By granting image-savvy newcomers a new way of breaking into the business, MTV drastically altered the decades-old process by which the music industry created stars. Though the network eventually created its own strict set of standards, for a while it seemed like anyone with a catchy hook and a memorable clip had a shot at the big time, a situation exploited in the rock 'n' roll cross-dressing comedy He's My Girl. Real-life would-be rocker David Hallyday stars as a fictional would-be rocker from the hairspray-rich state of Missouri. His big break arrives when manager T.K. Carter enters him in a contest sponsored by the powerful cable channel Video La La. ("I want you to sweat like James Brown, be outrageous like Lionel Richie, and jump on stage like that crazy white boy David Lee Roth," Carter advises.) Sadly, Hallyday's enthusiasm is temporarily quashed by an overlooked contest bylaw, which allows him to travel to L.A. only if accompanied by a female companion. Not easily discouraged, Carter soon hits upon a plan so outrageous that even Lionel Richie couldn't have dreamed it up: By dressing in drag and behaving like a prostitute from a Pam Grier movie, he can accompany Hallyday to Los Angeles. Just moments after their arrival, mishaps begin flying fast and furious, as sleazy Video La La exec David Clennon openly doubts that Hallyday and Carter's interracial love will play well in the sticks. But Clennon soon finds himself drawn to Carter's irresistible, if not especially feminine, charms. Meanwhile, more components are added to the polysexual stew as Carter falls for publicist Misha McK, Hallyday puts the moves on waitress and sculptor Jennifer Tilly, and a drunken, groupie-fondling British rocker in need of a comeback lurks in the background. After much running around and changing of clothes, the truth begins to emerge at a nightclub so swanky that it inspires Hallyday to report breathlessly, "Chaka Khan is here with Steve Winwood, Elton John's bartending upstairs, and Cybill Shepherd... she's on the dance floor!" (Note: Chaka Khan, Steve Winwood, Elton John, and Cybill Shepherd do not appear in the film He's My Girl.) Before long, Carter reveals his not-so-deeply veiled true identity and, as everyone basks in an atmosphere freshly cleared of sexual confusion, Hallyday performs the song "Rock Revival," alerting the world to its need for a rock revival.
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