Card's "Ender's Game" opening November 2013

I have long agreed with this! I loved those books as a kid but I am through with him. As long as he is anti-me, then I am anti-him. Reposted on Teh Facebooks.

*whines* But I wanna seeee it!!!

Stupid homophobia... Renting from NetFlix like two years from now won't give him any money, will it?

I'll probably be hitting up the piratebay to see it. Can't resist seeing it, but I don't really want to give him any money either. Kind of unfair to everyone else involved, though, especially the kids. I had no idea about Card's politics until two years ago.

Rhoda Nightingale said:

*whines* But I wanna seeee it!!!

Stupid homophobia... Renting from NetFlix like two years from now won't give him any money, will it?

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It will. A small percentage of the licensing fees paid to the studio go to him, I do believe. To truly be "pure" you'll have to wait for it to come on cable or pirate it.

Once upon a time, I would have been excited for this. But not now. I can comfortably guarantee you that I will NEVER even watch this movie.

Ever.

I wouldn't even bother to use a stolen DVD of this movie to even out the feet of my wobbly desk.

Rhoda Nightingale said:

*whines* But I wanna seeee it!!!

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I know. Why does the man behind one of my favorite all time novels have to be such an asshat? Guess I'll have to get up to my old piratey tricks. And I was retired too.

thebloodfiend said:

It will. A small percentage of the licensing fees paid to the studio go to him, I do believe. To truly be "pure" you'll have to wait for it to come on cable or pirate it.

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Aw nuts. Library? My library has DVDs...

I cant even read the new books, or watch the film. To me it feels like a childhood friend betrayed me, which makes me so sad I don't want to see it.

Or to put it another way, since I know he's a massive douche I cannot trust the soul of his writing. I can't believe in his world any longer.

Presumably he already has whatever cash he will ever get from this movie, yes? One sells movie rights and the rest is out of one's hands? So we can all see it and it won't contribute to his income at all, methinks.

I read some of his work long before I knew his politics. I didn't really like it then. Now, I can't tolerate him, his writing, or his proteges. (And some of them are amazing artists and writers, but that's that.) I'm straight, but I have many gay friends, and some of my writing is gay and bi-positive erotica. So yes, he is The Enemy.

I go out of my way to avoid the personal grumplings of actors, writers, and musicians. I want to be entertained when I read, watch, and listen to something.

I don't care about Mel Gibson's off-screen antics if his movies rock. I don't care if a writer is diametrically opposed to my own politics if I enjoy his writing (David Gerrold, I'm looking right at you). And I couldn't care less if a musician's politics are stupefyingly annoying to enjoy their music, Bono.

Ender's Game is a great book. I fear for the movie, the way I feared for Peter Jackson's LOTR trilogy. It wasn't until almost halfway through Fellowship that I finally unclenched and came to trust Jackson's sure hand at the helm. I can only hope -- mistrustingly -- that the film's cast and crew won't shit all over the vision I have of this story in my imagination.

As for what the people making the movie are going to spend the money I spend it on? I don't care. They entertained me. They earned it. It's a free country. Let them spend it as they will.

Thanks, Mac. A little distance does help.

For me, there's a huge difference between separating the artist from the work, and giving someone money that he then is going to turn around and use as a political activist in his quest to deny GLBT any rights in the U.S. I'm not going to do something that is so obviously against my own self-interest.

There's a difference between an author who holds opinions contrary to mine, and an author who is a political activist who contributes his money and reputation to a cause that has a direct impact on me. OSC falls into the latter category.

absitinvidia said:

There's a difference between an author who holds opinions contrary to mine, and an author who is a political activist who contributes his money and reputation to a cause that has a direct impact on me. OSC falls into the latter category.

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That's where I am, right there.

Don't want to give him a dime.

Great article on being a fan of problematic things. I used to love Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game... and now am glad I bought his books used when I got any of them.

There's always something from childhood that was wonderful when first read and stomach churning later on.

robertsloan2 said:

I used to love Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game... and now am glad I bought his books used when I got any of them.

There's always something from childhood that was wonderful when first read and stomach churning later on.

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The copy I read was stripped from my father's bookstore. So no money there, either.

As for stomach-churning childhood loves...I am so sorry I ever tried to reread the Chronicles of Narnia in adulthood.

Totally didn't know about him being such a douche until just now...Now I feel sad, was looking forward to this movie Have one of his books and really enjoyed that too, now I'm not even sure I can look at it. Being against LGBT mildly I can handle...but not this much against it. My bi friend got me that book too.

Yep, this is definitely one of those things that's depressing and frustrating. I would LOVE to see Ender's Game made into a film, and love encouraging Hollywood whenever they make a decent attempt at a sci fi or fantasy film, but I absolutely cannot justify giving money to OSC knowing there's a chance that even a small percentage of it will pass from his hands into some hateful organisation.

MacAllister said:

How to be a fan of problematic things.

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Wow, I could have really used this guide back when I first started talking about my favorite shows and books on social justice forums.

Anyway, I really loved Ender's Game but after I bought it, I became aware of OSC's homophobia - which, as others have said, I could tolerate if it were just one of his many opinions but the fact that he's an outspoken activist for anti-gay causes makes a world of difference. Even before I realized I was bisexual, I decided that in the future, his involvement with anti-gay causes was enough that I would only enjoy his books second-hand, preferably from the library or from friends if I could.

So I'll probably end up watching this online somehow. One of those areas in which I really feel no guilt with illegal downloading; I don't want a penny of my money going toward this man so he can spend it on undermining my political rights.

I agree with absitinvidia - I prefer to separate the artist from the work, but I can't really do that with OSC the way I can with, say, Wagnerian opera or Roman Polanski films, because a penny toward OSC is likely a penny toward NOM and any other anti-gay organizations he supports. That's not so much the case with long-dead creators, or living ones where their problematic aspects are not as tied up with how they use their proceeds.

I don't know, my opinion is that if you're going to protest something by not purchasing it, then you should either get it second hand or don't watch it at all. That's more of a statement because even though you want to see the movie/play the video game/whichever it is, you're denying yourself that enjoyment because you care about your cause more. (Also, going to Pirate Bay makes it really easy for the creators to say, "Look, Pirate Bay is costing us sales!" as opposed to, "There's not much demand for this movie. Wonder what we did wrong.")

I fully admit, I haven't protested a movie before, though I have refused to purchase books on certain principals.

I remember the only time I read Ender's Game: thinking of, frankly, what all the fuss was about, since the writing was technically sound but I wanted to toss every character out an airlock. (Except the sister, who was simply clueless all over the place.) This was over ten years ago, though, so I wouldn't be surprised if I liked the writing even less now.

And that was before I found out that he was a spittle-spraying bigot, too. I definitely don't want to throw money at him now, no matter how dilute a quantity.

MacAllister said:

How to be a fan of problematic things.

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I am still trying to figure out how I feel about that. Some things I've found I can't enjoy anymore when I see other people ripping into them -- people who have been hurt and see battle lines and attacks that I miss (at least, until they point them out). And I've ripped into a couple authors myself when their works have hurt me.

I suppose the real question is "Can I be a fan of something when it hurts someone else? And if so, where does the line get drawn?" An answer, I am sure, that differs from person to person...and I am trying to figure out where my line falls.

At least I don't have to worry about that with Card. Just plain not a fan.