Falling In Love With Diane Court the Summer After Graduation

On the "Say Anything" soundtrack, Ione Skye and The Smithereens.

I’ll rip the bandaid off: "In Your Eyes" is not the most sacred song in the lore of Say Anything. Blasphemy, I know. Even if you've never seen the 1989 teen rom-com, you’re familiar with it’s major piece of musical iconography: John Cusack as Lloyd Dobler holding a boombox over his head, blasting Peter Gabriel. It’s been overplayed in homage, parody and every piece of promotional material from the last 35 years. But I’d like to point to an underrated gem that ~*technically*~ never even made it into the film. It came from Jersey: The Smithereens’ "A Girl Like You."

When I was 15 I used to listen to “A Girl Like You” ad nauseam because it has a deliciously crunchy riff and lyrics that hit me with a sense of “WOW, I hope I’m loved that much one day.” Years later I saw there was a demo version on the expanded motion picture soundtrack of Say Anything. Weird, why? And it also forced me to wonder, a girl like who?

Well, a girl like exceptional teen goddess Diane Court. Maybe you've heard of her, she is the MAIN CHARACTER OF THE FILM. History has calcified the boombox moment as if Say Anything is Lloyd's journey, a tale about how he gets, loses, and gets back the girl. And yes, that’s a deeply compelling B-plot.

But Say Anything is the story of how Diane Court finds out after years of studying and sacrificed summers she’s a stranger to everyone at school. And just as she wins a fellowship in London, she finds out that the possessive father she’s pledged absolute fealty to is headed to prison for embezzling money from his retirement home. And also she experiences love and heartbreak for the first time. Homegirl is going through a lot, this is her coming-of-age story.

With that in mind, I took a break from my studies and did another rewatch of Say Anything, to demystify the heavenly aura of Diane Court. Here’s what I found.

PS. If you need a genuine linear recap of “Say Anything’s” plot or want my non-linear take on Lloyd Dobler & John Cusack, hit play below. Otherwise, keep it moving.

We immediately learn that Diane Court is mythic

As Corey and DC put it, she's a brain trapped in the body of a gameshow hostess, brilliant and completely unaware of her otherworldly beauty. This is largely because she’s isolated. All of her time is spent studying or working, her best friend is her dad for god’s sake. She makes valedictorian, sure, but when she returns home after her graduation speech she sighs, “I was standing up there and looking at all the people, and I felt like they didn't know me.”

Then Lloyd takes her to Valhere's graduation party and we see how her classmates are so curious about her, even find her influential. “I know we were 'all too competitive' this year,” says Sheila, a classmate who loves some hand quotes. “But I just want to say that if it hadn't been for Diane Court, I probably wouldn't have gotten into Cornell, because you made me study twice as hard.”

“You did the same thing for me,” she says, flashing a smile that could blind an army of men.