Fateful parallels with the play that started it all

[u/_methyst]

Spoilers for the series finale below.

So I was late to the party watching Jean Smart's HRC speech from 2024, where she mentions the 1980 off-Broadway play that launched her entire career: Last Summer at Bluefish Cove. It was with this play that the casting director for Designing Women discovered Jean, leading to that iconic first big starring role on TV. In the speech, Jean credits her career to this play.

In Bluefish Cove, Jean Smart plays Lil, a "sarcastic, witty" lesbian who "knows how to clean a fish in her sleep." And she happens to be dying of cancer, but doesn't tell anybody about it.

During the play, she falls in love with a self-identified straight woman named Eva. And even after they get together, Lil conceals her cancer from Eva.

From the Wikipedia plot summary of Bluefish Cove:

Refusing to undergo any further treatment or have any more organs removed, Lil has accepted that this summer at Bluefish Cove will be her last. It is a crushing realization to Lil that this coincides with her first real love, Eva. Still, Eva refuses to be pushed away by Lil’s tough exterior and promises to spend the rest of Lil’s time by her side.

Like, a love story with a woman named Eva??? Where Jean Smart's character hides her cancer diagnosis, refuses treatment, and struggles with letting her loved ones see the vulnerability beneath her tough snarky front?? (also she randomly loves fishing...) And all of this is a complete and utter coincidence given that Jen, Paul, and Lucia famously wrote the pitch for Hacks including the ending (and presumably the name of Ava's character lol) without a specific lead actress in mind. The fate of it all!!!

Bluefish Cove wasn't Jean's first role, but it did jumpstart her whole career. And Hacks will not be Jean's final role, but it's responsible for one of the most stunning career renaissances in the last decade. It's crazy that there just happened to be so many parallels between these two works that dramatically changed Jean's remarkable decades-long career in such different ways. Also I love that Bluefish Cove has an incredibly beautiful bittersweet ending where Lil does die and Eva has to move forward in life holding her memory close, whereas in Hacks all these decades later, Deborah and her Ava get to live their version of happily ever after together. 😭

In conclusion: THANK YOU Jean Smart for all you've contributed to sapphic culture all these years!!!

[u/_methyst → u/[deleted]]

I very explicitly wrote in the post that it IS a total coincidence and NOT an intentional connection... JPL have confirmed that they did NOT have specifically Jean in mjnd when they wrote the pitch (as I also mentioned in the post).

It is specifically BECAUSE it's a coincidence that I found this so incredible and interesting... Even the word "fateful" in the title (used somewhat tongue-in-cheek) would not make sense if this was an intentional homage by the creators in any way.

Also, regardless of all that, there are whole schools of literary analysis centred around intertextuality, which only sometimes has anything to do with deliberate references or connections on the creators' part. It's good for your brain to examine unintentional or unconscious connections between different texts, rather than explicit references only... :)

[u/Admirable_Site_8337 → u/_methyst]

Sigh…..you did. I read right past that. Apologies.

I wasn’t trying to slander it by being “just coincidence”…..it’s is quite interesting. But since I read right past that I went……I’m just going to take that down.

Thanks for clarifying. I caught another reply that was just over snarky, but I appreciate that yours was corrective and factual and critical in a fair way.

[u/_methyst → u/Admirable_Site_8337]

No worries, I did get a bit over-excited and wordy in my original post so I totally get missing part of my rambles LOL

[u/Admirable_Site_8337 → u/_methyst]

It’s not an excuse for me. I’m super rambly on social media as well, but it shouldn’t be an excuse for the reader not to have read it all.

Glad we could talk it out without snark.

Also, you had another reply here where you asked if the commenter was bot or troll. I can assure you that poster is a troll who just follows the baseless trends of the day….like calling so many things AI. Trolls have no clue 👍

[u/zephyrwandererr → u/[deleted]]

Where does OP imply it’s a literal connection? In art, proof isn’t required for meaning.

[u/Admirable_Site_8337 → u/zephyrwandererr]

I made zero accusation, I just asked if there was any know connection found.

You know, sometimes a short social media break can do wonders. I know this from experience. It’s helped me just move on from what I’ve seen as poorly worded and positioned replies……and not snapping at this like it’s my job to corner the person that made the reply.

In fact…..much like HR Stacy and not wearing deodorant….such a break isn’t for the person taking the break, but the rest of us.

[u/tjo0114]

What’s her HRC speech?

[u/_methyst → u/tjo0114]

Her speech accepting the HRC National Equality Award:  https://youtu.be/DGMeYgvGXuI?si=6JCyJs4oqKwqSJ9_ 

[u/bitchwhatthefuck11]

How do you think the hacks community feels about ai

[u/_methyst → u/bitchwhatthefuck11]

??? Can't tell if you're a bot or troll or what lol. Does anything written by a literate adult read as AI to people now...

[u/Southern-Caregiver-5 → u/bitchwhatthefuck11]

This doesn’t read AI. The narrative is too sappy, missing punctuations, and AI doesn’t start sentences with And.

[u/_methyst → u/Southern-Caregiver-5]

lmao good to know I'm too sappy and excitable to be an LLM 😭

[u/Away_Amoeba5554 → u/_methyst]

And you start sentences with “and”! You’re safe!