Because actual physical intimacy in a romcom is overrated!

Cut the Kiss

On social media, Netflix's recent ensemble romcom "You People," starring Jonah Hill and Lauren London as an interracial couple with feuding families, has spurred debate over the believability of their relationship and the clunky handling of its politics.

But forget all that: now everyone's astounded by claims that the film's climactic kiss wasn't actually real, but synthesized using CGI.

At least, that's the version of events from Andrew Schulz, who had a minor role as Hill's cousin in the movie. In an episode of his podcast The Brilliant Idiots, Schulz, his co-host Charlamagne tha God, and their guest Nyla Symone all joke about how bad of a couple the leads make. This was pretty much the perfect moment for Schulz, who was on set for the scene, to reveal that the film's climactic moment of romance wasn't so romantic after all.

"There's a hilarious thing — I don't even know if I should share this shit — but the final scene, they don't even kiss," Schulz said. "It's CGI. Swear to God."

Charlamagne couldn't believe it. "Get the fuck outta here. How is it CGI?"

Schulz, in turn, doubled down on his account.

"I'm there, I'm watching the wedding, and I see them go in for the kiss, and their faces stop like this far," he described with accompanying gesticulation. "And I'm like, 'I wonder how they're gonna play that in the movie. Oh, they're probably just gonna cut right there.' But the movie, you could see their faces come close, and then you could see their faces morph a little bit into a fake kiss."

Not So Happy Together

While Netflix hasn't responded to other outlets for comment or otherwise addressed the rumors, multiple clips of the scene online appear pretty damning. With Schulz's bombshell in mind, the showering of the newlyweds in petals now seems less an indulgence in the cliches of the genre and more of a convenient way of distracting from the fakeness of the kiss.

And all this raises the question: why even bother filming a romcom if the actors aren't willing to smooch on camera? Sounds completely antithetical to the entire genre, right?

In the grand scheme of things, it's not too surprising given how allergic mainstream movies tend to be towards physical intimacy these days. But it is a little weird, and CGI or not, it does feel more than a little soulless.

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