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devilkais — Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu
#assassin #evilgenius #fumanchu #literature #marmoset #yellowperil #saxrohmer #doctorfumanchu #christopherlee #evil_geniusevil_mastermind #literaryclassics
Published: 2018-09-09 22:22:13 +0000 UTC; Views: 3591; Favourites: 47; Downloads: 6
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"Imagine a person, tall, lean and feline, high-shouldered, with a brow like Shakespeare and a face like Satan, a close-shaven skull, and long, magnetic eyes of the true cat-green. Invest him with all the cruel cunning of an entire Eastern race, accumulated in one giant intellect, with all the resources of science past and present, with all the resources, if you will, of a wealthy government–which, however, already has denied all knowledge of his existence. Imagine that awful being, and you have a mental picture of Dr. Fu-Manchu, the yellow peril incarnate in one man." My literary curiosity (which is not fitting for school...) compelled me to be acquainted with Rohmer's influential bad guy.
You know what ? THIS dude is the anti-Dracula ! Stoker's Drac is dreck while Rohmer's Fu is the bee's knees ! Book Drac is dumb as a box of rocks the moment he arrives in the UK, Fu has his whole plan and field figured out. Granted the heroes are not the best in either books BUT Smith and Petrie ARE passable unlike the cardboards in Stoker's novel.
And yet the good Doctor is not getting any movie reboot despite being uncontestably COOLER. Through the whole novel, Fu Manchu is Bugs Bunnying it up like mad, writing the classic villain text book. With class and gusto, baby !
( Never got why asians are called yellow for the life of me because I never saw anyone with Tweety's color in my entire life )
So my lesson for tonight ? Know the source character instead of following the knee-jerk " THAT'S RACIST" reaction. You might actually learn stuff from it or be entertained ! Hell, if anything I am disappointed the chinese get vilified through an awesome influential supervillain while my people get zip ! Unacceptable I say !
Oh and Spoilers; there is no such thing as a Fu Manchu mustache (the doc is clean shaven in the books...). It should be accurately called a dragon stache.
THIS. IS MY DESIIIIIIIIIIGN ! MWAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAA !
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Comments: 32
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Fu Manchu is an interesting character. On the one hand, statements like, "all the cruel cunning of an entire Eastern race" and "the yellow peril incarnate in one man" are clearly racist and can't simply be ignored when reviewing Fu Manchu stories. On the other hand, the character himself is portrayed as being awesome. He's brilliant and clearly the star of the show despite being the villain, in much the same way that Carmen Sandiego is. It makes me sad that Sax Rohmer peppered his stories with those sorts of statements routinely. He destroyed what was otherwise a classic character by doing so.
Y'know, Conan's creator was also a racist, and there are subtle signs of it in his writing if you read it closely. But because he didn't constantly pepper his stories with overtly racist lines, Conan is a viable character in modern times. Sax Rohmer being a man of his time was probably unavoidable, but because he clearly thought of the East and West as being in what would one day be called a Cold War, and because thinking of Asians as "yellow" was such a common thing that he probably didn't think twice about it, he ruined what could have been a classic character without even knowing it.
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Don't be sad about it. THAT is history an society from back then. THAT is the imperfection in mindsets that still mak things interesting and spicey. Bear in mind that Fu is actually waaay easier to adapt than Dracula (which originally is supposed to vilify people from Eastern europe compared to the "evolved" victorian society...). So it is not destruction , it is part of history and the show. You want to give Fu Manchu's henchmen depth ? Make it about the Opium war and the ravages of colonization. Make no side innocent and BAM ! You got your story.
As for Conan, Howard was racist yeah, but I never felt he singled out a type of people to be THE bad guys. Hell, the picts are depicted differently in both Conan and Kull PLUS the world of Hyborea is frigging savage so I don't think "what's offensive to who" in the context of the tales themselves is the primary concern? Conan himself is very nuanced and while he has his prejudices against picts and it's part of his facets that make him so compelling !
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If Manchu took over North Korea he would probably turn it from a dystopian country into a utopian country.
Like Doctor Doom and Latveria.
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I adore this character! Yes, he's considered racist, but that's why he's fascinating to me, particularly as an Asian myself. Really, with colonialism and imperialism having had ruined so many cultures, it's intriguing to find a character like this whom wanted to remove all the effects of colonialism and imperialism from China, which is added more complex that, with the name "Manchu", Manchurians aren't technically NOT considered true Chinese, as they are an minority that happened to insert political power over China through, get this, imperialism and colonialism.
Ohhhhh, the irony!
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It's one of the best cases of Irony ever. Sax Rohmer wanted the doctor to be scary and fiendish and all exotic folks being in a way or another in cahoots with him... and yet, Fu Manchu happens to be the most sympathetic, interesting, and likable character in the book. I guess even Rohmer fell in the charm of the Doc because he's become the star of the show...
You do rise an intriguing point; how would Fu react to the Manchurians ? Would he rival them or is his trolling specifically targetting the Brits and the communists ? Point is, the Devil doctor is due for a come back... a clean-shaven comeback !
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Honestly, I don't think "Manchu" is his real name; I do think "Fu" is his real name, but not "Manchu," as the term is not Chinese -- "Man Zu" or "Man Tsu," maybe? Manchurians were the largest branch of the Tungusic tribe, which is originated in Siberia and what is basically Russia, with a little Mongolia. Most Manchurians appeared in China around the Jin Dynasty (265-420 CE), so he may have SOME Chinese blood, but he's definitely not "purebred" as he so claims to be. But that's the beautiful irony of it. He choose to be a Chinese man and fight for their cause.
With BLACK PANTHER, the character of Erik Killmonger is essentially Fu Manchu. He comes from outside the culture, yet this the culture he chose to endorse and, with that, is going to make war against the colonialism and imperialism.
It's true. He's extremely likeable character, despite the horrible things he does; he's a cheestastic villain. Denis Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie are remarkably apathetic people, equally as violent, but exceedingly boring and dull in personalities.
By the way, I recommend the fan-film of FU MANCHU: WEAPON OF EVIL. I became friends with Michael McQuary who plays the titular character. He ended up giving me autograph photos of his Fu Manchu to me and I love them: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g-mUO…
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Yeah, his origin is vague. There's always an otherwordly element whenever he's described. It adds to the mystery and presence...
Movie Killmonger sure fits that bill, but comics Killmonger is from my experience more intriguing as his goals are rather unorthodox. He'd rather dominate Global Economy once he's rid of T'Challa, which is a method praised by Number 2 in Austin Powers. Just to clarify President Killmonger
Speaking of villains that in theory resemble Fu and yet are very different personas Master Khan With The Plan
It's funny because there was a literature article comparing Dr Julius No and Fu Manchu and it was right on money about the protagonists; Nayland is pretty much Elmer Fudd's duller cousin whereas James Bond is one complex specimen of an anti-hero as my favorite 007 put it www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aovD2…
Oh awesome ! Thank you very much ! It's better than whatever Bat In the Sun's been doing lately...
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Yes.
The terrifies Asian doctor. He want to destroyed the Western after he was born during the Opium War.
He want to using the biological weapon to kill everyone.
Fu Manchu.
I read LXG and confused the strange man tortured a man in the China Town.
Fu Manchu is a source of Yellow Peril and sadly, people will angrily at this character because of racist stereotypes.
Just like in Lovecraft.
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Honestly, he seems to want to kill his targets only... not his fault if most of them are british colonizers XD.
You know , people bitch about racism BUT it is SO EASY to adapt Fu Manchu as an antihero/anti-villain when you point at the horrors of the Opium war. You can elevate from pulp to a pastiche on the horrors of colonization and make even Neyland Smith a good character instead of the poor man's Elmer fudd.
LXG was just bad in general. the concept is good, but the execution was trash. It was just Alan Moore writing a dumb fanfic instead of ACTUALLY respecting the literary characters (Fuck him for wasting Flaming's Bond !)...
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Let me guess.
Oh. James Bond. Alan Moore deconstructed James Bond is a mad man.
And he deconstructed Harry Potter is a edgy kid.
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Well instead of writing Bond as a gloomy yet loyal agent, he just insults Ian Fleming and goes on how 007 is a rapist (...never read it in the books...). Yeah he made Harry the anti-christ... God knows why.
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The fact Alan Moore alterted the death of Holmes by Moriarity’s bodyguards kill him and using the cadavers as an act of cannibalism.
The world of LXG contain fairy tales, Moorcock, Howard, Lovecraft and so much references to unknown literacy in the 19th to 20th.
He wrote that every fairy tales like Ice Queen and Alice are considered kill in the past. And he wrote some part like some trolls from famous Finns were wiped out by Charlie Chaplin.
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Now you opened a box of nostalgia for me. I've only ever read the first of Rohmer's Fu Manchu books and I was very young but I loved it. Probably good thing I was young so the whole media culture didn't ruin it for me. I loved it how this guy always had a way of getting out of the room no matter the situation.
I think majority of the "It's so RACIST!!!" comes from the adptations, as well as the moustache. Have you seen the 1932 film "The Mask of Fu Manchu" starring Boris Karloff? It's cheesy pulp fun, I recommend it. Karloff is wonderfully hammy in the part.
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It's one of those characters that defined the art of trolling ! My favorite part is at the last chapter where Fu revealed himself to the 2 doofuses and was all like " Okay guys, I did NOT want to ruin that man's sanity. He's not even one of my targets. So I'll cook up the antidote . What , You wanna catch me ? OF COURSE you will...".
Honestly, I don't see why people whine about HIM being racist. Isn't a villain supposed to have negative aspects ? Hell, the heroes are actually worse in that regard and I wanted them to get punked. As I pointed out, Fu Manchu is actually waaay easier to update than Dracula. The keyword being "trolling".
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As always, nice picture. I really want to read his books.
At this point, I think you should make another 100 favorite characters list.
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I'll think about it my good fellow...
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