Finally! I now know the origin story of the creepy clown doll Deborah Foreman sleeps with. Apparently crew members donated most of the props, and Martha Coolidge found that freaky joker stuffed in a box. Something about Deborah turning to that DOLL for comfort appealed to Martha deep down.

Some other things I learned during the director Q&A following the THIRD time I've caught this movie in a theater:

The studio mandated Martha Coolidge include four shots of boobs, so she stuck them in there.

Nic Cage lied about his last name being Coppola, which led to much confusion and some conflicting schedules.

Martha pulled Nic Cage's headshot out of the reject pile and used his photo as an example…

"fuck off, for sure! like, totally!"

I love this movie cuz, like, most of it is just people standing around or sitting around and chatting, and I love that, cuz that's, like, that's what real life is like, you know? but I also love that these moments of just like people talking to each other are where all the for-real character development stuff happens. it makes Valley Girl a real serious character development situation—which isn't to say that it's like constant character motion forward or backward—that would be too much—it's more like the characters are constantly enunciating themselves, they're always like telling us who they are, right? and that makes them really detailed and clear and sharp and just like…

Only some loose observations:

* Nicolas Cage should have been in the film more than he was, with his brooding and weird under-overacting and apparent misunderstanding of what punk music is. I liked that red shirt he had on, and I love what absurdity his hair is up to in this.

* The motivations of the lead character make no sense, even if you accept the caveat that teenagers never make sense in Hollywood fiction, or rather, the film doesn't try to make any sense of them. At least Nic Cage shows us everything he's feeling every second he's on screen, I suppose, even if it's just a vacant stare as his character tries to think. (I love that vacant…

"Where are we gonna go?"
"I don't care."
...
"What are we gonna do?"
"Anything."

Sure, this story of forbidden love isn't exactly subtle. Sure, the main character's motivations turn on a dime. And sure, that Graduate-style subplot involving a young guy potentially sleeping with his girlfriend's mother seemed completely superfluous. Yet it doesn't matter, because Valley Girl has heart. And Nicolas Cage. But mostly heart.

Actually, ignore Cage for a second. Deborah Foreman is so sweet in this as Julie that she almost completely overcomes any inconsistencies with the writing. Every other person in the ensemble is distinctive, from Frederic Forrest to Elizabeth Daily. The soundtrack is superb, particularly the unofficial theme song. And Martha Coolidge's vivacious direction engenders…

This is basically a feature-length music video, and I fucking love it. I watched this once years ago and found myself weirdly into it despite also thinking it was probably pretty bad, but this time it really worked for me. It’s just pure early ’80s nostalgia, and pretty much every frame of the movie feels extremely specific to the setting. It’s almost overwhelming at times, sitting through the long conversations between the Valley girls, hearing all the songs of the time, witnessing all the ridiculous outfits and funny dancing. You feel utterly immersed. I was in heaven.

There’s only really a wisp of a plot, and it’s the stereotypical Romeo and Juliet type thing (directly referenced with a Romeo and…