Films involving General Conditions

General: Major Films

Title	Powder (1995)
Alternative/Original Title
Disability	General Albinism
Country	USA
Length	111
Genre	Fantasy
Rating	1
Director	Victor Salva
Cast	Mary Steenburgen Sean Patrick Flanery Lance Henriksen Jeff Goldblum Brandon Smith Bradford Tatum Susan Tyrrell
Notes	Is this film about albinism? The eponymous character is certainly not played by an actor with albinism. His face simply looks powdered. In fact the film is as phoney as that face. Yet he appears to suffer the prejudice which may be associated with albinism. He is first discovered in his grandfather's home. The grandfather has just died and he is hiding in the cellar. Steenburgen is a school counsellor who shows concern for him. But when he is put into school he faces rejection. Challenged by the school bully in the dining room his reaction is to reveal magnetic powers causing all the cutlery to fly towards him and form a pyramid. Such mysteries have already been hinted at by the presence of multiple lightening conductors on the roof of the grandfather's house. He has other mythical powers but for me the film had by then totally lost it. Different characters refer to Powder as "retarded" or a "mental defective" though he has read a lot and is simply unworldly because of his isolation. In fact an I.Q. test on him results in a high score. But the prejudice continues when he finds a girlfriend. Sadly, I have to say the performance by Sean Patrick Flanery is abysmal. I could find no sympathy for or empathy with his character, and for this one must also blame the director. http://www.mindspring.com/~lunaeterna/artpop/film.htm A list and description of films which include albinism

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