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 Of the American Film Institute's top 10 American film villains, most
had skin conditions like scars, excessive hair loss, abnormal skin
color and deep wrinkles, researchers found.
"It appears that skin conditions are used in films to drive home
this dichotomy between good and evil and may facilitate a tendency
toward discrimination targeted at those with skin disease," said
lead author Dr. Julie Amthor Croley, of the University of Texas
Medical Branch in Galveston.
Using skin conditions like scars and wrinkles for movie villains
dates back to the early days of filmmaking, Croley and her
colleagues write in JAMA Dermatology.
In the era of silent films, "filmmakers relied on visual cues in the
absence of spoken words," she told Reuters Health. "This good guy
and bad guy bias was born."
For the new study, the researchers compared skin features of the
American Film Institute's top 10 film villains and heroes.
Dr. Hannibal Lecter from 1991's The Silence of the Lambs had
significant hair loss, for example. And under his iconic helmet,
Darth Vader in 1980's The Empire Strikes Back had scars, deep
wrinkles and dark circles around his eyes. The evil queen from
1938's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs also had several skin issues,
including an enlarged red nose and wrinkles.
Meanwhile, only two of the top 10 film heroes had noticeable skin
issues. Rocky Balboa from 1976's Rocky had cuts and bruises from his
battles. Similarly, Will Kane from 1952's High Noon had some cuts on
his face.
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Croley said scars on movie heroes tended to be the actors' own while
those on villains were "prominent, multiple, unique and applied by
makeup."
She said that while using flawed skin to indicate movie villains is
likely ingrained from the silent movies, modern filmmakers may
instinctively use those characteristics in their movies.
This bias has persisted to present day "and may foster a tendency
toward prejudice in our society directed at those with skin
disease," Croley's team wrote in their report.
"What we hope to achieve from this study is an increased awareness
among the general public, filmmakers and others," said Croley.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2nYUZti JAMA Dermatology, online April 5, 2017
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