5-3-12 one-upping the tanning mom

Like the rest of the world, I will admit to being slightly horrified at the pictures I have been seeing this week about Patricia Krentcil, aka Tanning Mom, aka latest sufferer of the disease du jour, Tanorexia (who sits around coming up with these things? I want that job.)

Anyway, the train wreck that stemmed from the allegations of taking her fair skinned, red-haired little girl into the tanning salon to tan with her has made her tabloid fodder and the butt of jokes for every comedian with a microphone.

But here's my problem:

Look at the different gradations of color here, in just a quick first page google search by her name. They are all over the map. And Yahoo's front page story has taken the color at step further into Al Jolson black face range.

Here she is on video today in natural light

Here she is in a photo, also published by yahoo news, that clearly matches the on-the-street cam skin tone:

I could be quibbling, I know. She's clearly got some issues that have made her feel as though turning her hide into leather is an appropriate tonic for what ails her, and, admittedly, blaming jealous, fat people isn't doing her any favors in the Jersey-Shore-lives mythos.

But why does the media feel the need to amp up everything? Isn't her real skin tone enough to warn girls of the dangers of tanning beds without pulling the saturation bar as far to the right as it will go? Why isn't plain crazy enough any more?