Oh Em Gee...studio pics

I am SOOO glad I did not inherit my mom's affinity for taking pictures, or I would have ended up with pictures that looked like this:

And this
Glamour shots are all the rage in Vietnam these days, especially for Viet Kieu (overseas Vietnamese) who are lured in by the dirt cheap prices and being photoshopped into an unrecognizable version of oneself. For about $50, you too can become owner to the most awkward set of glamour shots to show off to your friends.

My mom's friends convinced her to take studio pictures while here, telling her that she will look like a movie star in her pictures. Even though I knew what was to come out of this, I also encouraged her because I am always down for a good laugh, especially if it is at my mom (we have that type of relationship where we like to make fun of each other as much as we can). And...what a good laugh the whole experience was.

First, they painted a ridiculous amount of makeup on my mom's face. In any other context, I would have greatly objected to this strong-handed application of makeup, but the "stylists" insisted that this was necessary.

She was annoyed that I was taking pictures of her pre-photoshop.
And then came the scrambling of wardrobe changes, quick changes to the lighting, and the awkward positioning of poses...
They asked if she wanted to take pictures in Chinese or Japanese traditional outfits. I quickly chimed in and answered, "Yes! Kimonos would make for an interesting look!"
Oh, the giggles that came from these shots...

My mom is in LOVE with these pictures. She WILL NOT STOP looking at them. Anytime I go downstairs, I find her in the same spot in the living room, flipping through her photo album, admiring herself. On the day she picked up her pictures, she was so excited to show off her pictures to my uncles that when she ran over to his house, she dropped 600,000 Vietnamese dong on the ground, only to realize after the rush of excitement wore off that she lost all that money. Since taking the pictures, I have to hear her all day talking about how her pictures make her look like a famous singer, how my dad will surely be enamored by them....OMG.

I mean, it's not that my mom looks bad in them. It's just that...it doesn't look like her. They photoshopped her into an unrecognizable woman 10 years younger than she actually is. They made her nose taller, her wrinkles vanished, filled out her face, basically got rid of any personality from her face. They didn't even let her smile a full smile, which is a loss because she didn't get to reveal her distinct dimples--the only facial attribute (my favorite) that I inherited from her.

This is the mom I recognize, the mom I love to make fun of all the time for simply being her ridiculous self, and the mom that wouldn't trade for all the money in the world (or at least the $50 it cost to take the pictures) to look like an '80s-era Vietnamese singer. She may look her age, but at least she looks like she has a personality.