Penelope Magnani talks about the tradition of kissing on New Year’s Eve. Is it myth or is it real?
One of my favorite movies of all times is âWhen Harry met Sallyâ. Itâs cute and cheesy and extremely predictable, but call me hopeless romantic that movie gets me every time. The infamous scene in which Meg Ryan is at the New Yearâs Eve party and Billy Crystal goes to find her and professes his love to her. And between various âI love youâ and âI hate youâ, the most romantic midnight kiss scene of the cinematic universe happens. Pass me the tissue box, please.
The midnight kiss that kicks off the final romance. You see it in every possible Christmas movie ever. The two main characters find themselves two minutes before midnight, in either a quaint little town or New York â and even there itâs either in Times Square or the most fashionable party ever â there is no in between, and after professing their premature âI love youâ they share a passionate kiss just as the clock ticks midnight on the New Year. Fireworks go off and joyous festivities are all around, seemingly celebrating the new blooming relationship between the characters.

In real life itâs not exactly like that. By 11:30 pm youâve already finished the wine bottle that was less than a fiver from Tesco. Your vision is quite blurry and you are most definitive a drunk mess. You stumble around the room, grabbing more to drink, thinking itâs a good idea. If youâre in a relationship, you hope that your significant other is in a better state than you â they are not â but at least you have that certainty of the magical kiss. If youâre single, by now youâve already texted three of your exes an âI miss you textâ although, letâs be honest, you donât miss them. When the midnight strikes, and you find yourself in two possible situations: kissing a stranger which youâll regret doing or throwing up in the nearest toilet/bush/sidewalk. Not exactly the classy and refined New Year as promised by Hollywood.
Obviously the next morning, in between glasses of water and greasy food to cure the hangover, youâll text your group chat something along the lines of âIâm never drinking againâ and âI hate being single on New Yearsâ. Youâll then watch some other classic romance movie, wondering how it is possible that your midnight kiss was never like the one in âWhen Harry met Sallyâ or âBridget Jonesâs Diaryâ.
Truthfully, we have an obsession with New Yearâs Eve. We all want it to be the perfect time, with the perfect people, the perfect outfit and, of course, the perfect kiss. If youâre single, you want to find that handsome prince charming for exactly 5 minutes. Talk about quick romance.
But why canât we be contempt with simply kissing a second wine bottle? Why do we have to always go out of our own way to find that elusive New Year kiss? In reality, there are quite a few traditions behind it. In Roman times it was done on the Festival of Saturnalia, in mid-December. The midnight kiss was part of the celebrations. In the Renaissance, at the typical masquerade balls, at midnight the people would kiss to purify the forces of evil. In more recent western tradition itâs considered extremely unlucky if someone fails to be kissed at New Year. That will lead to a year of loneliness. Of course, itâs only an old tale, but we still keep this tradition alive.
Truthfully, it is unimportant if it happens or not. We all want our
So prepare your wine bottles, party hats and good spirits and happy New Year!