Maria Maggenti‘s 1995 film about teenage love is a romantic comedy of a different kind. Written in eight days and shot in 21, The Incredibly True Adventures of 2 Girls in Love is a standard lesbian rite-of-passage movie that is a favorite among many gay women, especially those who came of age in the mid-’90s. So whatever happened to the women of The Incredibly True Adventures of 2 Girls in Love? After playing Tina Kennard on The L Word, Laurel appeared on an episode of Castle and in the teen series Gigantic. She’s currently focused on painting and recently filed for divorce from her husband of nine years. Nicole has worked steadily in TV and film since appearing in The Incredibly True Adventures, including stints on Cosby, The System, Soul Food and The Deep End. Next up she’s starring in Vipaka alongside Sanaa Lathan, Forest Whitaker and Mike Epps. After appearing on an episode of The L Word as “Drag Ann Margaret,” Maggie made a brief appearance in Puccini for Beginners, had a role in the 2007 film The Visitor and a bit part in 2009’s Staten Island. The out filmmaker went on to write Puccini for Beginners (which she also directed) and several episodes of Without a Trace. She also wrote an episode of 90210 and co-produced several others. Last year she co-wrote the comedy Monte Carlo, which starred Leighton Meester, Katie Cassidy and Selena Gomez.
After attending Smith College and working as an activist in ACT UP, Maria Maggenti went to work in Hollywood as a writer on five indie films before writing and directing The Incredibly True Adventures of 2 Girls in Love. It premiered at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival and was picked up for distribution by New Line Cinema.
The film was carried by two unknowns, but became a hit for its quirky rom-com qualities. It was a coming out story of a different kind at the time, as Randy Dean was comfortable with her sexuality and Evie, upon meeting Randy, quickly followed suit. The two began to test the limits of their relationship, which shocked their family and friends. Maggenti has said that Randy Dean was based on her first girlfriend, and the idea for the film was based solely on a lesbian tomboy. The love story came later, along with the idea that she didn’t want the cast to be entirely white. She told Sojourner magazine:
I just really didn’t want to do a film with all white people in it. (That’s) just irritating. And I liked the idea of subverting some of our stereotypes about what are black women and what are white women. I was more interested in class, ultimately, than in race, you know? And I knew that would send people off in a bit of a tizzy: “Mmmm, how do you like that. Upper-middle-class black woman. Black girl who knows how to read.” I mean, that’s real life, and it’s weird that people don’t show it in the movies more often.The story of a lesbian interracial relationship came one year before Cheryl Dunye‘s The Watermelon Woman, and was a progressive film that was less about those factors than it was about first love. Roger Ebert wrote in his review:
The movie does not define their relationship only in terms of sexuality. It remembers the burning idealism and curiosity that obsesses many kids in their middle and late teens, when big questions about the Meaning of Life can be debated all night long. Randy has never paid attention to her classes, maybe because she thinks everyone at school hates her, but Evie is a reader, and introduces her to Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass.” They luxuriate in the limitless optimism of his sensuality, in his belief that all things are possible. And they listen to classical music, talk about the future, and grow intoxicated with the possibilities of their lives.And that’s what made it so endearing. The film also helped to make Laurel Holloman a lesbian household name, which was further solidified by her eventual role on The L Word.
Did you love The Incredibly True Adventures of 2 Girls in Love?
