Hey! You know, you kinda look like...

Be forewarned, readers.  This is actually a blog entry about attractive male actors.  I know, right?  Kinda straying from my norm (whatever that may be...do I even have a norm?) for a moment.

This morning, while eating my oatmeal, I found myself trying to figure out one of the greatest most superficial conundrums of my life.  Why do I find Jake Gyllenhaal to be more attractive than Tobey Maguire?  For those of you who may not understand why the question is a valid one (maybe), it is important to know that these two men have rather similar looks.  (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1.  Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal.

As you can probably see, they at least look a little bit alike.  And I'm not the only one who thinks so.  Clearly some casting directors or other Hollywood bigwigs do too.  (See Figure 2.)  So anyway, here's my thing.  I simply find Jake Gyllenhaal more attractive than Tobey Maguire.  But why?  If they looks so much alike?  I don't know either of them personally, so it can't honestly be a personality thing.  I can't even begin to talk about why I find one more attractive than the other.  I'm sure it's some kind of mental thing, right?  And surely there are others in the world who think the opposite of what I think.  The main point to the post is this...I think it would kind of suck to look so much like somebody else.  Why?  Because what if some random blogger found you less attractive than the person you look so much like?

Figure 2.  Tobey Maguire, Natalie Portman,
and Jake Gyllenhaal in Brothers.

Wouldn't that kinda be a bummer deal?

"Oh my goodness!  Is that Lookalike Smith?"

"No, that's Lookalike Jones."

"Are you sure?  I could've sworn that..."

"...yeah I know what you mean...but I'm sure.  They do look alike but Lookalike Smith is way more attractive."

"Oh yeah, you're right.  I can see it now."

I mean...wouldn't that just be awful?  It's bad enough to be judged for your looks...but to be labeled as looking just like somebody else, but less attractive...man.  That's not cool.  Part of me feels utterly terrible writing this post because in writing about this I am, essentially, creating the unfortunate situation that I am discussing.  Luckily, I bet neither Tobey nor Jake will be reading this.  If you are...Tobey, please know that I do not find you unattractive.  (As I say this, he is looking downward in the movie poster for Brothers looking beyond dejected.)  It's just some trick of the brain I'm sure.  Jake, don't get too full of yourself.  I'm just one person.  And I change my mind quicker than you can even imagine.

That's all I've got right now.  Back to loads and loads of homework.

Stay Classy,
LT

P.S.  I did not randomly just start thinking about this.  Last night when I was working on Costume Design homework, I was watching The Good Girl.  Ironically, I do not find Jake Gyllenhaal to be very attractive in that particular movie (You're welcome, Tobey).