Kissing Ramon Some More -
The next time you watch The Valencia Diversion , don’t skip the rain scene. Lean into the elbow-jab. Watch the way Ramon’s left hand hovers, unsure of where to land. Listen to the stutter in Mike’s exhale.
“In 2008, every movie kiss had to look like The Notebook —epic, fluid, and obviously choreographed,” Dr. Friel explains. “But the Ramon kiss is different. Mike’s hand shakes. Ramon accidentally bumps noses. They stop to breathe. It’s real . In a post- Fleabag world, audiences crave emotional clumsiness. We want to see people figuring it out in real time.” Kissing Ramon Some More
But fifteen years later, a grassroots movement has emerged online, simply titled It isn’t a sequel, nor a reboot. It is a retrospective analysis asking a provocative question: Did we misjudge the chemistry between protagonist Mike and the mysterious Ramon? The Scene That Divided Audiences For the uninitiated, The Valencia Diversion (2008) follows Mike (Steven Plemons), a neurotic travel writer who gets lost in the Andalusian countryside. He is rescued by Ramon (Diego Luna-esque newcomer Javier Soto), a laconic olive farmer with a secret past. The next time you watch The Valencia Diversion
By asking for “more,” the fandom isn’t demanding a sex scene or a dramatic confession. They are demanding duration. They want permission to sit in the awkwardness, to see two people figure out what they mean to each other without a punchline or a fade to black. Kissing Ramon Some More is not a real sequel. There are no production deals, no casting calls. But it exists in the best possible place: the collective imagination. Listen to the stutter in Mike’s exhale
By J. H. Miller, Staff Writer
