Will Smith has been applauded by a British organization, for refusing to use albinos in his new movie I Am Legend. Officials at the National Organization Of Albinism And Hypopigmentation (NOAH) feared film makers would follow the same direction as 1971 film The Omega Man - adapted from the same Robert Matheson novel - and make Smith the last man on earth facing an army of albino villains.

They blame the movie for starting a trend of making albinos movie villains, citing The Matrix and The Da Vinci Code as examples.

So the organization's bosses were delighted to discover Smith tackles zombies instead.

A NOAH statement reads. "Will Smith appears relieved to be dealing with a vampire, not an evil character with albinism. The latest film version of the I Am Legend tale stars Will Smith as final living human. Notably absent are evil characters with albinism. When this material was last made into a movie in 1971 as The Omega Man, Charlton Heston single-handedly took on a cult of virally altered humans. A bio-terror attack transformed Los Angeles denizens into monk-robed, sunglass-wearing villains with white skin, light eyes and alabaster afros. The Omega Man jump-started a trend which persisted unchecked for over 30 years - the movie stereotype of an evil albino.

"We are delighted to report that no mainstream Hollywood releases in 2007 have featured evil albino characters. We can only hope this trend away from red-eyed killers with albinism will continue."

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)