Albinism as a condition has been portrayed in a variety of ways in popular culture, including several stereotypes and myths related to persons with albinism.
Types of albinism include:
Oculocutaneous albinism. Affects the skin, hair, and eyes. Around 1 in 70 people have a mutation in an OCA gene. There are several subtypes of OCA. Ocular albinism. Affects the eyes, causing blindness. Hermansky–Pudlak syndrome. Effects include a bleeding disorder, IBS, and fibrocystic lung conditions. Chédiak–Higashi syndrome. Similar to OCA but doesn't affect the whole body. Griscelli syndrome. Causes immune and neurological issues. Griscelli syndrome usually results in death within the first decade of life.
Conversely, a number of real people with albinism have risen to fame ) especially in popular music and fashion modeling (though, as in the case of the Winter brothers, may themselves be the subject of "evil albino" parody). Albino animals capture public imagination and wonder as zoo attractions, and even in the wild can attract popular, positive attention ).
The "Evil Albino" Stereotype Albinism organisations and others have expressed criticism over the portrayal of individuals with albinism in popular culture, specifically in movies and fictional works, citing the overwhelmingly negative depiction. There is concern that such depictions could increase social bias and discrimination against individuals with albinism."'Evil Albino' missing from 2004 movies. Will The Da Vinci Code revive the cliché?" , The National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation, 6 January 2005; accessed 15 December 2006 This phenomenon is often referred to as the "evil albino" plot device.
The "evil albino" stereotype or stock character is a villain in fiction who is depicted as being albinistic (or displaying physical traits usually associated with albinism, even if the term is not used), with the specific purpose of distinguishing the villain in question from the heroes by means of appearance."Beyond the pale: Hollywood's unwritten rules for characters with albinism", Skinema: Dermatology in the Cinema, Dr. Vail Reese; accessed 15 December 2006 Traits of albinism commonly associated with the evil albino stereotype include pale skin, platinum blonde hair, and blue or pink-to-red eyes. Notably absent from most depictions is impaired vision, which is often experienced (depending on the type of albinism) by real people with albinism."Furor Over The Matrix: Reloaded – Continued" , Skinema: Dermatology in the Cinema, Dr. Vail Reese; accessed 15 December 2006
The stereotype has become sufficiently well-recognized to be considered a cliché. In response to the "albino gunmen" characters in The Da Vinci Code and The Matrix Reloaded, albinistic actor Dennis Hurley wrote, produced, and starred in a short film parody, The Albino Code, where he played up the stereotypes, illustrated a typical example of real-world prejudice, and pointed out that the vision problems associated with albinism would make a successful career as a hitman highly improbable. In The Big Over Easy, author Jasper Fforde includes an "albino community" protest against albino bias among his fictional news clippings, most of which satirise stock characters and hackneyed plot devices. Chicago Tribune movie reviewer Mark Caro says of this character type that it is someone "who looks albino and thus, in movie shorthand, must be vicious"."Movie review: Cold Mountain" ; Caro, Mark; Chicago Tribune (online edition), date unspecified; accessed 13 March 2007 The National Organisation for Albinism and Hypopigmentation (NOAH) has stated that there were a total of sixty-eight films from 1960 to 2006 featuring an "evil albino".
The "evil albino" stereotype may also have its roots in Neolithic Eastern Europe, where some cultures depicted Death as a pallid woman with light hair.The Language of the Goddess, Marija Gimbutas, 1989, page 198 Fear of vampires and other legendary undead with a deathly pallor, especially in European folklore, could also have contributed to albino bias. The phenomenon may also have been influenced by attitudes towards people with albinism in Africa or Jamaica, where those with that condition are sometimes regarded as cursed or magical . Dermatologist Dr. Vail Reese theorizes that albino bias may be part of a broader Hollywood pattern of equating or at least linking skin disorders and appearance problems with villainy."Most movies that feature skin disease use it to represent evil", Skinema: Dermatology in the Cinema, Dr. Vail Reese; accessed 15 December 2006
Another explanation may be sought in respective ideals of ugliness – most "evil albinos" appear in works of fiction from the West. In fiction from Japan, where ideals call for as pale skin as possible, characters with albinism or associated traits are more frequently sympathetic"Japanese Anime and Manga" , Albinism in Popular Culture, by Luna Eterna, 1997–2006; accessed 8 January 2007 than in American and British fiction."American and British Comics" , Albinism in Popular Culture, by Luna Eterna, 1997–2006; accessed 8 January 2007 This is not to say that Japanese popular culture has not depicted "evil albinos". However, such characters in Japanese fiction are often bishōnen or bishōjo whose beautiful appearance gives contrast to their evil character. Use of albinistic features to indicate villains in Hollywood films appears to have begun in the 1960s, and may be related to the popularity of tanning (and thus a decrease in pale skin being seen as attractive) in this period.
One of the oldest perceived literary examples of albino bias was H. G. Wells's depiction of the main character in his 1897 science-fiction novel The Invisible Man, who was able to become invisible using his scientific discoveries only because he already lacked natural pigmentation; aberrant even before his experimentation, he subsequently became completely deranged.
Albino bias is also alleged in modern times. For example, the 2003 Warner Bros movie The Matrix Reloaded featured two sociopathic characters with pale skin and white hair frequently interpreted to be albinos despite studio declarations that they are not. Positive depictions of albinos in mass culture are rarer, though one example is the 1995 film Powder which depicts an exceptionally gifted albinistic youth and the cruelty he endures from "normal" people because of his differences. In recent years, the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation (NOAH) has spoken out against albino bias in the United States. Albinistic actor Michael C. Bowman, of Me, Myself and Irene, has said, "Kids all over this country are being affected in a very negative and harmful way because of the sloppiness and laziness of a writer in Hollywood."
Albinism and fiction
A number of movies, books and other works have been criticized"Furor Over The Matrix: Reloaded" , Skinema: Dermatology in the Cinema, Dr. Vail Reese; accessed 15 December 2006 for albino bias, as they associate the uncommon features of albinistic people (pale skin, white hair, and unpigmented eyes) with danger, terror, or criminality. Less frequently they are depicted as the harmless butt of jokes and ridicule, as maladjusted and undersocialized, or as "freaks"."Book two of Hollywood's rules of albinism", Skinema: Dermatology in the Cinema, Dr. Vail Reese. They may also actually be portrayed positively, even heroically – a more recent counter-trend.
Negatively portrayed characters
The most common depiction of people with albinism in fiction is that of the inimical, violent villain, especially the hitman, assassin, sociopath or crime boss.
"The Family", a cult of plague survivors are the antagonists in the film The Omega Man (1971). Silas, in the book The Da Vinci Code (2003) by Dan Brown, (played by Paul Bettany in the 2006 film adaptation), is described as being albinistic. He is a religious fanatic and an assassin who murders several people, although he repents at the end of the book, praying to God for mercy and forgiveness. Critics have called the portrayal "damning", "hateful", and "cruelly stereotypical"."The Da Vinci Code Albinos[sic] Murderer Depiction Was Slammed" ; Gheorghe, Adina; Softpedia Reviews, 20 March 2006; accessed 13 March 2007 In defense, author Brown has pointed out that "Silas's skin color has nothing to do with his violent nature – he is driven to violence by others' cruelty... not by anything inherent in his physiology" and that he believes "the novel's portrayal of Silas is a compassionate exploration of how difficult albinism can be – especially for young people – and how cruelly societies can ostracize those of us who look different", going on to say he considers Silas to be the most sympathetic character in the story.Dan Brown's FAQ Retrieved on 21 April 2007. "The Twins" (played by Adrian and Neil Rayment), in The Matrix Reloaded (2003)"The Matrix Reloaded", at IMDb are considered by detractors to be the highest-profile case of "evil albino" bias to date, though said by producers to not be intended to be taken as actually albinistic. Edgar and Johnny Autumn, in four 1995 issues of the Jonah Hex comic book, are mutant villain brothers for the main character to fight. They were thinly-disguised caricatures of real-life albinistic musician brothers, Edgar and Johnny Winter (see images, right), who filed an unsuccessful lawsuit (Edgar Winter et al. v. DC Comics et al.)."C.A. Revives Rock Stars’ Suit Over Use of Their Personae", Metropolitan News-Enterprise, 20 June 2002; accessed 15 December 2006. A spokesperson for Johnny Winter characterized the depiction as "picking fun at them for being albinos", while a DC Comics representative claimed that the characters were an homage. Griffin, the main character of The Invisible Man (1897) by H. G. Wells is of questionable sanity and a thief by nature, obsessed with colour and pigmentation due to his albinism. The text of Wells's novel implies that Griffin's invisibility formula works on him (and a white cat in an early experiment) only because of albinism. (See main article for sources.) Francis Davey, the vicar of Altarnun in Daphne du Maurier's novel Jamaica Inn is an albino whose status as a 'freak of nature' is explicitly linked to his rejection of conventional morality and hence his villainous actions including murder. Samuel Aboah from The X-Files episode "Teliko". He was a Burkinabé immigrant who, lacking a pituitary gland, harvested them from other African or African-American men to restore his skin tone. He is compared unfavourably to a vampire like creature from West African folklore (the eponymous Teliko) by a Burkinabé ambassador. He is depicted as a merciless killer with a seemingly inhuman ability to squeeze into small spaces (a la previous X-Files villain Eugene Victor Tooms) "Snow" (played by Billy Drago), in Vamp (1986)Vamp, at IMDb is the violently-inclined leader of a street gang composed of albinistic people and others with appearance problems. He meets a violent end. Joseph (played by Jake Busey, son of Gary Busey; see next entry), in Contact (1997)"Contact", at IMDb is a religious extremist turned suicide-bomber. Mr. Joshua (played by Gary Busey), in Lethal Weapon (1987)"Lethal Weapon", at IMDb. is a seemingly psychopathic hit man. He was specifically referred to as "albino" in the film. Bosie (played by Charlie Hunnam),"Images of Charlie Hunnam", IMDb in Cold Mountain (2003)"Cold Mountain", at IMDb. is a U.S. Civil War-era "sneering albino killer ...[who] seems to have wandered in from a Lethal Weapon movie" – Ty Burr, Boston Globe review."Cold Mountain Movie Review: Moving 'Mountain'"; Burr, Ty; Boston Globe (online edition), 25 December 2003; accessed 13 March 2007 "Bad Bob" (played by Stacy Keach) in The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)