Stereotypes of East Asians in the United States forms of racial discrimination or social issues in American society at large, and that their community is thriving, having "gained" socioeconomic success through their own merit. Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan are two important and well-known fictional East Asian characters in America's cultural history. Created by Sax Rohmer and Earl Derr Biggers in the early part of the 20th century, Fu Manchu is the embodiment of America's imagination of a threatening mysterious East Asian people while Charlie Chan is an apologetic submissive Chinese-Hawaiian detective who represents America's archetypal "good" East Asian. Both characters found widespread popularity in numerous novels and
Charlie Chan DVD in 2006; as of mid-2008, Fox has released all of the extant Warner Oland titles and has begun issuing the Sidney Toler series. The first six Monogram productions, all starring Sidney Toler, were released by MGM in 2004. Some modern critics, particularly East Asian-Americans, dismiss the Charlie Chan character as "bovine" and "asexual", allowing "white America … [to be] securely indifferent about us as men." Charlie Chan's good qualities are the product of what Frank Chin and Jeffery Chan call "racist love", arguing that Chan is a model minority and "kissass". Fletcher Chan, however, argues that the Chan of