This effect is real. I had a friend in college who was so attractive that she could barely go anywhere without strangers trying to talk to her. Boys made embarrassing confessions. Old people felt inexplicably compelled to tell her their life stories. It was actually baffling.

In photos she was only beautiful in a normal, mortal way, not mesmerizing. She had an effect in person that could not be captured, at least not with our old phone cameras.