MovieChat Forums > More American Graffiti (1979) Discussion > Mckenzie Phillips' role in this film?

Mckenzie Phillips' role in this film?

posted 18 years ago by gumbah24-1
16 replies | jump to latest

First off I am a huge fan of the original and the other day I was checking the HD channels and seen More American Graffiti. I set the dvr before I went to bed thinking that maybe it was American Graffiti with added footage, instead it was a sequel that I had no idea was ever made.

The stories were great, Curt wasnt my favorite character so his absence didnt matter to me but I know in the credits Mckenzie Phillips is Carol which she appears in Milners sequence but then also as Rainbow in Debbies. There is no mention during Debbies sequence that Carol happened to change her name to a hippie name like Rainbow so is she suppose to be Carol or is Rainbow a completely different person in this film?

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] dmanmetz 18 years ago

Yes, she is the same character, just a few years older and has changed her name to Rainbow. If you watch the scene where Debbie and Rainbow are in the club, Debbie says "Looks like Rainbow found somebody, she always seems to go for those 50's type guys", which is a reference to Milner, who she had a crush on in the original.

[–] rbecker28 17 years ago

I get the impression, however, that Debbie did not even remember Carol at all. With all the changes that those three years brought (and the changes in style) that's sort of understandable. Debbie had lost all recollection of Carol and hence did not know that she had met Rainbow a few years before under a different name.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] rcarey1979 17 years ago

It's not made clear that Carol and Rainbow are the same person. However if they are not the same person, it's an example of stunt casting. I would surmise that they are the same person, given that Carol in 1964 is dating a young New York bohemian and that group gave way to the hippies, but as far as the film is concerned, they are two separate people.

[–] dmanmetz 16 years ago

Yes, they are the same person.

[–] Omi_One 16 years ago

I don't remember Debbie and Carol/Rainbow meeting before.

[–] rbecker28 14 years ago

They meet in Milner's sequence in MAG, but only briefly. I believe they never met in AG.

[–] Omi_One 16 years ago

They are the same person.

[–] Wonderland26 15 years ago

Do Milner and her ever get together?

[–] shani-3 14 years ago

Carol/Rainbow are the same person, and Debbie knows it's the same Carol who rode with John. Debbie, Carol, John, and Toad all kept in touch until John was killed and Toad left for Vietnam. If you remember, in the club scene, Debbie mentions that "Rainbow(Carol)'s found someone", and her friend mentions that she always went for "50's guys". Debbie has a sad look on her face because the guy Carol's with looks like John, and it was the 2nd anniversary of his death. She's also remembering Terry, being the first anniversary of his being missing in action.

Yeah, they're dead, they're--all messed up.

[–] PretoriaDZ 14 years ago

I happened to know Laurie back then (that's what she was known as to friends) and she complained that at first they weren't even going to have her character in the sequel. But then they did and it is the same character, who, in the affectation of the times, changed her name to Rainbow.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] richard.fuller1 12 years ago

How old is everyone on this thread?

People would change their names to hippie names like that, so yes, Carol changed her name to Rainbow. Every aspect of Carol, played by Phillips in the first film and here, would be that she would change her name to something like that.

There was no reason for the same actress to portray two different characters like that.

As for Debbie giving no hint of having met Carol before she changed her name, why would she? Did there actually have to be a reference to 'when we first met' or something like that.

[–] thegreatestone 11 years ago

Debbie didn't have a good memory, as demonstrated by her not remembering John Falfa.