Albinism - Media & Hollywood
Hollywood has always depicted Albinos as mean, evil, and scheming characters.
The media on the portrayal of Albino's has never been kind. Mostly they have been shown as mean, scheming and evil characters with red eyes who have a sinister and destructive motive. This, of course, in real life is far from true. These subliminal messages given out by the media is likely to have an effect on how the society views this oddity of Mother Nature.
The famous movies that have shown Albino characters include-
- Da Vinci Code movie: directed by Ron Howard & Akiva Goldsman, starring Tom Hanks. Mike McGowan of The National Organization For Albinism And Hypo-pigmentation (NOAH) in USA said: "One huge problem with (author Dan Brown's book) The Da Vinci Code is how (the character of) Silas is described with red eyes. That's a myth. Most often in people with albinism the eyes are light blue or even hazel. Ron Howard can make a big difference for people with albinism if he had adjusted the Silas character to not be an evil albino."
- Die Another Day: Directed by Lee Tamahori and released in Nov 2002 showed the character of Zao as an albino villain in this Bond movie.
- The Time Machine: Directed by Simon Wells (great-grandson of HG Wells), released in 2002 and adapted from H.G. Wells's 1895 science fiction, this story is of a scientist who wishes to undo the tragic events that lead to the death of his fiancée. He makes a time machine to travel through time into the future. Here he encounters a villion in the vitriolic albino called Uber-Morlock who needs to be vanquished
There are many such films that potray albinos including - Matrix Reloaded, Me, Myself & Irene, End Of Days, Powder, The Firm, Lethal Weapon, The Princess Bride, Foul Play, Vamp, Stick, The Eiger Sanction, The Omega Man, The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean and Yellowman.
Contrary to these villainous potrayals, is that of the biblical patriarch Noah, who was believed to be an albino. He was the epitome of virtue who was spared, when God decided to destroy evil by flooding the world.
