oh the irony and a possible discovery

I recently came across an entry on boingboing about a possibly photoshopped cover image of Demi Moore for W magazine. The key here is that they were comparing the cover images for the U.S. version of W to the Korean version. The irony is that the "fuller" version of Demi Moore appears on the cover for the Korean version, in a country that is sometimes overly obsessed about weight and figure (ie: s-lines and such). Please don't get me wrong, Mrs. Kutcher looks absolutely beautiful, if not stunning in either photo. Personally, I prefer her in the Korean version since her hip/thy looks much more natural.

Upon further inspection of the two covers and a full reading of the entry, I couldn't help but realize one more difference from a Korean American's point of view. Is it just me, or does Demi Moore look lighter in skin tone in the Korean version of W magazine? Are you feeling my point here? Now, I'm sure it could have been a difference in color reading by the scanner or just a hap-hazard difference in magazines (the 'W' and orange text in the Korean version both do look lighter...), but after having lived in Korea for nearly a year and a half now, it's definitely obvious that Koreans are almost obsessed with having 'white' skin, especially facial complexion. Korean females especially pound cake that foundation and/or BB cream, not to mention more and more men who do the same. I've seen children get teased or scolded for coming back from summer vacation more tan. It's sometimes seen as being 'Korean-hick' when you're darker in skin tone, it means you've been working the fields in the country-side. Umbrellas in Korea are not just for the rain, or even just for the snow, they're for the summer too, to help block the UV rays. They double as parasols. Could it be that they turned up the brightness on Demi's skin complexion for the Korean version of W magazine? Maybe I'm pushing it, but something to think about, no?

image via BoingBoing