Editing Fu Manchu (section)

== Accusations of racism ==
[[File:Coalition of Asians to Nix Charlie Chan members picketing The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu.jpg|thumb|The Coalition of Asians to Nix Charlie Chan members picketing the film ''[[The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu]]'' (1980) at the [[Hollywood Pacific Theatre]]]]
The stories of Dr Fu Manchu, both in print and on screen, have sparked accusations of [[racism]] and [[orientalism]], from his fiendish design to his nonsensical [[Chinese name]].<ref name="Kinkley 832–833">{{Cite journal|last=Kinkley|first=Jeffrey C.|date=2016-12-01|title=Book review: ''The Yellow Peril: Dr. Fu Manchu and the Rise of Chinaphobia''. By Christopher Frayling. (New York, NY: Thames & Hudson, 2014. Pp. 360. $35.00.)|journal=[[The Historian (journal)|The Historian]]|volume=78|issue=4|pages=832–833|doi=10.1111/hisn.12410|s2cid=152029698}}</ref> After the release of [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]]'s film adaptation of ''[[The Mask of Fu Manchu]]'' (1932), which featured the Chinese villain telling his followers that they must "kill the [[White people|white man]] and take his women", the [[Embassy of China in Washington, D.C.|Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC]], issued a formal complaint against the film.<ref>[[Christopher Frayling]], quoted in "Fu Manchu", in [[Kim Newman|Newman, Kim]] (ed.), ''The BFI Companion to Horror''. London: Cassell (1996), pp. 131–132. {{ISBN|0-304-33216-X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shih |first=David |date=April 2009 |title=The Color of Fu-Manchu: Orientalist Method in the Novels of Sax Rohmer |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-5931.2009.00681.x |journal=The Journal of Popular Culture |language=en |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=304–317 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-5931.2009.00681.x |issn=0022-3840}}</ref>

Following the release of [[Republic Pictures]]' serial adaptation of ''[[Drums of Fu Manchu]]'' (1940) the [[United States Department of State|U.S. State Department]] requested that the studio make no further films about the character, as [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|China]] was [[Allies of World War II|an ally]] against [[Empire of Japan|Japan]] during the Second World War.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-04-11 |title=Daredevils of the Red Circle and Other Cliffhangers: Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu and Republic's Drums of Fu Manchu (1940) |url=https://filmint.nu/daredevils-cliffhangers-republics/ |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=FilmInt.nu |language=en-US}}</ref> Likewise, Rohmer's publisher, [[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]], refused to publish additions to the best-selling series for the duration of the Second World War once the United States [[United States declaration of war on Japan|entered the conflict]].{{citation needed|date=June 2023}} [[BBC Radio]] and [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] investors subsequently rejected Rohmer's proposals for an original Fu Manchu [[Radio drama|radio serial]] and [[Theatrical production|stage show]] during the 1940s.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

The re-release of ''The Mask of Fu Manchu'' in 1972 was met with protests from the [[Japanese American Citizens League]], which stated that "the movie was offensive and demeaning to [[Asian Americans]]".<ref>{{cite book|last=Mank |first=Gregory William |title=Hollywood Cauldron: 13 Horror Films from the Genres's Golden Age |publisher=McFarland |year=2001 |pages=53–89 |isbn=0-7864-1112-0}}</ref> [[CBS]] Television decided to cancel a showing of ''[[The Vengeance of Fu Manchu]]''. [[Los Angeles]] TV station [[KTLA]] shared similar sentiments, but ultimately decided to run ''[[The Brides of Fu Manchu]]'' with the disclaimer: "This feature is presented as fictional entertainment and is not intended to reflect adversely on any race, creed or national origin."<ref>{{cite book|last=Richards|first=Jeffrey |author-link=Jeffrey Richards |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lmKJDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA47 |chapter=The Devil Doctors: Cinematic Fu Manchu |title=China and the Chinese in Popular Film: From Fu Manchu to Charlie Chan |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2016 |page=44 |isbn=978-1-78453-720-3}}</ref>

Rohmer responded to charges that his work demonized Asians in ''Master of Villainy'', a biography co-written by his widow:
{{blockquote|Of course, not the whole Chinese population of [[Limehouse]] was criminal. But it contained a large number of persons who had left their own country for the most urgent of reasons. These people knew no way of making a living other than the criminal activities that had made China too hot for them. They brought their crimes with them.}}
It was Rohmer's contention that he based Dr Fu Manchu and other "[[Yellow Peril]]" mysteries on real Chinese criminals he met as a newspaper reporter covering Limehouse.

In May 2013, [[General Motors]] cancelled an advertisement after complaints that a phrase it contained, "the land of Fu Manchu", which was intended to refer to China, was offensive.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1227375/exclusive-general-motors-pulls-racist-chevrolet-ad-over-ching-ching-chop |title=GM pulls 'racist' Chevrolet 'ching-ching, chop suey' ad |work=South China Morning Post |first=Ian |last=Young |date=1 May 2013 |access-date=30 June 2019}}</ref>

Characterizing Dr Fu Manchu as an overtly racist creation has been criticized in the book ''Lord of Strange Deaths: The Fiendish World of Sax Rohmer''.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Barker |editor-first1=Phil |editor-last2=Clayton |editor-first2=Antony |year=2015 |title= Lord of Strange Deaths: The Fiendish World of Sax Rohmer |location=London |publisher=Strange Attractor Press |isbn=978-1-907222-25-2}}{{page needed|date=September 2020}}</ref> In a review of the book in ''[[The Independent]]'', Dr Fu Manchu is contextualised: "These magnificently absurd books, glowing with a crazed exoticism, are really far less polar, less black and white, less white and yellow, than they first seem."<ref name="Barker">{{cite news |last=Barker |first=Phil |date=20 October 2015 |title=Fu Manchu and China: Was the 'yellow peril incarnate' really appallingly racist? |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/fu-manchu-and-china-was-the-yellow-peril-incarnate-really-appallingly-racist-a6701766.html |newspaper=The Independent |access-date=27 October 2015 }}</ref>