Why do people always need a point of reference?
“You know who you remind me of?” is a constant phrase. Why does anyone have to remind anyone of anyone else? Can’t we just be? When I lived in America I just happened to remind people of any thin man with dark hair who was of European origin- or simply foreign. Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin look nothing alike, and I look nothing like either one of them, and yet I somehow managed to remind people of both of them.
My current recurrent twin is apparently the man on the Channel 2 news. I’m not complaining- even though we also don’t look alike. He’s good looking so I’ve decided it’s a compliment and I’ll just roll with it.
Not even on my best days and in good lighting do I look like this.
My Mazamet 
Hmm. There is a similarity 😀
Mind you, I was accused of looking like Selina Scott in my twenties?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Damn you! Mike said the same thing. He says it’s the eyes. I say everyone has eyes!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome. Yes, the eyes have it 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Groan……… 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
We do, but they’re hardly all the same shape, colour or depth. Accept the compliment as he should if he’s told he reminds someone as you. No where do I find a star that I remind someone of?
Huge Hugs to you both.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You look like the captain of a ship 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Not even on my best days and in good lighting do I look like this.”
Actually, you do, somewhat: It’s those handsomely strong eyebrows. While not identical, yours and his do resemble each other’s enough for me to see it.
By the way, I was once accused of looking “just like Sonia Braga!” Though, sadly, it isn’t true (at least, not in my eyes — pardon the pun), I was very flattered.
LikeLike
When I was in my early twenties, I often got “You remind me of Monica Lewinsky…you know, because you’re both fat white women” from the caribbean high school students I taught. Last month I got “You remind me of the women in Picasso’s paintings, because of your strong Mediterranean features” from an older Norwegian lady.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think the US is the capital of the ‘you look like’ phrase. Probably because there’s such a mix of ethnicities and identities. Around the coastal areas of the Mediterranean it rarely happens for me because we all do look alike 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t understand that need either. Everyone reminds someone of someone else. Is it perhaps to feel closer to your well-known counterpart? Everyone reminds someone of someone else.
LikeLike
I think that’s exactly it, like “I don’t think you’re strange, I’ve seen people just as strange as you many times!”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Scientifically, it’s more because our brains have evolved to look for and recognize patterns, even when they’re not really there. You know, like the Jesus sightings on toasted bread.
LikeLike
I think I’ve been compared to every brown eyed and brown haired actress, and even some who aren’t either. Usually, I don’t like it, but I have to say I got a real kick out of a boyfriend’s mother who insisted I looked like Ava Gardner. A few weeks later I was with him and his son at Grimaldi’s Pizza in Brooklyn sitting under a photo of Sinatra with Ava Gardner and they both agreed that I looked like her, which I don’t, but since it’s one of the more flattering comparisons I’ve had, I’ll pretend like I do.
The worst occurred a few weeks ago when two women told me I looked like Cathy Bates. That’s the sort of opinion you should just keep to yourself. (Note to self: Dye hair.)
It’s terrible to say, but I’m sort of vain and I like the way I look, so I’m usually insulted.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, I’d open a bottle of champagne if I got compared to Ava Gardner, and I’m a boy 😀
LikeLike
I’m looking more like Mr. Clean everyday, except for well…the muscles. :p
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank goodness! Can you imagine the amount of steroids that man must have taken?
LikeLiked by 1 person
haha, I know eh.!
LikeLike
“Why do people always need a point of reference?”
I think that when it comes to facial recognition, there are certain processes the brain undertakes beneath the level of conscious will. We can’t help but to become conscious of these processes after the event, because they are there for a purpose. This doesn’t excuse people from making stupid remarks though.
LikeLiked by 3 people
I think, it’s a part of cognition. As people look at something new, the brain subconsciously compares it to something known, drawing analogies and similarities. That’s the only way to navigate in unfamiliar situations or with unfamiliar people. Somehow, we need to infer what to expect. Unfortunately, this very process is responsible for stereotypes about blacks, gays, Muslims, or people in hoodies as discussed just a few posts ago.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Exactly so; point well made Agrudzinsky.
LikeLike
You’ll find he’s annoyingly intelligent. I’d say in the top 10 of people I’ve ever met. That’s just me being difficult, top 5 to be honest. Analyses beyond reproach. When I see that sunflower my first thought is “damn, I must have made a mathematical/logical mistake and he caught me.”
LikeLiked by 2 people
Ha-ha!
Agrudzinsky will be chuffed to bits . . .
. . . that he’s thicker than four of your friends.
[Just kidding] 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
My son slightly resembled Leonardo di Caprio, when they were both 20. Once his grandmother tried to comment on it, and it came out, “Do you think grandson is like Leonard da Vinci?” I didn’t follow her at first, “Well, he IS smart, but…” 🙂 :lol
LikeLiked by 3 people