The Skinnies Awards are here at skinema.com! Screen sirens Hathaway and Lawrence share the Acne-Ridden Ingénues distinction, narrowly taking out fellow femme Amanda Seyfried. See it all now at skinema.com...
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- The 2013 Skinnies Awards: W. Kamau Bell revives the Afro
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- The 2013 Skinnies Awards: Tommy Lee Jones is the Bad Ass Baldie
- Azog, the evil albino Orc of “The Hobbit”
- Lena Dunham has HPV?
- Finally! A hero with albinism! "Pirates! A Band of Misfits"
- Baseball's Buster Posey afflicted with Shingles
Azog, the evil albino Orc of “The Hobbit”
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Say it ain’t so, Bilbo: It’s the Return of the Evil Albino |
Director Peter Jackson’s “Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” creates a strong sense of déjà vu. The various denizens of Middle Earth, the rousing battle scenes, the guttural voice of the Gollum are all welcome back on screen. One cliché, dredged up from Hollywood’s past, is not so welcome: The evil albino. A major villain of the new trilogy is Azog, repeatedly referred to as “The Pale Orc.” This bald, scarred amputee already had enough dermatologic baggage to easily identify him as an adversary for the ages. Did Jackson have to give him albinism as well? He is blue eyed, has alabaster skin and even rides a white wolf-like Warg who shares his genetic inability to produce pigmentation. The evil albino has for decades been a movie stereotype. Fortunately, after a major 2006 media campaign by NOAH, an albinism advocacy group, this archetype went the way of the dodo bird. One could argue, as did fans of the self-flagellating albino monk assassin of “The Da Vinci Code,” that promoting this epically overdone stereotype was done to stay true to the original novel. Not so, since while Azog is briefly mentioned in the appendices of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, no mention is made of his being “pale.” In fact, if Jackson remained true to Tolkien, this character was killed in battle years before the events of “The Hobbit.” In a year when there was an actual (albeit tongue-in-cheek) hero with albinism in “Pirates: Band of Misfits,” there should be no need for Jackson to step onto a slippery slope of resurrecting the ruthless, hateful evil albino killer. Perhaps in one of the sequels, he can toss in a morally sound character with albinism: a dwarf, elf, or human for whom the condition is incidental, not based on prejudice. Good natured Bilbo would approve.
More on Albinism at Skinema.com.
Lena Dunham has HPV?
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This is comedy? She's got a wart virus with serious complications...
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Whoops! Scratch that. Lena Dunham, the uberkind writer/director/star of HBO's controversial series, "Girls" may or may not be infected with Human Papilloma Virus, specifically the strains that cause genital warts and the majority of cervical cancers. Her character on "Girls," Hannah Horvath, actually received that diagnosis in the third episode of the first season. Our mistake is understandable, given that Dunham has traditionally established little distance from the characters she plays. In her feature film, "Tiny Furniture," Dunham's character is in conflict with her mother and sister, who are portrayed in the flick by her actual mother and sister. This authenticity is found when Horvath is blindsided by her HPV diagnosis. She had only had protected sex with her current ne'er-do-well partner and he falsely claimed he had been tested for HPV and was clean. Her previous boyfriend reveals the true medical info: HPV can be spread even with condom use. The virus can effect the skin of the abdomen or the base of the shaft, areas not covered by latex condoms. Also, men and women may harbor the virus without showing visible warts. Finally, that there is no current test that a male can undergo to show that he is not infected. While most women with HPV infections become immune to that strain and do not necessarily progress to cervical cancer, there was a significant fact that was left out of the narrative: A safe and effective vaccine for HPV of the groin has been available for males and females for years. If the show's recent college grads had not undergone the 3 injections, they would have at least been aware of the process. Of the 2 vaccines available in the US, Gardasil covers 4 HPV strains that contribute to the majority of cases of genital warts and cervical cancer development, plus have been implicated in cases of penile cancer, anal cancer and throat cancer. Perhaps these quirky characters will chat about the vaccine on a later episode. Viewers needn't wait to consider the vaccine themselves, however. It has been approved by the FDA for males and females ages 9-25.
Finally! A hero with albinism! "Pirates! A Band of Misfits"
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This guy's no hero...
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For decades, Hollywood had associated the genetic condition of albinism with murderous villains. The trend's nadir was the heavily promoted "Da Vinci Code" (2006) and it's brutal self flagellating albino monk. Finally, after a far-reaching media campaign by NOAH, an albinism advocacy group, the stereotypical "evil albino" was (mostly) laid to rest. While no mainstream feature films have produced an evil character with albinism, in 2010 a giant, menacing, scarred, tattooed, albino gladiator did appear on the cable TV Starz series, "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" (above). Conforming to this website's rules of evil albinos in the media, he was blinded by the light reflecting off the hero's shield (people with albinism are sensitive to sun and often visually impaired) and is then decapitated (evil albino characters are violently killed).
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This guy's a hero!
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"Pirates! A Band of Misfits" represents a long awaited step forward: a character with albinism who is not evil and at least vaguely heroic. We only have 2 issues with this fellow. Like most movie roles with albinism, he doesn't have a real name, in this case he is called simply "Albino Pirate." This, however, is one of the running jokes of the film, where all of the pirate crew have similar descriptive names: the captain is named "Pirate Captain," the woman on board posing as a male goes by "The Surprisingly Curvaceous Pirate", etc. Also, the production team opted for stereotypical red eyes, when those with the actual condition have blue or grey eyes. That said, at least he is a supportive member of the team, rather than a sociopathic rapist and/or serial killer. We would have even been comfortable if the studio included a joke about needing to wear sunscreen (folks with albinism are at high risk for skin cancer). Maybe for the sequel!
Baseball's Buster Posey afflicted with Shingles
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Posey catches balls, but can't catch a break. Rash not shown.
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No sooner was SF Giants catcher Buster Posey back from his collison-induced broken leg than he was taken out of the game again for an entirely unrelated condition: Shingles. Yes, the sneaky virus, that remains hidden in the spinal nerves of any of us who succumbed to chicken pox in childhood, broke out with small water blisters along Posey's left underarm, left side and back. He was scratched from the game, put on antiviral pills and was off the lineup for...24 whole hours.
What gives? When David Letterman had shingles he was shut out of late night TV for a whole month.
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Shingles can hit management too.
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Last year, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa came down with shingles on his face. Note the characteristically bizarre appearance of a rash that follows the nervous system showing swelling and blisters that abruptly stop in the midline. While his team went on to win the World Series 6 months later, he then abruptly retired, a decision that some speculated was partly due to the ongoing pain of shingles.
So how could Posey bounce back so quickly? Turns out shingles (also known as herpes zoster, a name that sounds confusingly like herpes, a related but different virus) can result in a painful nerve damage known as neuralgia. Stabbing pain can persist for months...in the elderly. 25 year-old Posey appears to be following the young person's course, usually more itchy than painful and resolving much more quickly.
Which is why American's new favorite pastime may be getting a shingles vaccine. Healthier than popcorn and a hot dog, the FDA has approved this vaccine for adults age 50 and above. It safely boosts the body's immune response against the virus. For the majority of those vaccinated, shingles is entirely avoided. Some may progress to shingles, but usually with a milder, less painful version. Batter up!
