Florida Author Satirizes 'Evil Albino' Stereotype in her New Science-Fiction Series
Orlando, FL, July 31, 2014 (Newswire.com) - Multi-genre author Wendy Tardieu has written romance and literary fiction. Her most recent release, however, is a post-apocalyptic adventure that features a familiar villain. For a century or more, many authors have exploited what is known as the 'evil albino' – an archetypal villain with Albinistic qualities. From H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man to modern day classics like The Da Vinci Code, albinos have been depicted as tortured madmen, but Tardieu claims to take a somewhat different approach. "Ghosts of Winter: The Nameless Threat" is the first in her new series about a post-nuclear-war America in which albinos have been engineered as a nuclear survival race based on the adverse effects of an attempted cure for their disorder. Tardieu hopes readers will sense that she's "poking fun at our propensity as storytellers to exploit what might be one of the most misunderstood genetic conditions."
Albinos are born with only some or no pigment (color) in their eyes, skin and hair, and the trait can be found in all races and both genders. Because of their unusual and striking appearance, literature and movies have portrayed people with Albinism as either comical misfits or murderous criminals. The physical features of Albinism are used by authors to easily distinguish the villain and also as potent imagery. Tardieu hopes to caricature these devices by exaggerating them. "There are albino characters in the novel," she says, "but irrational fear and ignorance of the condition is what ultimately leads to the story’s main conflict."
Too often, Albinism is seen as a mystical or magical trait, revered in many cultures and demonized in others. Tardieu exposes its factual attributes in her new series while also answering to widespread misrepresentation of Albinism in the media. “I want to reveal just how absurd appearance-based prejudices can be," she says, "which is especially interesting in a setting where the world as we know it has a completely different set of rules." While Tardieu admits to adding to a long list of ‘evil albino’ characters, she hopes her interpretation brings awareness and respect instead of fear and ridicule.
