topic of the day: when prince charming kissed snow white, he did so without her consent. is this offensive?
on the one hand, making out with unconscious people is offensive. it offends their right to consent - to say, yes, let's make out or no, i'd rather not. we all have the implicit right to say what happens with our own body and therefore, the right to accept or deny being touched, kissed, having our hair cut, and so on.
on the other hand, performing resuscitative efforts on unconscious people is heroic. it is the job of everyone in the medical supply chain - from someone trained in first aid to EMTs to the top doctor - to "apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures which are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism." (from the modern version of the hippocratic oath). resuscitating an unconscious person would fit this bill.
so what is prince charming doing? is he assaulting an unconscious victim or resuscitating an unconscious sick person?
take the kiss out of the picture. what if prince charming had spoken a magic word or given snow white a pat on the arm? what if he had called a doctor and the doctor performed surgery - with snow unconscious all the while?
what if prince charming had administered a potion that woke snow up? that doesn't sound like assault and doesn't sound like something he'd need her consent for. what if he didn't have a syringe so he administered the potion by pouring it in her mouth? sounds okay, depending on snow's swallow reflex... to avoid choking her, maybe he gets a potion that can be absorbed through the skin. that actually seems like a good idea. but what if the potion needs to be body temperature when delivered and all it does is wake someone up, causing no harm to persons who are already awake and it can only be absorbed by the skin of the mouth and it only takes a tiny amount to work?
so here we have unconscious snow white and (1) prince charming standing there with a potion that will wake her up and (2) needs to be administered (3) in a tiny portion (4) at body temperature (5) to the skin of the mouth (6) and it won't hurt him, (7) only help her. in order to get it to body temp, he can't just stick his finger in it and then daub it on her mouth. to really warm it up, and to get it to the correct temp without measurement equipment, his best bet is to put it in his mouth. it's not going to hurt him, after all.
so he puts the potion in his mouth and holds it there until it is the same temp as his mouth. then he lets it out of his mouth in a way that coats his lips and immediately touches his lips to hers to administer the tiny dose. that seems okay, right? that's not assault... that's heroic.
now, take away the potion.
