How more lookalike characters symbolize deeper meaning in movies and TV
May be spoilers ahead!
The plots wildly differ, but key characters in Mean Girls look surprisingly similar to those in House of the Dragon—is it a coincidence or something deeper? And what about deeper meaning in the visual similarity between the leads in The Little Mermaid and Aquamarine? This post explores these potential symbols, ending with thoughts on the intentional facial similarity in the psychological drama Persona.
Style essences in Mean Girls
My perpetual disclaimer is that I have a horrible memory for movie plots, but if I remember right, part of the climax of Mean Girls is when former nice girl Cady morphs into a behavioral replica of mean girl Regina. I think there’s some iconic line where Cady’s friend accuses her of becoming Regina, or at least it’s implied.
I never noticed while watching the movie, but after typing Lindsay Lohan, who plays Cady, and Rachel McAdams, who plays Regina, I was struck by how they have a decent level of facial similarity.
"Mike Ruiz captures Lindsay Lohan" by feastoffun.com is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
"File:Rachel McAdams, TIFF 2012 (bright crop).jpg" by Andrew Bishkinsky derivative – Keraunoscopia is licensed under CC BY 3.0.
They look similar but not shockingly alike—Lindsay (left) is Ethereal Classic Gamine, and Rachel is Ethereal Dramatic Classic. Sharp Dramatic lines are more elongated and tend to appear more serious and powerful than shortened, jovial Gamine lines. So while their faces both possess some Ethereal otherworldliness and Classic balance, Rachel has more angular, intimidating features.
In Mean Girls, their mild-but-not-extreme resemblance serves at least two functions: 1. Their style essences distinguish them, because Cady (played by Lindsay) has Gamine, which helps to visually signal that she isn’t as intimidating and powerful as Dramatic queen Regina. And 2. Their style essences symbolize Cady’s internal similarity to Regina and specifically Cady’s capacity for becoming, as well as her temporary transition into, a mean girl.
Another thing I find interesting is that Rachel McAdams in real life seems to often wear her hair in soft waves, which harmonize with and accentuate her placid Ethereal essence. But in Mean Girls, her locks are long, straight, and sleek, perhaps to emphasize her angular, harsher Dramatic essence and to underscore her character’s aggressive nature.
Style essences in House of the Dragon
Mean Girls may not seem like a great contender for having meaningful similarity to Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon. But in the latter, main character Rhaenyra Targaryen actually has the same style essences as both Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams.
Young Rhaenyra is played by Ethereal Classic Gamine (Lindsay’s style type) Milly Alcock, and grown up Rhaenyra is played by Ethereal Dramatic Classic (Rachel’s style type) Emma D’Arcy.
Here the symbolism of these style essences feels different than in Mean Girls. Whereas in Mean Girls, the Gamine/Dramatic discrepancy symbolized Regina’s callousness in comparison to Cady, the discrepancy in House of the Dragon seems to illustrate Rhaenyra’s growth from young girl to adult (Gamines tend to look youthful, Dramatics more mature). The character’s evolution from a Gamine to Dramatic face may imply Rhaenyra’s psychological as well as physical maturation.
In House of the Dragon, the character Alicent is also portrayed by two different actors who play her at different ages. But this dual portrayal doesn’t imply psychological growth, because young Alicent is played by Emily Carey, a Natural Gamine Ingenue, and older Alicent is played by Olivia Cooke, also a Natural Gamine Ingenue. Maybe (it’s a stretch, but maybe stretching can be both psychologically and physically healthy) the change from Gamine to Dramatic for Rhaenyra, and the lack of any change in style essences for Alicent, symbolizes the comparative lack of psychological growth of the latter character.
Style essences in The Little Mermaid and Aquamarine
From a style analysis perspective, Halle Bailey is a perfect visual fit for her title role in The Little Mermaid: as an Ethereal Gamine, her vibe is both otherworldly and playful.
"143427_6763" by Walt Disney Television is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.
"143427_1160" by Walt Disney Television is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.
Halle Bailey (left) with sister Chloe. Her face’s vibe is mystical and playful.
As an Ethereal Gamine, her face embodies the conceptions we have of mermaids as being unique and whimsical. She even has the same style type as Sara Paxton, who played the iconic mermaid in Aquamarine:
"Sara Paxton" by alice creep is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
The backlash against Halle’s casting is obviously wrong regardless of her style type—she should be allowed to play a mermaid even if her face doesn’t fit stereotypes of what mermaids look like. From a style analysis perspective, though, her face is mermaid-like, and she follows what may be a tradition of heavily Ethereal actresses playing mermaids (Daryl Hannah and Gemma Ward to name a couple others).
One reason I like style analysis is that it provides a different lens through which to see the world, a more figurative lens compared to the more literal lens through which we typically view faces. That doesn’t mean ignoring race or denying that people continue to discriminate based on race—of course that’s critical to acknowledge. We can sometimes flip between different lenses, and sometimes stack them so we’re looking through multiple lenses at once.
Style essences in Persona
The film Persona explores the theme of personal identity through two characters, played by Liv Ullman and Bibi Andersson, who possess marked visual similarity. Do they share style essences? Yes, all three—they’re both Romantic Ethereal Classic.
Bibi and Liv have a similar vibe and literal features in Persona.
The Classic essence sometimes imbues a face with a chameleon quality, in that people with a lot of Classic can look extremely similar to one another. This makes sense when we consider that Classic features tend to be positioned in average locations and not to be especially large or small or round or pointy. Highly Classic faces are symmetrical and beautiful but won’t necessarily be the most distinctive, recognizable faces, simply because Classic features tend to be average in location and size/shape.
So it makes sense that two actresses who highly resemble each other would have a lot of Classic. Is there also significance to Liv and Bibi both having Romantic and Ethereal, beyond that it heightens their similar literal looks?
In my view, yes. Persona has a surrealistic, internal nature and explores the theme of personal identity. This fits Ethereal’s mystical, introspective vibe. The film also explores intense, sometimes dysregulated emotions, echoed in the passionate, deeply emotional nature of the Romantic essence.
Of all the celebrities I’ve typed so far, Romantic Ethereal Classics seem to have for whatever reason some of the greatest resemblance to one another. It may just be my opinion, or there may be something about this type, beyond even just the similarity conveyed by Classic, that promotes high facial similarity across people with this combination of essences. Something to maybe explore in the future.
