Josh, Lindsay, and Mackenzie

So, many of you have heard of this movie "Juno" that came out recently. This is a story about a 16 year-old girl who gets pregnant and decides to carry the baby to term and then give it up for adoption to a couple who can't have children.

It was brought to my attention that the main character reminded a couple of my friends of me (minus the teenage pregnancy of course). And by reminded, I mean this is what they "assume" I would have been like in high school (because the folks who mentioned it didn't actually attend high school with me...mostly because they are older than I am). I discussed this possibility with my friend Kristen, who has known me since the wee age of six. She hadn't seen the movie, but was familiar with Ellen Page (the actress who portrays the main character "Juno") and she said she could see the similarity because the actress herself is "spunky". Regardless, I took it upon myself to see the movie and determine if, in fact this character was similar to me.

My co-worker (and friend) Rachelle accompanied me to give me some perspective as well. The interesting thing is that a lot of what makes me similar to Juno is also what makes us dissimilar. Here are the results:

Similarities between myself and Juno:

1. Maturity - It is a similarity in that I am good in a crisis and don't generally freak out at all...instead I go into solution mode.
2. Prolixness - both of us tend toward the excessively wordy and tend to use larger words than altogether necessary to convey our thoughts.
3. Catch-phrases - both of us use catch-phrases, though the actual choices differ greatly.
4. Friends - we have about the same amount of dependence on our friends, and they all seem to be eccentric in their own ways.
5. Sarcastic banter - not sure a lot needs to be said here. Let's just say we both do it.
6. Boyfriend - we both got our first boyfriends when we were juniors in high school, but that's where the similarity in this category ends.
7. Music - we both enjoyed music that had nothing to do with our generation. I've always been decades behind the times in regards to my musical preferences.

Differences between myself and Juno:

1. Maturity - she tends to vent a little too easily with adults. I was very much into "milking it" with the parents and adults I was around in high school. I could definitely work the room...I think this is called Social Awareness.
2. Standing out - I didn't particularly stand out or blend in. Juno seemed to be just on the other side of conformity to where she wasn't really blending in with anyone. I didn't really stand out even when my friends weren't around me.
3. Attire - though highly correlated with #2, my attire was pretty plain. I wasn't IN fashion, nor was I blatantly OUT of fashion. Just comfortable really.
4. Boyfriend - this is dissimilar because I didn't exchange any "I love you's"...and clearly didn't get pregnant.
5. Music - while we both liked music older than our current generation, she was into the harder stuff while I was enjoying the Beatles and the Mamas and the Papas.
6. Name - she is named after Zeus' wife; this is a pretty uncommon name. I was among 8 different Lindsays in my grade alone. This does not include the Lyndsey Smith in the grade above me...

So, despite the fact we're not identical twins, there are some similarities. I'm not sure I would have spent the entire movie comparing her to myself (or even have made a lot of these connections) if I hadn't been presented with the comparison prior to seeing the movie, but I could definitely see myself in her sometimes.