Why Lloyd Dobler?
Jun
26
2009

Over time, I’ve written a few books here and there and I usually have a very strong sense of the story – how I want it to feel, what sort of people my characters will be, etc. But it’s not until I start writing that I begin to learn what makes them tick.

While I do love me some big, burly alpha males, I really have a thing about smart men with passion about people and issues they care about.

Who’s seen Say Anything? It’s one of my favorite movies ever – it’s got the popular and pretty girl falling for the stoner archetype who lives in an apartment with his sister and neice (class and clique differences). At first glance, she’s everything he isn’t. But she’s smart, remember? And so she sees Lloyd for what he is.

Lloyd goes to dinner at her house where her father has seen fit to make him as uncomfortable as possible by inviting people who will remind Lloyd of what Diane is and what he isn’t. (Diane’s father is not hero material, by the way. While we hear he does what he does for his daughter’s sake, he’s selfishly keeping her away from people who care about her, people her own age who know her in a different context, that’s selfish.)

When asked what he wants to do with his life, Lloyd says:

I don’t want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don’t want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don’t want to do that.

This makes me have squishy love feelings for Cameron Crowe because it’s one of my favorite movie quotes of all time. It’s funny and relevant and it communicates a real sense of who Lloyd is inside.

Not every hero is what we expect at first glance. Give me a man who has layers!

9 comments to “Why Lloyd Dobler?”

  1. Anne Calhoun
    June 26th, 2009 at 12:04 pm · Link

    I could not agree more! I love Lloyd Dobler, and I really love layered characters, esp heroes. People surprise me all the time. I like characters to do the same.



  2. Amy M
    June 26th, 2009 at 2:05 pm · Link

    One of my top 10 movies also…I love when his girl friends are telling him he has to mark the occasion of their first time and he takes out the card he already got her. That movie has quotes for almost any situation!



  3. Karen Erickson
    June 26th, 2009 at 4:14 pm · Link

    Duuuude I love this movie so very much. Especially since I graduated high school at the same time it came out so I just related to it so much. Cameron Crowe is the man. I actually have a copy of the book Fast Times at Ridgemont High – and it’s way funnier than the movie…

    I also like when his friend sings all the songs for her rotten ex-boyfriend. “That’ll never be me, that’ll never be me…”



  4. laurendane
    June 26th, 2009 at 4:15 pm · Link

    LOL – Karen – “Joe lies…when he cries…”

    Amy – yes! The scene outside the convenience store? Priceless.

    Anne – exactly!



  5. Patty
    June 26th, 2009 at 5:45 pm · Link

    How old am I? I saw this movie in the theater 6 times! It was one of the first movies I bought on VHS! Yes, I do have it on DVD now. Maybe I will watch it this weekend. Baby Jeremy Piven. Well, and John Cusack. What’s that rap in the gas ‘n sip parking lot? Lloyd, Lloyd null and void…



  6. Monkey Boy
    June 26th, 2009 at 8:50 pm · Link

    If every woman who says that she likes the sensitive layered guy actually did, the world would be a better place.

    Men always say that they want a good personality but they’re really looking at tits.

    We should all have some sort of tag that we can wear indicating that we’ve matured beyond adolescence and are welcoming of the more complex human package.



  7. laurendane
    June 26th, 2009 at 9:20 pm · Link

    Now Monkey Boy, are you saying you only love your woman for her breasts? You don’t care about her personality?

    I suppose I’m spoiled because I’m married to a Lloyd Dobler – well with a lot more ambition. But truly, after I fell in love with his hair, I loved his brain next. It also helped that at the time he had a muscle car and read poetry. I never said I wasn’t just a little bit shallow. Would he have stood outside my window with a boombox? I don’t know, but I thoroughly believe he’d stand in the rain to see me.



  8. laurendane
    June 26th, 2009 at 9:21 pm · Link

    Patty, LOL! I remember when the movie came out! I was already married and living in Seattle by that point.



  9. Lori T
    June 26th, 2009 at 10:52 pm · Link

    Oh, I do love Lloyd Dobler!! I am going to have to watch this movie tomorrow night when I get off work.



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