objects]] [[CargoShip of desire]] as well, or to accompany a DreamSequence, FantasySequence, or nostalgic {{Flashback}}.
17
18	Named for the Gaussian Blur effect in photo editing software.[[note]]The effect can be replicated in software by duplicating the base layer, giving the new top layer a strong Gaussian Blur, and then setting it to about 50% opacity.[[/note]] Popularized by the fabulous Creator/CaroleLombard, who spent her time in the hospital after suffering a serious facial injury devising ways in which she could hide her eventual scar.
19
20	There is some physiological justification for the "soft focus = appealing" relationship. Desire is one of the things that makes a person's pupils dilate. A side-effect of this dilation is to slightly shift the eye's focus into the distance, making anything closer just that little bit more blurry. With experience, the observer's capacity for visual perception learns to correlate cause and effect, and the effect becomes supporting evidence for the cause.
21
22	Has nothing to do with [[MagneticWeapons Gauss guns]]. Or electromagnetism in general. (Well, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_named_after_Carl_Friedrich_Gauss not much]] to do with it.)
23
24	Compare BishieSparkle. SubTrope of InCameraEffects.
25
26	----
27	!!Examples
28
29	[[foldercontrol]]
30
31	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
32	* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', [[TheRival Jean]] perceives [[ObliviouslyBeautiful Mikasa]] this way the first time he sees her.
33	* In the anime adaptation of ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' this was briefly used on Casca during her and Guts' love scene. Soft, romantic music included.
34	* Train from ''Manga/BlackCat'' is seen this way (complete with BishieSparkle) by his StalkerWithACrush Kyoko, whenever she's imagining or thinking of him.
35	* Rohfa from ''Manga/DGrayMan'' constantly sees Allen in a Gaussian Girl light.
36	* Parodied in ''Manga/TheDisastrousLifeOfSaikiK'' with Kokomi, whom the entire world considers [[HeadTurningBeauty so beautiful]] that she is consistently drawn with a soft glow surrounding her, giving off this effect.
37	* In ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'', the bedridden Gauron is shown recalling [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/SousukeGaussianGirl.jpg "beautiful" memories of a 12-year-old Sousuke]] being in a Gaussian Girl manner[[note]] The moment he's reminiscing about is Sousuke after a [[InLoveWithYourCarnage battle in which he kills several men]]. Gauron calls him a "killer saint".[[/note]] [[{{Squick}} Yeah]], Gauron [[PaedoHunt has]] [[AxeCrazy problems]].
38	** Also, in the short amount of time he was shown in the show, Zaied had frequent, really Gaussian Girl-esque memories of playing half-naked in the water with a young Sousuke. Although since they're close in age, Zaied might be romanticising their childhood together rather than Sousuke specifically.
39	* ''Anime/LastExile'', which generally isn't enamored of FalseCameraEffects, does this with a ''vanship'' at one point.
40	* Manga/{{Naruto}} sometimes fantasized about Sakura in this manner in a few episodes.
41	* Particularly noticeable in ''Manga/OmamoriHimari'''s eyecatches.
42	* In the second ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'' special, this effect is used on a shot of Gabite when Sunflora has been hit with Attract.
43	* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'':
44	** In "[[Anime/PokemonTheOriginalSeries The Ghost of Maiden's Peak]]", this happens when Ash sees Misty in a [[KimonoFanservice lovely]] kimono.
45	** "[[Anime/PokemonTheSeriesDiamondAndPearl Piplup, Up, and Away!]]" reveals that Piplup always sees Dawn this way. The little penguin clearly [[InterspeciesRomance has a crush on her]].
46	* Happens in the manga, first anime and second anime of ''Franchise/SailorMoon'', with Mamoru's dream about the princess asking him for the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou.
47	** In Act 1 of ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal,'' when Usagi and Mamoru first really look at each other, it suddenly becomes a mutual HeldGaze in soft focus, with a few LoveBubbles appearing as they stare at each other. The filter dissipates as Usagi realizes the moment's awkwardness.
48	* Possibly the earliest anime use could have been in ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato'' (a.k.a. ''Star Blazers''). Queen Starsha typically appeared this way, even in scenes where she was having a normal conversation. Trelaina appeared this way throughout the Comet Empire series. In fact, this trope shows up quite often in Creator/LeijiMatsumoto anime: Maetel (''Manga/GalaxyExpress999''), Maya (''Anime/ArcadiaOfMyYouth''), and Manga/QueenMillennia. [[Manga/QueenEmeraldas Emeraldas]] seems to be an interesting exception to this trope, probably because she is supposed to be seen as a [[DistaffCounterpart female version]] of Manga/CaptainHarlock.
49	[[/folder]]
50
51	[[folder:Comic Books]]
52	* In Creator/GailSimone's run of ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman2006 Vol 3]], Tom Tressner remembers Wonder Woman proposing to him with a Gaussian effect. If there was one woman to use this on, Diana would be it.
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
56	* PlayedForLaughs in ''WesternAnimation/{{Antz}}'' during Z and Bala's romantic moment at Insectopia; Bala's face is blurred as Z goes in for a kiss, before he is [[MomentKiller rudely interrupted]] by the other insects around the fire, requesting him to get more firewood.
57	-->'''Z''': Hey, ever wonder why they call you guys "pests"?
58	* In ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'', Cloud has visions of Aerith in a Gaussian Girl way (though he himself is also Gaussianed in the visions).
59	* Happens when Hiccup first sees Astrid in ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2010'', helped by the fact that there's a massive exploding fireball behind her.
60	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rio}}'' repeatedly applies this to Jewel (a female macaw; the protagonist's a male one). It's later used on Linda, but only when she wears a macaw costume.
61	* ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'': Carter, a PrettyBoy schoolmate, appears surrounded by a blurry pink filter when Mei checks him out.
62	* In ''WesternAnimation/WallE'', Eve not only gets this treatment at times, but actually ''lives'' it. Her semi-translucent white plastic body scatters light, giving her an innately soft outline.
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
66	* Creator/CaroleLombard used this technique many times to hide a facial scar.
67	* Creator/IngridBergman as Ilsa Lund in ''Film/{{Casablanca}}''.
68	* Another Creator/MikeMyers movie where the effect is used for laughs: ''Film/TheCatInTheHat''. You may be dead inside if you don't belly laugh at the effect a savage nutshot has on a 6-foot-tall [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycPa18_e2r4&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DycPa18_e2r4 cat piñata]]...
69	* Once Creator/DorisDay got a few lines on her face, she had a contract that all her closeups had to be filmed this way. It's especially noticeable when Rock Hudson is still in sharp focus, but she's fuzzy and glowing.
70	* Pretty much all of ''Film/{{Equilibrium}}'' is shot in a very harsh, very cold light, to drive home the concept of emotionless impersonality, except for [[Creator/ChristianBale John Preston's]] wife, who not only gets the Gaussian treatment, but shots of her include actual colours, as opposed to the slightly desaturated/bleached out effect of Librium as a whole. There's even a sequence (as she's being arrested for sense-crime) in which she shares a shot with and kisses her husband as she's dragged away. Her side of the screen? Sparkly, glowy, soft-focus. His side? Cold, harsh, slightly desaturated hard focus. Even in the middle of the kiss.
71	* ''Film/{{Fanny}}'': Used multiple times to make Leslie Caron look just that much more beautiful.
72	* Lampshaded for a bizarre joke in ''Film/GingerAndFred''. Pippo, a dancer getting ready backstage at a variety show, sits next to a woman in a strange outfit. The woman wears a sort of metal rig that holds a pane of glass in front of her face. When Pippo asks what's her deal, the woman says that it's "a soft focus screen" and "it makes me look younger." Then the woman looks through the glass at the camera and delivers some TV news patter.
73	* Sophie Maes first appears this way in the film version of ''Film/HowToLoseFriendsAndAlienatePeople''.
74	* Close-ups of Creator/DonnaReed's Mary are slightly blurred in ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife''.
75	* The angelically beautiful elves in ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' movies displayed this quality for both genders, particularly for Creator/LivTyler's Arwen.
76	* The 1974 film adaptation of ''Theatre/{{Mame}}'' with Creator/LucilleBall in the title role makes liberal use of soft focus to cover for the fact that Ball was in her early 60s; this is particularly jarring when the camera alternates between close-ups of her and ''much'' sharper close-ups of her co-stars.
77	* ''Film/TheManInTheWhiteSuit'': Particularly noticeable in a romantic scene when the camera cuts back and forth between crystal-clear shots of Creator/AlecGuinness' character and really ''really'' fuzzy shots of Joan Greenwood's character.
78	* Creator/CatherineZetaJones was shot this way in the movie ''Film/TheMaskOfZorro''.
79	* Max Reinhardt and cinematographer Hal Mohr, in creating the 1935 film version of Creator/WilliamShakespeare's ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'' used this effect for the fairies and their world.
80	* One or two close-ups of Creator/JeanArthur's Saunders in ''Film/MrSmithGoesToWashington'', but it's mainly used to show ''her'' becoming captivated by Smith's idealism.
81	* [[ParodiedTrope Parodied]] in ''Film/MuppetsMostWanted''. While Constantine is shown in a Gaussian fashion during part of "I'll Get You What You Want," it's only because he is applying Vaseline to the camera lens!
82	* Jewel, the havoc wreaking femme fatale in ''Film/OneNightAtMcCools,'' is shown this way when each of the three guys see her for the first time. She's played by Creator/LivTyler, who just has one of those faces.
83	* ''Film/TheRedMill'': Played for a gag. Tina, a scullery maid, is Creator/MarionDavies de-glammed, with almost no makeup and freckles showing. Tina sees a jar of Mud Massage Face Beautifier, and smears the mud massage on her face. When she takes it off she is gleaming, gorgeous Marion Davies, with a soft-focus Gaussian Girl effect.
84	* Parodied with Lady Helen Port-Huntley and Narcissa in ''Film/TheSaddestMusicInTheWorld''.
85	* Used as a joke in the live-action ''Film/ScoobyDooCurseOfTheLakeMonster'', when Fred catches Daphne after she'd knocked out a barn's upper window. As the pair gaze at each other and they both realize he's saved her life, the image of ''Fred'' is blurred and soft-lit.
86	* ''Film/{{Sextette}}'', a Creator/MaeWest vehicle from 1978, noticeably used this technique in all of her scenes to try and portray her as a cougar-y seductress (her current love interest was played by Timothy Dalton). Mae was now in her ''eighties'', and resembled a busty alien Pez dispenser. The soft-focus [[{{Squick}} didn't help.]]
87	* A jarring example near the beginning of ''Film/SherlockHolmes2009'', cutting quickly back and forth between Creator/RobertDowneyJr and Creator/RachelMcAdams where he was shot without blur, but she and her surroundings were slightly out-of-focus.
88	* Used in the first shot of the love interest in ''Film/SkyCaptainAndTheWorldOfTomorrow''. (On the other hand, much of the film seems to be shot like this...)
89	* In ''Film/TheSoundOfMusic'', when Maria and the captain dance the Landler, the gaussian effect on Julie Andrews is used to show how the captain starts seeing Maria differently.
90	* ComicBook/LoisLane gets this treatment in the first ''Film/{{Superman\|TheMovie}}'' movie.
91	* In the 1964 concert film ''Film/TAMIShow'', the director had his cameramen put a screen with vaseline in front of the camera lens when a performer was singing a slow ballad. It's most noticeable when Music/LesleyGore [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmOrWG2FTbg sings "You Don't Own Me"]].
92	* Used in ''Film/{{Telstar}}'' when Joe first sees Heinz.
93	* No less than Creator/AlfredHitchcock used it in ''Film/{{Vertigo}}'', as handy shorthand for "LoveAtFirstSight". This was also the film that pioneered the much-less-cliched VertigoEffect, just to show that there's highs and lows to cinematic creativity.
94	* Done for laughs in ''Film/WaynesWorld''. When Wayne first sees [[Creator/TiaCarrere Cassandra]], she's on stage aggressively singing "Let me stand next to your fire". Wayne's view of her is in Gaussian and he hears "Dream Weaver".
95	** This is also a running joke with Garth's crush, played by Creator/DonnaDixon, who appears to the "Romeo and Juliet" overture, slow-motion flying hair and all.
96	* In ''Film/WestSideStory1961'', when Tony and Maria both see each other for the first time, the edges of the frame are noticeably blurred (though, this is more to create the effect that they each have eyes only for one another)
97	[[/folder]]
98
99	[[folder:Literature]]
100	* Referenced in ''[[Literature/TheExpanse Cibola Burn]]'' by James S. A. Corey. As part of the aftereffect of an alien plague that blinded her, one of the characters notes that the world is still blurry, and thinks that it makes her love interest look like a movie star.
101	* ''Literature/RabbitAtRest'': DiscussedTrope. As his granddaughter flips channels on the TV, Harry sees Creator/GreerGarson "looking gently out of focus in black and white."
102	* And in ''Literature/ValleyOfTheDolls'' as Jennifer turns forty, after having been in a number of French art films, she plans to return to America to make movies there: she trusts her manager to make sure there's "silk on the camera" and soft lighting, and for situations like personal appearances, where she can't fully conceal her age from reporters' flash cameras, maybe she can imitate Creator/GretaGarbo and hide from the cameras.
103	[[/folder]]
104
105	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
106	* Used in ''Series/AmericanGods'' when Shadow meets Ostara. Considering she's a love/fertility goddess, it's implied to be a function of her divinity (later in the episode, Shadow meets an incarnation of Jesus who is surrounded by a literal glowing halo of light).
107	* This always happens to Barbara Walters, but whether Creator/{{ABC}} News insisted on it or whether she does is unknown at this time.
108	* ''Series/{{Charmed\|1998}}'' loved this trope. It was generally used on Creator/AlyssaMilano, because Phoebe was supposed to be the pretty one.
109	** Used when the girls first meet their mother in the first season.
110	** In the last episode, used on Patty and Penny, because both actresses were about 25 years older than the age they were playing. Most of the time, this made sense, since the actresses playing Patty and Penny were supposed to be ghosts, so being a little fuzzy would made sense, but in the occasional scene they were made solid again, it was still there.
111	* The Kirk version is referenced by Jeff from ''Series/{{Coupling}}'', in the page quotation.
112	* Used, among other effects, to indicate that a character has entered Soap Drama Mode in [[http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=127296&title=another-world this]] ''[[Series/TheDailyShow Daily Show]]'' clip lamenting the cancellation of ''Series/AnotherWorld''.
113	** It also turned up in older episodes, along with massive bouquets of flowers, for Samantha Bee's interviews, to parody Barbara Walters.
114	** And again, on ''Series/TheColbertReport'', when Stephen [[http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/91152/august-08-2007/tina-brown interviewed]] the author of [[{{Narm}} yet another book about Princess Diana]].
115	* Used with Creator/TiffaniAmberThiessen on ''Dinner at Tiffani's'' on the [[Creator/CookingChannel Cooking Channel]] to an almost absurd degree. The cuts between her and her guests make one wonder if the high-definition feed is cutting in and out.
116	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
117	** In "The Daleks", closeups of the Thals are shot this way to indicate that they are an InhumanlyBeautifulRace.
118	** In the First Doctor serial "The Web Planet", the Zarbi are almost always shown through a greased lens as an attempt to [[ObscuredSpecialEffects disguise]] how [[SpecialEffectFailure lousy]] the costumes look.
119	** In "Terror of the Zygons", the Doctor is shot in extreme closeup like this when he uses his HypnoticEyes on Sarah Jane, although it's less to hide imperfections or indicate attractiveness than to indicate Sarah's half-conscious mental state.
120	** Used quite frequently on everyone in the first series of the revival for no particular reason.
121	* Used in some of the flashbacks in ''Series/{{Forever\|2014}}'' when Abigail is at her youngest, most noticeably in "Look Before You Leap" in Italy when Abigail catches up to Henry after he tries to leave her at the Hotel Montoliogne.
122	* Used in ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'' when after Will tries to uptalk Carlton at a dinner with his domineering girlfriend Jeanette to get her to break up with him and saddle Carlton with her instead. Carlton finds her rude and bullying behavior just as intolerable and against all expectations puts her in her place. Will hides at the other end of the fire to dodge Jeanette's hellish wrath, but then the blur activates. Turns out [[AllAmazonsWantHercules she's really into controlling men]].
123	* Also parodied in an episode of ''Series/TheGoodies'' - Bill and a woman are in soft focus whilst kissing, when he suddenly stops, runs up to the camera and wipes the petroleum jelly off the lens.
124	* In the original ''Series/MissionImpossible'', this was used with some frequency on Cinnamon.
125	* Used in ''Series/TheMonkees'' episode "The Chaperone" when Micky had to be disguised as a woman to fool some guy. Although the disguise was comically unconvincing to the viewers, the target male's first enraptured view of "her" was in obvious soft-focus.
126	* Cybill Shepherd in ''Series/{{Moonlighting}}''. Perhaps the most notorious example on American television after ''Star Trek'', as it aired in TheEighties, a decade otherwise known for grittier, more naturalistic cinematography. Unsurprisingly, Jerry Finnerman was the Director of Photography for both ''Moonlighting'' and ''Star Trek''. In scenes of Cybill talking to co-star Creator/BruceWillis, the contrast was startling as Cybill was ''heavily'' misted while Bruce had intensely gritty photography.
127	** [[LampshadedTrope Lampshaded]] in "The Straight Poop" when a camera crew investigating [[NoFourthWall why there's no new episode]] ambushes Maddie and films her without the usual soft focus. Maddie ducks back into her office and emerges holding a sheet of gauze in front of her face.
128	* Lampshaded on an episode of ''Series/TheNanny.'' Fran qualifies to play on ''Jeopardy!'' and while backstage, Gracie tells her she looks pretty. Fran turns and says that here, looks don't matter, it's brains that count. [[HypocriticalHumor She then turns to the cameraman and tells him,]] "Hey you, I want the filter they used on [[Creator/ElizabethTaylor Liz]] for the White Diamonds commercial."''
129	* ''Series/TheNewAdventuresOfOldChristine'' seemed to use this in every episode.
130	* Used to marvelous effect on Michelle Monaghan in an episode of ''Series/ThePath'' that is supposed to take place in Giverny, France[[note]]It was actually filmed at [[http://www.oheka.com Oheka Castle]] on Long Island[[/note]]. It's all art-directed and photographed like a classic French film from the '60s, where you'd expect to see Creator/AnoukAimee or Creator/CatherineDeneuve who were often filmed this way.
131	* The first season of ''Series/RuPaulsDragRace'' was notorious for this. Not only was it present throughout the show, but [=RuPaul=] had an extra-strong version used on herself. How bad was it? As far as anyone could tell, the show was hosted by a [[https://therealityreview.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/screen-shot-2013-09-05-at-12-46-08-pm.png brown blob with eyes that vaguely resembled a drag queen]]. The second season fortunately got rid of the filter, since by that point, everyone on Creator/{{LOGO}}, even some of the contestants, were mocking her for it. This trope was also invoked by the fact that ''Drag Race'' is not shot in HD, but "Stunning Standard Definition." At least, until the show's ChannelHop to Creator/{{VH1}}.
132	* In ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', a sketch involved Michael Moore and Phil Donahue contacting Barbra Streisand by cable. Her image is shown with a super-strong Gaussian Blur, as they comment on how young she still looks.
133	** Also the Creator/ElizabethTaylor's White Diamonds ad-parody sketch featuring Sally Field behind about four layers of gauze.
134	** And [[https://youtu.be/Fr2LyxJpHu8?si=qfePl2OWdGp5xxHj yet again]] during the 2022 Midterm Elections, to lampoon the Republican candidate for Arizona Governor, former newscaster Kari Lake, who frequently gave virtual speeches and interviews (still quite common during the tail end of the worst of the COVID pandemic,) from behind a very strong [[https://img.thedailybeast.com/image/upload/c_crop,d_placeholder_euli9k,h_1563,w_2780,x_22,y_0/dpr_2.0/c_limit,w_740/fl_lossy,q_auto/v1665932458/Screen_Shot_2022-10-16_at_11.00.46_AM_rtpyhk soft focus]] (that she was already being [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fheupw0UAAEI35p.jpg mocked for]]) with "Kari" (as played by Creator/CecilyStrong) commenting that she's speaking from a "beautiful pool of Vaseline" and her campaign isn't dead yet, "even though my camera filter makes it look like I'm in Heaven."
135	* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'':
136	** The first appearance of Kara/Supergirl shows her blurred and in a flowing white dress. Under water. When she saves Lex Luthor and flies away, he is convinced she is an angel who is there to make him repent his sins.
137	** The sequences within the Fortress of Solitude all get a bit Gaussian...
138	* In the second season of Series/Space1999, almost every close-up shot of Dr. Russell is noticeably soft-focus and low contrast. Commander Koenig sometimes also gets the same treatment.
139	* The most JustForFun/{{egregious}} use of the Gaussian Girl was in [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries the original]] ''Franchise/StarTrek'', where Kirk's GirlOfTheWeek would never, ''ever'' be in focus, at any point during the episode, and would always be accompanied by soft strings or woodwinds (or in the case of [[Recap/StarTrekS1E28TheCityOnTheEdgeOfForever Edith Keeler]], the song "Goodnight, Sweetheart"). This effect was achieved by a small piece of plastic placed over the lens.
140	** In cases of extreme infatuation, Kirk isn't in focus either.
141	** Spock also has the tendency to blur, and to a lesser extent, Bones. Uhura will almost always be blurry and Nurse Chapel often is, especially when she's talking to Spock.
142	** Spock Prime was given this treatment in Creator/JJAbrams' ''Film/StarTrek2009''. [[HoYay Make of that what you will]].
143	** Website/{{Google}} paid {{homage}} to this in their September 7-8, 2012 doodle celebrating the 46th anniversary of TOS's first airing. It's activated by clicking on Uhura (played by the first "o" in the logo.)
144	** How bad is it? This happens to KHAN'S girlfriend!
145	* ''Series/TopGear'''s Jeremy Clarkson attempted to create the romantic soft focus on a ''car'' by smearing vaseline on the camera lens. [[HilarityEnsues It didn't go well]].
146	* ''Series/TheWhiteQueen'': [[GenderInvertedTrope Gaussian Guy]] in Richard of Gloucester's case; when he saves Anne Neville's life at the Battle of Tewkesbury, he undergoes a few soft-focus shots to seem misty and dream-like from her perspective. This symbolizes Anne's sheer disbelief at being reunited with her dearest friend after their families go to war, and now that they're older, their youthful PuppyLove has matured into UnresolvedSexualTension.
147	* Italian politician and owner of several TV stations Silvio Berlusconi had himself filmed through a nylon stocking, although definitely not a girl. Comedians joked he should've put the nylon stocking over his face instead.
148	[[/folder]]
149
150	[[folder:Music]]
151	* The scenes of the woman in Gavin [=DeGraw's=] video for "Best I Ever Had" were shot this way, which along with the slow-motion and her dance-like movements gave her an incredibly ethereal feel.
152	* This effect -- and other concealing camera tricks -- are used throughout the music video of Music/{{Divinyls}}' hit "I Touch Myself". Singer Christina Amphlett was trying to conceal her true age (she was about 32 at the time, probably more than a decade older than most Top 40 female pop singers).
153	* The closeup shots of both girls in the Music/{{Abba}} video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-crgQGdpZR0 "Take A Chance on Me"]].
154	[[/folder]]
155
156	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
157	* There's ShoutOut "Soft Focus" spell... in "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Nymphology]]. Blue Magic" (Mongoose Publishing, Encyclopaedia Arcane series).
158	[[/folder]]
159
160	[[folder:Video Games]]
161	* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
162	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'': {{Averted\|Trope}} for the most part with Rinoa, until the ending -- and then {{subverted\|Trope}}, by having her face ''so'' blurry that it's basically a bunch of vague shaded and non-shaded spots, since [[MindScrew Squall couldn't remember what she looked like]].
163	** In ''VideoGame/CrisisCore: VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', during Zack's death, Cloud is shown to have flashbacks and memories of Zack in a Gaussian Girl manner. And to add on to that, Cloud ''himself'' later appears fully Gaussianed in the sunlight.
164	* ''VisualNovel/IkemenSengoku'': While we don't get to see the actual effect, Sasuke starts seeing a "glow" around the female main character as he falls in love with her. He [[ObliviousToLove doesn't realize]] the reason behind him seeing her this way and just thinks that he's suffering from some strange eye condition.
165	* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', Joker [[DiscussedTrope mentions this trope]] in one of the dialogue sequences about how he and [[SpaceshipGirl EDI]] are [[SitcomArchNemesis getting along]].
166	-->'''EDI:''' Regulations are clear, Mr. Moreau: Personalization does not include [[DestroyTheSecurityCamera grease on my bridge cameras]].\
167	'''Joker:''' It's just mad that all of [[ItIsDehumanizing its]] footage of me looks like a dream sequence.
168	* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'':
169	** When Snake knocks out Ocelot, soon to be his StalkerWithACrush, we see through Ocelot's eyes. He's losing consciousness, so Snake is fully Gaussianed and even appears to [[BishieSparkle sparkle]] a little in the light, which is parodied in [[http://gigaville.com/comic.php?id=283 this page]] of ''Webcomic/TheLastDaysOfFOXHOUND''.
170	** PlayedForLaughs in the Secret Theater "He's Still Got It", in which The End sees EVA this way.
171	[[/folder]]
172
173	[[folder:Web Animation]]
174	* In part 3 of Episode 60 of ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'', when Android 18 tells Krillin they should "talk later", a Gaussian blur is added to the original scene.
175	* In Episode 5 of ''WebAnimation/TheMostPopularGirlsInSchool'', [[DirtyOldWoman Lunch Lady]] [[AbhorrentAdmirer Belinda]] saw Cameron van Buren like this.
176	[[/folder]]
177
178	[[folder:Western Animation]]
179	* The ''Toys/EverAfterHigh'' character Darling has this as a superpower: time ''literally'' slows down when she flips her hair. [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower She uses this liberally and effectively in combat.]]
180	* Parodied twice in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''. Zoidberg spots a lobster in a tank this way ([[{{Squick}} and ends up leaving the bar with it]]) in an early episode, ''Love's Labours Lost in Space'', back before {{Flanderization}} had rendered him the perennial loveless loser. And in the episode "Bendless Love", when Bender first sees Anglelyne, she appears out of focus - until the foreman orders the dirty glass in front of her removed.
181	** This is also inverted as the glass is curved, distorting and muting her curvy body.
182	* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/SheepInTheBigCity'' when Sheep sees Swanky the Poodle for the first time. He then wipes away the fog on a glass screen in front of her.
183	* Also parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', when the Comic Book Guy first spots a [[EndearinglyDorky geekily beautiful fangirl]], he sees her in a classic ''Franchise/StarTrek'' soft-focus-and-music moment, while her braces play light over his startled face.
184	** And then there's Homer's experience with boudoir photography, in which the photographer smears Vaseline on the lens with a ''trowel'' ("Light is not your friend").
185	* In the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' episode "Opposites", Cyborg sees Jinx this way the first time.
186	[[/folder]]

Context Main / GaussianGirl