Julie is Julia, or Not?

I am finishing the book Julie and Julia by Julie Powell this week.  It's a really good book.  I loved the whole story.  It's all about Julie's journey to cook her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  That's cooking over 500 recipes in only 365 days!  Julie, in addition to trying to complete this daunting task, offers a unique and funny perspective throught the book.  Julie often compares herself to Julia Child.  They funny part is that while they kind of share a name, they are vastly different people.  They have some similarities, but they are incredibly different from each other.
Julie Powell is a almost 30 year old woman.  She is married to a man she met back in Texas in High School.  She is a secretary at a government agency who's policies she doesn't agree with in the slightest.  She really hates her job.  She moved from Texas all the way to New York City to become an actress.  She lives in a terrible apartment with a lot of really big functional problems.  Her plans and goals she set out to accomplish are not really panning out.  She's not exactly happy with her life at this point.  She needs something to improve her life at the beginning of the book.  When she decides to attempt to cook her way through MtAoFC many people really doubt her.  Julie is kind of disheveled.  Sher lives a mainly frugal live, and she's a little bit crazy.  Although on the other hand, Julie is a really determined and proud person in my opinion.  She's fun and interesting and clever, she just doesn't really have her life figured out, and in her case that's really not a good thing.

Julia Child however, is vastly different.  In the Wikipedia artickle about her it says "Julia Child (née McWilliams;^[1] August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for introducing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking".  She was a very sucessful person.  Julia Child was dignified and wealthy, and while she was reported to be a fun person, she seems very serious.  When I read the parts about her in Julie and Julia, Julie demonstrates great respect for Julia, Julia however, "is reported to have been unimpressed by Powell's blog, believing Powell's determination to cook every recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a year to be a stunt."  I don't really know what to think about this but, she is definately entited to her own opinion.  Julia Child to me means good and fun cooking, but French sophistication along with a dignified personality.

Julie and Julia are really different people.  Then again, how would you like to be compared to one of the greatest home chefs of all time?