Flash Gordon vs. the Dragon Lady
Sep. 11th, 2007 08:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeriendhalThis isn't directly about the the new show, which I haven't seen, but it's inspired by the commentary about Ming, for whom the major complaint appears to be "He's bland." From MING the MERCILESS he's been changed to just plain Ming, and from a rather painful Yellow Peril stereotype he's changed into... well, basically Flash with dark hair.
This, to put it mildly, is a problem. Flash is a bland enough character in his own right, defined by not much more than his blond hair, muscles, and a chaste romance with Dale Arden. To have an equally bland villian in a series based off one of the first illustrated Space Operas is just not acceptable. OTOH, Ming as portrayed in the original source material isn't kosher by today's standards, which to the Sci-Fi Channel's credit they point out in his description on their show's web site.
Various solutions have been put forth to try and fix this. In the old movie serials he was portrayed by Charles Middleton not so much as an Asian stereotype as a proto-Bond Villain with a fetish for caftans. The 50's tv series didn't show him at all, and his incarnations in the various Filmation animated shows turned him into an alien with green skin and pointy ears (though still decidedly Asian). Hell, in that awful French-Canadian produced cartoon he was a bloody lizard. Only the 1980 movie went the Yellow Peril route, and that film was so over the top that you barely noticed it.
So, say we got the opportunity to re-tool the latest FG tv series before another episode was inflicted on us. How to bring Ming into the 21st century, but come close to how he was originally shown in the comics, without terminally insulting every person of Asian ancestory on this continent and elsewhere?
Well, you can't. Not really. But one of the less painful solutions might be to point out he's a bloody stereotype! Make it something that the characters are aware of, and in fact more than a little apalled by.
In my version of Flash Gordon: Savior of the Universe (complete with Queen's classic opening theme), Dale Arden would be an American of Chinese extraction. Still a reporter, or perhaps an up and coming research scientist in the employ of Doctor Zarkov. Generally positive, but mildly touchy about the old "Asian are hard working go-getters" stereotype that's been following her all through school. Touchier still about the subtle racism that's still prevalent in American society. It doesn't help when she's tossed into Zarkov's experimental rocketship with Flash, who is cheerily clueless about his privileged place in the world, being a white, upper middle class jock. Sparks fly, and they all end up crashing on distant Mongo when Zarkov's hyperdrive goes out of control.
And then she runs into Ming... Who is every damned Western stereotype about Them Yellow Foreigners Who Want Our Women rolled into one slant-eyed, long nailed, caftan wearing package. It drives her crazy. It makes Flash embarrassed when he finally gets hit by a clue-by-four and realizes what's upsetting her. It drives her more crazy when she's captured by Ming and threatened by Marriage Under Pain of Death, and realizes that the only one who can save her is Flash.
Dale: "Oh, great, of course the only one who can save me and the world is the blond haired, blue-eyed Aryan guy!"
Flash: "Actually I'm Italian."
Dale: "Huh?"
Flash: "My great-grandad was named Giordano. It got changed when he went through Ellis Island. The blond hair is from my mom's side of the family."
Dale: "Oh, where's she from?"
Flash: "Er, Minnesota."
Dale: "Thought so."
So, it wouldn't be perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but at least it would be better than looking at this guy.
Having successfully stepped on the land mine, let's see if our intrepid blogger can get off without doing himself permanent injury.
This, to put it mildly, is a problem. Flash is a bland enough character in his own right, defined by not much more than his blond hair, muscles, and a chaste romance with Dale Arden. To have an equally bland villian in a series based off one of the first illustrated Space Operas is just not acceptable. OTOH, Ming as portrayed in the original source material isn't kosher by today's standards, which to the Sci-Fi Channel's credit they point out in his description on their show's web site.
Various solutions have been put forth to try and fix this. In the old movie serials he was portrayed by Charles Middleton not so much as an Asian stereotype as a proto-Bond Villain with a fetish for caftans. The 50's tv series didn't show him at all, and his incarnations in the various Filmation animated shows turned him into an alien with green skin and pointy ears (though still decidedly Asian). Hell, in that awful French-Canadian produced cartoon he was a bloody lizard. Only the 1980 movie went the Yellow Peril route, and that film was so over the top that you barely noticed it.
So, say we got the opportunity to re-tool the latest FG tv series before another episode was inflicted on us. How to bring Ming into the 21st century, but come close to how he was originally shown in the comics, without terminally insulting every person of Asian ancestory on this continent and elsewhere?
Well, you can't. Not really. But one of the less painful solutions might be to point out he's a bloody stereotype! Make it something that the characters are aware of, and in fact more than a little apalled by.
In my version of Flash Gordon: Savior of the Universe (complete with Queen's classic opening theme), Dale Arden would be an American of Chinese extraction. Still a reporter, or perhaps an up and coming research scientist in the employ of Doctor Zarkov. Generally positive, but mildly touchy about the old "Asian are hard working go-getters" stereotype that's been following her all through school. Touchier still about the subtle racism that's still prevalent in American society. It doesn't help when she's tossed into Zarkov's experimental rocketship with Flash, who is cheerily clueless about his privileged place in the world, being a white, upper middle class jock. Sparks fly, and they all end up crashing on distant Mongo when Zarkov's hyperdrive goes out of control.
And then she runs into Ming... Who is every damned Western stereotype about Them Yellow Foreigners Who Want Our Women rolled into one slant-eyed, long nailed, caftan wearing package. It drives her crazy. It makes Flash embarrassed when he finally gets hit by a clue-by-four and realizes what's upsetting her. It drives her more crazy when she's captured by Ming and threatened by Marriage Under Pain of Death, and realizes that the only one who can save her is Flash.
Dale: "Oh, great, of course the only one who can save me and the world is the blond haired, blue-eyed Aryan guy!"
Flash: "Actually I'm Italian."
Dale: "Huh?"
Flash: "My great-grandad was named Giordano. It got changed when he went through Ellis Island. The blond hair is from my mom's side of the family."
Dale: "Oh, where's she from?"
Flash: "Er, Minnesota."
Dale: "Thought so."
So, it wouldn't be perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but at least it would be better than looking at this guy.
Having successfully stepped on the land mine, let's see if our intrepid blogger can get off without doing himself permanent injury.
