Taking a break from reporting the woes of the global financial crisis, today the New York Times reports that actor James Franco is physically perfect. (Okay, so maybe they didn’t get the memo when Spider-Man was released.)

According to the article, Israeli computer engineers have developed a “beautification engine” that uses an algorithm to digitally alter photographs of an individual’s face to be more attractive. Based on extensive research conducted at Tel Aviv University, the beautification engine can modify an image of a person’s face according to widely-held beauty principles (including symmetry of features, smoothness of skin, vividness of hair/eye color, among others) while still maintaining a striking, unmistakable resemblance to the original image.

The article includes several photos of celebrities who went under the digital knife, including Woody Allen, Michael Cera, and Brigitte Bardot, all of whom are shown with distinct alterations. James Franco, however, showed no visible alterations, leaving the Times to declare him “pretty perfect.”

But the “beautification engine” leaves me with a few concerns. First of all, it has not yet been engineered to modify images of people from “nonwhite racial and ethnic groups,” so it wouldn’t be conclusive to say that the algorithm developed truly measures what is beautiful. Furthermore, not everyone agrees that the modified images are more beautiful than the originals.

For one thing, Michael Cera (seen above in his original photo, left, and final modification, far right) looks slightly bloated and older, and his gaze is dimmer. One could argue that his charm derrives not from the way he looks, but his whole demeanor. And what does the existence of a “beautification engine” say about our values? If all it can do is present us with an image of what we could look like, then why make a fuss about it?

I could care less what a “beautification engine” would have to say about me.  Not that I derrive my self-worth from others, but it’s not like I’m interested in dating a computer anytime soon. The verdict on James Franco is, however, spot-on. Hotness.