There is a famous photograph of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square on August 14, 1945.

I just saw someone post a Ghibli version of that photo.

'Abuse upon abuse' I thought, and it's worth understanding that the kiss was in no way reciprocated by the nurse. The sailor was George Mendonsa, who was witnessed to be just grabbing many random people on the street.

The nurse was Greta Zimmer Friedman, 21 years old at the time.

« She wandered into Times Square when a passing sailor locked her in an unexpected embrace. “I did not see him approaching, and before I know it I was in this vice grip,” she told CBS news in a 2012 interview.

“It wasn’t my choice to be kissed. The guy just came over and grabbed. That man was very strong. I wasn’t kissing him. He was kissing me”. »

When you know this, and see her limp arms in the photo, the photo takes on whole new meaning.

When someone uses that photo now to, in seconds without effort, generate a copy in a very recognizable cartoonish style made possible through pirated content from a true artist, it's a sad day.

https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/v-j-day-kiss-times-square-1945/