CULTURESCAPE
Flash Gordon and the Dead Hand of Historical Editing
Despite a predictable controversy over its “problematic” portrayal of Ming The Merciless, Flash Gordon remains very much alive
Flash Gordon is camp. Very camp. And then camper still. It is unbelievably, eye-wateringly ostentatious on a scale that would make Graham Norton shudder.
It features respected actors (mostly American, some British) and comes drizzled with oodles of late 70s Hollywood money, invested to create a cinematic extravaganza for audiences still hungry for sci-fi blockbusters after the success of Star Wars.
Over the past few years, however, amidst the social media over-agitated culture wars, 1980's Flash Gordon has found itself in the spotlight (or crosshairs, depending on your point of view) for being “problematic” and in need of historical editing along strict identity politics lines. In particular, it has generated a certain amount of frothy controversy, due to Max Von Syndon’s pantomimesque portrayal of Ming the Merciless in the movie.
