Ender’s Game features all of the components of a Sci-fi thrill ride: future universes, unknown races and worlds being torn apart. The $110 million adaptation of the 1984 novel is also swarming with buzz and backlash over creator/writer Orson Scott Card’s beliefs about the LGBT community. Fans have turned against him, investors are biting there nails, and in the meantime, the Sci-fi community is on fire with debate about whether or not to watch the classic come to life.
Mormon Mythology
Card experienced a typical upbringing in the Mormon church. He graduated from BYU, went on a mission to Brazil, and discovered that writing was his passion. His work was met with varying levels of success until his hit “Ender’s Game” came out in the mid 1980’s. As an active member of the LDS church, Card has maintained his religious beliefs throughout his rise to literary fame. The author is also a member of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), a conservative group that seeks up uphold exclusively heterosexual marriage. He writes in publications like “The Mormon Times” about the sanctity of heterosexual marriage. He makes it very clear that marriage should exist between man and woman and the Government shouldn’t dictate the laws of marriage, as many religious are wont to believe.
Different Beliefs are… Different
Although Card does not personally attack, condemn or threaten anyone, he simply believes traditional marriage is “just natural.” He worries about a slippery government-controlled slope leading to an oppressed society. He is, after all, a science fiction writer. His opinions caused enough uproar to get him uninvited to July’s Comicon. The studio, Oddlot Entertainment, is also pushing to dissociate Card from the film in any way possible, according to the Huffington Post. In Entertainment Weekly, Card wonders, post-DOMA, if the LGBT community will be as tolerant of other’s beliefs as they hoped for their own. He also stresses that his Sci-fi story takes place in the future and isn’t reflective of his views, it’s totally devoid of politics. Like many, his work and religious beliefs don’t coincide.
Shunning in Droves
“Out Magazine” “Geeks OUT” and others have demanded their fans boycott the film and everything Card touches, lest they help line his wallet. John Becker, writer for “The Huffington Post” finds Card’s response to the boycott infuriating, tossing around words like “bigot” and comparing him to a racist. Becker’s rage is almost palpable as he seethes about the evils of Card’s opinions on Gay marriage and makes him out to be an evil that should be removed from society.
Love The Art, Hate the Artist?
Ender’s Game may have a controversial author, but so do many great works of art. Award winning director Roman Polanski is a known pedophiliac. Singer/ rapper Chris Brown beats women without apology, and Nike practices slave labor, yet these controversies spawn comical pictures instead of anger and many of us enjoy the work of these artists and brands without hesitation or remorse. Like other controversial products and features, “Ender’s Game” might be a flop or a blockbuster. Regardless, Card’s beliefs probably won’t change.
Guest article by: Courtney Allen
