The Summer of Lloyd

SAY ANYTHING hits different, now that I'm older ... and a writer

Welcome back to The Romantic, a newsletter dedicated to the evaluation and explication of love stories. I’m Meg Oolders, future author of the next Great American Romance Novel [review], and your stalwart guide through the trope-infested waters of romantic storytelling. Whether you’re writing love stories, reading them, watching them, dreaming/living them, or secretly despising their existence, this is the internet love nest for you.

I’m proud to report, our cohort has more than DOUBLED since last week! 💕Thanks to the brave souls who joined me at the starting gate, and to all who have taken up the torch since the launch. And SPECIAL thanks to my first three PAID subscribers! To buy a season ticket before the curtain closes on opening night shows a tremendous amount of faith in the future success of this production.

I won’t let you down! ⭐

On with the show …

The Summer of Lloyd

When I tell you I was schoolgirl giddy about rewatching SAY ANYTHING (1989) in preparation for this issue, it’s not an exaggeration. I felt the familiar flutter of prom night butterflies as I loaded the rented DVD into our retired XBOX 360 with trembling fingers. And yes, the fact I rented a physical copy of the film (from the public library no less), and played it on a defunct gaming system, only intensified my feelings of nostalgia … and trepidation.

What if this, a favorite cinematic indulgence from my youth, hits differently— now that I’m older and wiser?

Before I address my slow-burn reservations, a quick plot rundown of the flick for the wallflowers among us who have never seen it.

SAY ANYTHING marks the swift and swoony summer romance of high school grads— Diane Court (read: Valedictorian, Daddy’s girl, going places, aerophobe) and Lloyd Dobler (read: Everyguy, optimist, lovestruck, driveway DJ).

Despite existing on opposite ends of the socio-academic spectrum, Lloyd musters the courage to call Diane, out of the blue, and ask her out. Diane, having missed the party bus on high school romance while under the unwavering parental guidance of her devoted dad, reluctantly agrees to be Lloyd’s date to the post-graduation kegger.

(SPOILERS INCOMING)

• Cue chemistry

• Cue ticking clock (Diane is destined for a fellowship in England at the end of the summer)

• Cue commitment (Lloyd’s got no plans and all the time in the world)

• Cue doting Dad’s disapproval of their courtship

• Cue Lloyd and Diane’s red-blooded rebellion in spite of it

• Cue slow reveal of Dad’s embezzlement scheme (the pesky plot)

• Cue Diane’s breakup with Lloyd (to keep her family from falling apart)

• Cue Lloyd’s iconic driveway moment 💕

• Cue Diane’s confrontation with Dad

• Cue family implosion

• Cue the lovers’ tearful reunion

• Cue Dad, imprisoned for his crimes + place holder reconciliation with Diane

• Cue Lloyd and Diane leaving on a jet plane

• Roll credits

Friends, I can’t possibly give this film my soon-to-be Trademarked “Snark & Sweet” review, because first-love loyalty precludes me from saying anything negative about SAY ANYTHING. Not that there would be anything negative to say. The film is straight late-80s fire, and everyone should watch it … if not for the romance, then for the natural beauty¹ and Gen X-ellent fashion.

But I will address my own pre-viewing concerns about the film not affecting me the way it once did.

Those concerns were valid. 😢

As an old married broad with a pre-teen brood, the naive exploits of two beautiful teenagers with their whole beautiful lives ahead of them definitely struck a different chord.

Eighteen-year-old me would have damsel-swooned over a desperate ex-boyfriend parking his Malibu outside my window in the middle of the night and boombox serenading me with the song we exchanged V-cards to in the backseat of the aforementioned Malibu.

Forty-four-year-old (mom) me couldn’t help but view that behavior as … somewhat concerning.

Growing up sucks, is all I’m saying. 😩

What doesn’t suck, is how much wider my empathy lens is when consuming stories, now that I spend my days writing them. And how, try as I might, I am no longer able to read or watch a story unfolding without a small (read: enormous) part of my brain trying to understand every decision the writer made while crafting that story. And every decision I might have made differently, had I been in their shoes.

This got me thinking about how SAY ANYTHING might flesh itself out as a novel, which prompted the all-important question a novelist must answer before embarking on such an endeavor.

Whose story is this?

And perhaps more importantly—

Who is going to tell it?

I think filmmakers have a few storytelling advantages over novelists, not the least of which is the power to deploy a montage—[#JEALOUS]—And while some films utilize a narrator or closely follow a single character, SAY ANYTHING offers more of an omniscient view, letting us peek into the lives of both Lloyd and Diane in equal measure.

That said, Lloyd does have a way of tugging at the spotlight, letting us believe the story is all about him.

Case in point: The driveway moment. 💘

Even if you have never seen SAY ANYTHING, you have most certainly seen this image of a baby-faced John Cusack holding up a boombox beside a blue Chevy Malibu. It’s an image that has become synonymous with teen romance and with grand romantic gestures in general.

What’s missing from this image is a view of the young woman that grand romantic gesture is being pointed at, who happens to be lying in her bed, unable to sleep for all the thinking and feeling she’s doing.

It was while watching this unforgettable moment in film history that I chose the protagonist for my imaginary novel.

And it wasn’t the sweet potato holding the boombox. 😲

I don’t want to say Lloyd Dobler is simple.

But …

Boy is simple. 🥰

I don’t think anyone watching the driveway scene has to guess what’s in his head … or his heart. Lloyd Dobler, from this writer’s perspective, is an open book from page one.

If you do have the opportunity to watch the movie, or rewatch it, you might pick up on Lloyd’s constancy and his lack of “real-world” obstacles (at least with respect to his romantic quest), outside of not getting to be with the girl he wants to be with every second he wants to be with her.

Which is tough, I know. 💔

As for Diane …

I don’t want to say the girl’s situation is more complicated.

But …

Girl’s situation is more complicated.

Diane is arguably the most conflicted character in the story,² as she is under the most pressure to make life-changing decisions for herself, at the risk of disrupting her two most treasured relationships. She’s literally caught between her adorably chivalrous boyfriend, her criminally supportive father (who is also her best friend), and the unbelievable opportunity she has to leave them both behind and go do great things all by her damn self if she chooses.

All this adds up to Diane having a tremendous amount of power to alter the course of the story. Her story.

I can’t tell you how delighted I was to discover that the person I wanted to give a voice to in my made-up novel of my favorite teen romance flick was Diane Court.

Diane Court, who as a teenage viewer, I barely noticed as anyone other than that pretty girl who got sweaty on screen with my celebrity crush in the backseat of a car, became the heroine of the story.

I didn’t choose Diane because I’m a cranky feminist who can’t appreciate a good MMC. No one hearts Lloyd Dobler more than I do.³

I chose her because I’m a writer. One who has the habit of writing books simply because I want to read them.

And after thirty-odd years of unconditional love and loyalty to SAY ANYTHING, the movie, I’m finally ready to open the book.

And I think it’s going to be a real heartbreaker. 💔

Last week’s comment section chatter gave me warm fuzzies. More please …

1. For the die-hard SAY ANYTHING fans (I know you’re in here), what was your favorite scene from the movie? The deeper the cut, the better!

2. Would you read The Summer of Lloyd?

3. If you could “write the book” of any film (romantic or otherwise), which would it be?

Next Friday is my birthday. 🎂

I think I’ll whip up something extra sweet (and slightly personal) to bring to the party.

See you there, lovebirds. 💕🐦

1. These kids are hot the way we were all hot before Instagram filters existed.

2. I stumbled across another writer’s essay about how SAY ANYTHING isn’t all about Diane OR Lloyd. It’s about Dad. I liked this, because it proves there are innumerable ways for a story to affect us at different stages of our existence. And that a well-crafted story provides us with innumerable ways to connect to its heart and its message. 💕

3. No one. 🥰