I must have been a teenager the first time I read Ender’s Game. It may have been the first book I read in one sitting. Once I started, I could NOT put it down. And then, of course, the ending came as an utter surprise. It was a brilliant little piece of fiction which I devoured. I knew nothing of the author and my own identities were nascent, so I had no problems in supporting his work and recommending it to others.
Skipping forward in time, I have known for quite a few years that Orson Scott Card was a gigantic and very active homophobe. He wrote The Hypocrites of Homosexuality in 1990 after Bowers v. Hardwick was decided (which upheld the criminalization of sodomy laws, even in the privacy of one’s home). In this piece, he will try to convince you that he is the victim, for speaking his mind. This tactic is becoming more and more common, where people who say mean, hateful things will defend themselves by saying, “You can’t attack me! I have a right to say this. Free speech! Free speech!”
I agree, he does have a right to say whatever he wants. But this does not make him immune from letting those who oppose him say what we have to say. Apparently he can dish it out, but he can’t take it. I will give him credit for putting deeds to his words. He has been on the board of NOM since 2009. NOM is the National Organization for Marriage, which was instrumental in getting Prop 8 passed in California and actively campaigns to create laws that restrict marriage to “one man, one woman.”
Earlier this year, press started coming out about the movie. The first thing I saw was Alyssa Rosen’s piece in ThinkProgress, An Ethical Guide to Consuming Content Created by Awful People like Orson Scott Card. I like that she offers options, from flat out boycotting the movie to giving “homophobic offset credits.” And above all else, she encourages everyone to talk about their decision.
Because I loved the story so much and so many of the actors in the upcoming movie, I liked the option to give a donation to an org working for LGBT rights. I felt torn, because people I respect were telling me they weren’t going because they didn’t want to give OSC another penny. And then, today, for some reason, a fresh round of arguments came out. Chuck Wending puts it succinctly in Tolerance for Intolerance. And then he said this:
… we’re not exactly lacking for brilliant art and powerful reading material. It’d be one thing if we had, like, ten good books or movies out there — but we have a wealth of beautiful and moving art available to us.
That, coupled with @cafenowhere’s comment to me on Twitter, “I don’t think of it as punishment. Just, I won’t give $ to that asshat. I will, & do, pay to see POC in other flicks,” pushed me further into the not seeing it category.
And then I saw that Summit, the studio making the movie, is distancing itself from OSC by not having him show up at Comic Con. The studio recognizes him as a liability. It’s only unfortunate they didn’t realize this sooner. I don’t know the details of Card’s contract with them, but he has ALREADY made money and it sounds like he may be getting a percentage of the profits (if there are any).
I am not telling you to Skip Ender’s Game, but I would be pleased if you joined me. As others have said, there are other artists and performers out there creating great works. These artists aren’t actively promoting hate and sending messages that we are awful sinners in need of saving. They celebrate diversity and acceptance. Whatever your decision, I encourage you to talk to your friends and family about it.
The evolution of your decision follows a similar path to mine. I really don’t think that this is a black and white decision, but it brings up a lot of interesting discussions. I think that what i like most about it is that the people I’ve talked to are all willing to have the conversation in a respectful and thoughtful way. As I’ve seen the commercials I’ve been more drawn to seeing it, but I think it would be huge if the boycotting was enough to make an impact on the bottom line.
I feel like they should have waited until he died, and then it would be an vague “estate” that would benefit and not the direct asshat himself.
Then again, Harrison Ford would have also been dead by then, in all likelyhood, so I guess it wouldn’t have been the same.
Like other movies I boycott in the theater, eventually I’ll probably borrow it from someone or find it used for $3 at goodwill. 🙂
Thank you. Yes, someone else said they appreciated that I showed the path to how I got there. And all of the discussions I’ve been having have been respectful and thoughtful, too.
I expect I will end up seeing it at some point, but like you, it will be a long long long time and far away from the original seller. As a matter of fact, I still haven’t seen The Hunger Games, which I decided I couldn’t stomach, because going to see it was a re-enactment of what the book was about. But since Jennifer Lawrence won the Oscar (for Silver Linings Playbook), I am more interested and might get it from the library at some point.
I also have not seen the Hunger Games for the same reason. It was a powerful book, but I couldn’t really imagine watching it. I think I would feel too much like the people watching the games and that’s just icky.
I think I am going to skip Ender’s Game as well. While I enjoyed the film, I’d rather spend my time (the money isn’t so much of an issue for me–it’s my free time that is precious) reading or seeing something else. I skip a lot of movies and don’t go to restaurants or stores for similar reasons. I do make an effort to give my brain space to non-hateful people.
Thanks, Ranger!
I think this is a good example of how beautiful things can come from shit places. On the free speech front, this argument always makes me chuckle. The right to free speech simply means the government cannot slap his ass in jail, which no one is suggesting. It is not some catch all to defend every idiot with more volume than sense. I’m not seeing Ender’s Game both out of solidarity & practicality. I would love to say I am refusing to see it out of purest of intentions, but with an infant the chances I would have seen it anyway was very very low. I loved the characters and the story, and the ending also left me speechless. It is not in my top ten, and I was never able to get into the rest of the series like I did with the Dune books and the Hyperion/ Endemyion books. But OSCAR did well with this book.
Thanks! Yep, yep and yep. Enjoy your baby :D.