There is a lot to be said about the classic 80's movie Just One of the Guys. I actually wrote my college thesis about how much Joyce Hyser looks like Ralph Macchio when she disguises herself as a boy for important journalism-internship-securing purposes -- and about how the space-time continuum briefly turns in on itself when another character comments on this resemblance even though the bad guy in this movie is also played by Billy Zabka. I discovered in my research that the original draft of the screenplay was written by Jacques Derrida.But I digress. This movie is also notable for containing the worst line reading of all time. It's by Clayton Rohner, also known as "the white guy from that late-90's Fox show G vs. E that seemed like more people should have watched it but no one did."
Rohner is dismissing a suggestion by boy-disguised Hyser when he says the immortal line, "Yeah, and I'm Cindy Lauper."
Except he doesn't say Lauper. His pronunciation is impossible to transcribe with the English alphabet, but it is something akin to, "Liaaaauuuæper." It's just fantastic.
The only reasonable explanation is that it's a joke at the expense of his character because he's so dorky and out of touch. But no, I've watched this scene thirty times in slow motion, and it's clear that's not what they're going for. It's just a completely gratuitous line in an otherwise good screenplay, a true moment of "this is what the kids say," a desperate and flop-sweat-soaked attempt to seem cool and timely by referencing a relevant celebrity -- that is completely flubbed but somehow made it past everyone on set, the director, the editor, the foley guys, the studio, and everyone else. It is the worst line reading of all time.
