Is the villain in Flash Gordon suppose to be Asian?

I think these race issues in Hollywood and outside it are going very overboard nowadays.

To me, Ming is an alien resembling Chinese emperors. So what? Nothing wrong with it. Truly. Who cares?

An obscure body in the S-K system.

I definitely think there was (purposefully) an Asian connection to Ming in the original comics and older films.





It was a product of the time and that is not any excuse for racism, but it does explain some things.

The early 80's film starring Max Von Sydow as Ming was created using the older storyline as a foundation and no matter how you try to spin it (name, costumes, tone, beard, place of origin - Mongo, et...) there is going to be comparisons to the original. I do not see it as offensive myself, however I am not Asian so I have no right to speak for others and understand if they see it otherwise.

I always thought he was supposed to resemble Satan myself and found this statement:

According to Jim Harmon and Donald Glut, while Ming is modeled on Fu Manchu in the first Gordon serial, his appearance copies imagery of the devil in the second serial, Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars.


Personally however I think Sydow was amazing and do not feel he is a racist individual at all, but again I have only seen his films and many interviews and do not know him personally. I say that because I don't think he would not have taken that role if he thought it would be considered offensive to any race - other than humans of course . Ming is a bad ass and I do not care what race he is supposed to be - he has my respect.



A curious side note:

Max Von Sydow was born with the name Carl Adolf von Sydow -






Hail Ming indeed.

__________________

“The gladdest moment in human life, methinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” – Sir Richard Burton

Yeah, just looking at some of the pictures his robes use some shapes that resemble fire and a devil's tail. I think Trip to Mars was my favourite actually. Brian Blessed said on the film commentary that, had they made a sequel, it would have been on Mars.

Spock in Star Trek was also devil-inspired. They were thinking about making him red initially and he is from a very harsh, volcanic planet.

In The City on the Edge of Forever they've gone back in time and are trying to pass Spock off as human, with a hat covering the points of his ears. Kirk says to someone "My friend is obviously Chinese" .

I don't think anyone suggested Max was racist . It's whether the character's appearance and behaviour has racist undertones.

Yes it's a German name. Also his father was an ethnologist and a professor of folklore. I remember Sydow was interviewed, probably for Game of Thrones but it might have been The Tudors, about filming in
Ireland. He said one of the reasons he was pleased to be there was because his father had researched folk tales in the country.