Entertainment Weekly is sporting an unflattering photo of Angelina Jolie on its cover, her pores not befitting a movie star, her chin jutting forward, a shadow under her nose and a mole on her forehead. This has gotten the attention of those who focus on these things and they’re trying to figure out why these flaws are nowhere to be seen in the same photo on the EW Web site.
Okay, I’ll admit it, I got drawn to it. You can just think so long about the Khmer Rouge trials, Mc Cain’s moves, same sex marriage, and Gaza students with scholarships. I have a theory. Maybe they’d allowed Jennifer Anniston to play around with the cover photo. If so, she showed restraint in not Photoshopping a moustache onto the face of the woman who broke up her marriage.
If there’s anything to be learned from the comparison of these photos, it’s that what you see is not necessarily what you get. I found that out years ago upon arriving at a hotel in the French countryside and being assigned a tired, drab, cell-like room that bore no resemblance to the room in the hotel’s brochure. I stomped down to the lobby and presented the photo, demanding we be moved.
“That’s the room in the brochure,” I was assured. A more careful look at the picture revealed what a particular lens, lighting, and professional touch-up were capable of doing.
“Wow!” I responded. “I’d like that photographer to take a picture of me.”
