Impossibly Beautiful

The November issue of Vanity Fair features a woman on the cover who is allegedly Penélope Cruz.

[Click to embiggen.]
The thing is, Penélope Cruz doesn't actually look like the woman on the cover of Vanity Fair at all. She looks like this:

Spanish actress Penélope Cruz arrives for the New York premiere screening of her movie "Broken Embraces" October 11, 2009. REUTERS. [Via.]

Actress Penélope Cruz attends a special screening of "Broken Embraces" (Los abrazos rotos) at the Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2009 in Toronto. AP. [Via.]

The thing I notice about the woman on the cover of Vanity Fair is that she looks decidedly less "ethnic" than the candid shots of Cruz, who is Spanish.

But then, I didn't even have to mention that, do I? It's patently obvious to anyone who can see the juxtaposed images that she's been given a nose job and a thorough skin-bleaching.

You know. To make her "more beautiful." Ahem.

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By way of reminder: Comments that try to suss out what changes, exactly, were made, and even comments noting that, for example, the removal of laugh lines because they are ZOMG wrinkles actually robs a face of its character or humanity, are welcome. Discussions of how "she looks prettier/hotter/better in the candid picture" and associated commentary (which would certainly make me feel like shit if I were the person being discussed) are not. So please comment in keeping with the series' intent, implicit in which is the question: If no one can ever be beautiful enough, then to what end is the pursuit of an elusive perfection?

[Via. Impossibly Beautiful: Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty-One, Twenty-Two, Twenty-Three, Twenty-Four, Twenty-Five, Twenty-Six, Twenty-Seven, Twenty-Eight, Twenty-Nine, Thirty, Thirty-One, Thirty-Two, Thirty-Three, Thirty-Four, Thirty-Five, Thirty-Six.]