SPECTRE and the Yellow Peril
Gassy Man
USAPosts: 2,972MI6 Agent
The other day, I was reviewing an article on the Yellow Peril with my class, and we came across other terms, including "the Yellow Spectre." I've not read of exactly where the term originated with Fleming, though, of course, the famous lawsuit between McClory and him suggests possibilities. Fleming would have been born right around the height of the Yellow Peril (where white westerners, looking to colonize the East, were terrified that Asians would conquer them and steal their women, among other things), and certainly as a young man, he would have encountered any numbers of its expressions, including in pop culture, such as Flash Gordon (Ming, the Merciless, of the planet Mongo -- clever, right?) and Fu Manchu, which helped inspire Dr. No. Any confirmation along literary lines, though, that Fleming was thinking of "the Yellow Spectre" with his own incarnation?
Comments
LALD: a malignant spectre from the centre of the earth,
DAF: Spectreville
FRWL: the spectre of a false move, and, of course, the Spektor
GF: the spectre of the big swing