This weekend brings the theatrical release of the big-budget sci-fi drama ‘Ender’s Game’, starring Harrison Ford and Ben Kingsley, and based on a beloved award-winning novel. In many respects, this seems like a sure bet to dominate the box office. Unfortunately, the film arrives steeped in controversy – not over anything in the movie itself, but because original author Orson Scott Card is… well, he’s not a very nice person, and a lot of people really don’t want to support him by paying to see his movie. Are you able to separate the art from the artist and give the movie a shot, or are you among those planning to boycott the film? Vote in our poll.
The novel ‘Ender’s Game’ was first published in 1985 (a prototype short story version of the tale previously appeared in a 1977 magazine) to much success and acclaim. The book was a bestseller and won two of the most prestigious prizes in science fiction writing, both the Nebula and Hugo Awards. The author also extended the story to a popular series of sequel and spin-off novels.
Here’s the problem: Orson Scott Card is a bigot. He’s a flat-out homophobe who has frequently decried the “homosexual activist agenda”, has publicly supported efforts to make homosexuality illegal, and has even advocated overthrowing the U.S. government in order to prevent the legalization of same-sex marriage. He’s a nutjob, and an unpleasant individual.
Fortunately, none of the author’s views on this subject are present in ‘Ender’s Game’. The book has nothing to do with the topic of homosexuality. It’s actually quite a good story that could potentially make a good movie adaptation with a little prudent trimming. (The book has a very implausible subplot about a young child who schemes to take over all the governments of the world, and a pointless epilogue that was tacked on to set up the sequel. Both of these would be best excised from the movie’s screenplay.)
In anticipation of the film’s release, Card (who acts as a producer on it) has attempted to backtrack a little from some of his most extreme outspoken views, but not enough to be convincing for anyone. (He says that the issue is “moot” since the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, but he didn’t exactly say that he’s had a change of heart about anything.) The studio Summit Entertainment, director Gavin Hood and star Harrison Ford have all bent over backwards to publicly separate their movie from this controversy. Nevertheless, the prospect that box office success for the film could put millions of dollars in Card’s pocket, which he may well use to fund organizations that promote his intolerant agenda, such as the so-called National Organization for Marriage (on which he served as a board member until just recently), has been met with great distaste from many potential viewers, who have called for boycotts.
Of course, this all brings to mind similar controversies involving other disgraced artists such as Mel Gibson (anti-Semite), Roman Polanski (rapist) and comics author Frank miller (misogynistic loon). Like many in their potential audiences, I have mixed feelings about all of these.
Personally, I don’t plan to see the ‘Ender’s Game’ movie. Some of that has to do with Orson Scott Card, but a lot more is simply due to my indifference toward the project. I don’t see too many movies in the theater these days, and I have no desire to waste my time or money on a film made by the director of the godawful ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine‘. I wasn’t likely to buy a ticket to this under any circumstance.
Can you separate your feelings about the artist from his work?
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Daniel Joseph Sardella
I enjoyed the book when I read it in my teens and had no idea about Card’s agenda then. The movie doesn’t strike as one that will be any different than any other “space drama”.
Shannon Nutt
Ender’s Game is my all-time favorite sci-fi novel. For whatever Card is in his personal life (he’s a devout Morman opposed to gay marraige – doesn’t make him much different than 90 percent of the devout Christians I know…he just has a more public forum), he’s one hell of a good writer and his personal beliefs don’t intrude on his writing (heck, the whole Ender’s series is actually ABOUT acceptance of things that are different – go figure).
Anyway, early word is that Ford turns in another great performance in this, so I’m pretty excited about the movie.
Timcharger
“doesn’t make him much different than 90 percent of the 1) devout Christians 2) I know”
I added the “1)” & “2)”.
Yes, Shannon with those 2 qualifiers, you are probably correct. But that is NOT correct in the broader landscape.
The majority of both “devout” & less-zealous Christians in the United States have no problem with gay marriage anymore. The polls are in on this issue.
So yes, Orson Scott Card is very different from the majority of Christians on this issue.
Marc
I am not religious, and fully support anyone in whoever they choose to love or screw. With that said, the bible is very clear about homosexuality, and there really is little room for interpretation. If you are a Christian who sees the word of the bible as law, you can’t support gay marriage or gays in general. I fail to see how this guy is any different. He’s a tool, but he is also a fantastic writer. I can’t wait for the film.
John Peacock
And shellfish. Don’t forget shellfish.
Trond Michelsen
I believe this fella called Jesus also pointed out that everbody should leave the judging to God, and chillax about how everybody else is living their life.
I realize christianity has nothing to do with Jesus these days, so whatever he meant is probably not very relevant anymore.
William Henley
The majority of both “devout” & less-zealous Christians in the United States have no problem with gay marriage anymore. The polls are in on this issue.
What polls are you reading? There are some churches and denominations moving toward that. The polls I am reading show that it is almost split down the middle, with some saying that the majority (ie 51-52%) support it, with others saying they don’t.
http://jezebel.com/5835789/poll-shows-many-religious-groups-support-gay-marriage
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/05/16/fox-news-poll-majority-oppose-gay-marriage-dont-want-constitutional-amendment/
Two polls saying the exact opposite, but their numbers both show that it is pretty evenly split.
To say that the majority support or don’t support is splitting hairs.
I don’t want to get into a debate one way or the other (I haven’t even mentioned which way I lean), I am just saying don’t use the word “majority” without backing it up.
Also realize that polls can be biased – your polls can vary greatly depending on your sample group and area. A group of Catholics polled in San Francisco may see things very differently than a group of Catholics in Atlanta.
Problem is, Josh’s original wording in the post can be called troll-bait, and I can see this thread growing to hundreds of posts by the end of the day with people on both sides screaming, and this turning into a religion bashing or gay bashing thread.
Josh – feel free to post your opinion, but I advise editing the wording in the third paragraph just a bit. And be prepared for this thread to skyrocket offtopic.
Timcharger
Hey Will,
You call it splitting hairs, but that’s how majorities and democracies work.
And Will, the direction of the polls are VERY clear. There is no splitting hairs about this. The young don’t have a problem with gay marriage. And the old who do, they are dying.
Timcharger
Hey Will, after advising Josh to change his 3rd paragraph, you still need Josh to post his opinion?
William Henley
I meant that he should watch the wording he uses, not change his opinion. His wording teethers on the line that many could interperate that he is bashing anyone who doesn’t agree with him. Hence, its flame bait.
He can post whatever he wants, I am just saying that if he is going to post something like this, it is going to invite a flame war, and I don’t think that was his intent. It is also off-topic for the theme of this site.
Saying that you don’t agree with someone because of their views and you won’t support them is one thing. Bashing someone because of their views is discrimination (no matter which side of the aisle you are on) and will invite a flame war.
All I am saying is that with the way the original post is worded, it is going to invoke a flame war. This is a pretty hot topic.
Feel free to post your opinions, just watch your wording. That is all I am saying.
Josh Zyber
Author90% of the devout Christians you know want to criminilize homosexuality and overthrow the government? I doubt that. Card is an extremist by any standard.
Shannon Nutt
Of course not, but 90 percent (or more) of the ones I know DO believe that God is against homosexuality, and they think the churches that say it’s okay are not really Christian.
Shannon Nutt
I should point out that that’s not MY view. But it is my experience in dealing with devoutly religious people.
William Henley
A person’s personnal or political views really have no bearing on me when it comes to entertainment. I love reading L Ron Hubbard’s books. Tom Cruise and Mel Gibson are some of my favorite actors. Love watching Sister Wives and Big Love. I still love Jim Carry movies. I like Stephanie Meyers’ books (I hate the movies made off of them). I love Chick-Fil-A and buy my friend’s kids clothes and giftcards at Abercrombie. I don’t drink Starbucks anymore, but that isn’t because of the CEO, it is because I found better coffee for half the price about 4-5 years ago.
I am going to Ender’s Game this weekend. Been looking forward to it for months!
Trond Michelsen
If I were to boycott movies or TV-series made by, or starring, people with views I vehemently oppose (even limiting it to scientologsts and other religous wackoes like Jehova’s witnesses), I would probably not be able to watch anything.
I’m not a big fan of cherry picking what to boycott either. If you want to boycott something. Fine. But make sure you know WHY you’re boycotting it, and boycott absolutely every company/person/etc that’s doing the same thing
Freakyguy666
Another interesting possibility is that once the religious right catch wind of this they may make it a point to go see this movie over its competition. Never underestimate the power of the Right Side (see Passion of the Christ)!
Me, personally? Not very interested. I’ll wait for the redbox rental.
Bill
Not boycotting it but I won’t go to see it. No interest. If a film did interest me and the subject matter had nothing to do with the controversy surrounding the writer/author, I would go to see the movie.
tomandshell
If I boycotted every production that had at least one member of the cast or crew who was “not a very nice person,” I would never see another movie or television show or buy another Blu-ray. As with Polanski, Gibson, Allen and Cruise, I will put the personal beliefs/actions aside and fairly judge the work on its own merits.
Mattedscreen
Kirk Cameron isn’t is it, is he?
Bob
His political views will have no effect on my seeing the show, assuming it’s of interest to me. From the trailers, it has a look of appealing to a slightly younger set, and also has the appearance of a take-off of the movie “The Last Starfighter” though a much better worked and effect laden version. Will see what the initial critics say, then decide. Will definitely check it out on BD if I don’t go to the theater.
Marc
I’m a fan of the book and finally got my daughter to give it a read this past summer, so we will catch it in the theater. Not a fan of the author’s homophobia. I will be interested to see how much of the book does make it into the movie; early reviews seem to indicate that quite a bit of Ender’s back story and motivations did make it.
Regarding the subplot with his brother, you have to remember that in the book, Ender and his older brother and senior are all geniuses; Ender is 6 when he goes to battle school and his siblings are not much older. No way would an audience buy this story with such young kids but the aforementioned subplot basically foresaw the Internet and public discussion forums.
Mike McGovern
Card lives in the same city I do and regularly contributed articles to the local right wing newspaper. Besides being a homophobe, he’s pretty egotistical and goes out of his way to be self congratulatory. I won’t support the guy on the grounds he’s an asshole. Being a homophobic zealot just makes it worse.
Les
Likewise, as some have noted above, if I didn’t go to movies that had actors I don’t agree with politically or morally, I would probably never go to another movie. I like Sean Penn, as an actor, but disagree on many of his political views. He is, I think, a liberal radical but I still would go to his movies. At Close Range and State of Grace are two of my favorite movies from years ago. The Interpreter, more recently.
So, okay, maybe this author is a radical, maybe he more extreme than most, but quite frankly most states, at this time, will not pass same sex marriage either. I guess the majority of people in those states can be labeled bigots/homophobes, too?? The guy has a right to his views whether the liberal left or anybody disagrees with them or not. It is something called Free Speech.
Regardless, I will be going to the movie only because it is science fiction and it looks like it might be a very good movie. Wasn’t even aware of all of this controversy and talk of boycotting until I saw this.
Josh Zyber
AuthorThis is a free country, and Card can think anything he wants and say anything he wants. Likewise, we are free to say that we disagree with him and choose not to support him, if we want.
I don’t have a problem with anyone going to see this movie. Personally, I voted that I’m not boycotting it but also don’t have any interest in seeing it. While I liked the book, I’m dubious of the movie adaptation. For one thing, the Ender character was much younger in the book. By making him a teenager, the movie seems to miss a lot of the point of the story, which is that the children are being indoctrinated and exploited by the government and military before they hit an age where they’re capable of making decisions for themselves. That’s a major theme of the novel that appears to be lost here.
Also, as I said, director of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Yeech.
William Henley
I haven’t read the book yet – I got it loaded in my eReader, but when I found out they were making a movie of it, I decided to hold off on reading it until after I saw the movie.
All I have seen is the trailers – is Ender actually a teenager in the movie, or a child played by a teenager? In either case, it is possible that the age was raised because of difficulty finding actors of the right age who could pull off the role.
As for the director, my issues with Wolverine was the story. Did the director have any influence on the screenplay of either movie?
You know, I said all I have seen is the trailers, but that is not exactly true. I was shown about 3 minutes of the movie around the begining of the year in an audience survey, with incomplete special effects, and asked to give feedback on characters, editing choices, and a few other things. I was actually shown the same clip about three or four times with different edits and storyboards stills for some CG scenes to be rendered later. I talked with my friend who was in a seperate room, and it was obvious that we were shown different scenes from the movie.
I was excited with what I saw, then when I was told the name of the movie, I realized I had the book on my to-read list.
Josh Zyber
AuthorThe book covers events in the character’s life from about 6 years old to 12. There’s no way that Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld or Abigail Breslin are passing as 6 year olds – not even 12, honestly.
The ages of the characters have been raised out of practical necessity. The book includes a lot of violence performed both to and by children, which would be very difficult to sell convincingly with child actors, get past a ratings board, or appeal to audiences.
I perfectly understand WHY the movie changed the characters’ ages. However, doing so really misses a lot of the point of the story.
Barry Vaughan
Josh, did you know that the director of X-Men Origins: Wolverine is an academy award winner? His first movie Tsotsi won best foreign language film in 2005, and rightfully so. As for Wolverine, There were a lot of rumors of the studio intervening and the director wanting to make a smarter movie, but not being allowed to. So point is this guy is talented and not necessarily to blame for Wolverine’s shortcomings. And you and everyone else in this forum should watch Tsotsi.
But about your question, I don’t see a great deal of a point to boycotting this movie by not seeing it. Card is never going to be aware if I don’t watch this movie let alone what my reason is. Nor will the money I didn’t spend be noticeable to him. For all I know he could have been paid a licensing fee up front and wouldn’t get anything further from ticket sales. If he really is as crazy as you say, I’m not going to have any effect even if he did know of my protest. So if it happens to be a good movie I don’t see why I should deny myself the pleasure of watching it over a protest that doesn’t accomplish anything.
Arturo Lugo Gonzalez
South Park said it before:
“Say what you want about Mel Gibson, but the son of a bitch knows story structure!”
If the movie turns out great, I’ll definitely go see it at the theaters. If it’s awesome, I may be buying the blu-ray.
It’s the same old story, great minds are often involved in controversy. When they’re alive it’s kind of a big deal, but when they’re dead, all that matters and remain is their body of work.
So might as well enjoy it on its prime, now that we’re able to do so.
Les
Mel Gibson directed a movie called Apocalypto in 2006. The entire movie, as I recall, is sub-titled. As a rule, I probably don’t like sub-titled movies as I would rather watch the movie instead of having to be constantly reading. Apocalypto was such a fantastic movie from beginning to end that it seemed very quickly, I didn’t mind reading the sub-titles at all. I was so drawn into the story I kinda forgot that I was reading the sub-titles. It is an incredible movie.
Of course, this movie came out the same year as Gibson’s controversial DUI arrest so even though, in my opinion, this could have been the Best Picture of the Year and even the Best Director, it pretty much was snubbed and never received much of the acclaim it deserved. The movie, in my opinion, was judged based on the personal life of the director, and not on the actual work.
I don’t think his career has ever recovered based on a drunken tirade. Great actor and great director.
derek
Well obviously the poll is biased toward’s Josh’s personal view and is pretty much his own editorial. I didn’t see any ‘I support the author views AND want to see the movie.’ Loved the book/series.
Trond Michelsen
There is one option for boycotting the movie, and four for not boycotting it. Is it realle necessary to add a fifth? What about an option for those that have no interest in seeing the movie, but will buy tickets and throw them away, just to support Card?
Csm101
I’m not too interested in the movie in theaters, but under most circumstances I think I could appreciate what an artist does creatively but not necessarily agree with their personal views. The people who invented blurays might be a bunch of douchebags for all I know, but I love their product. I find Tom Cruise to be kind of boring and not very charismatic in interviews, but I think he’s a gifted actor and I enjoy most of his films. Anyways back to the subject, if I were really interested in seeing the movie, I would see it theatrically, however, if the writer were to say “With the money I make off this film, I will eradicate all the gays!” Then my conscience would not allow me to see it.
Art Ames
This has always been tough for me.Artists have been boycotted for many reasons.I have family who still boycott Woody Allen because he ended up marrying his ward, as an example. If I’m opposed to the artist’s stance on social issues and his/her work will reflect that view, I won’t see it or support it.Otherwise,if it’s something I’m interested in, I’ll attend.
Fourgiven
I don’t like the choices in this poll. Sounds one sided. I don’t know how extreme he is in his beliefs but I’m not a begat and I agree with the religious freedom to say you don’t agree with gay marriage. I will see his movie and I’m proud to support anyone willing to stand up for their religious beliefs. That should be an option in this poll. Every choice in this poll makes you agree that he is a begat because of his beliefs.
Josh Zyber
AuthorCard wants to wants to make homosexuality a crime and overthrow the government. It doesn’t matter how religious you are, he’s a bigot. You can be religious without being a bigot. Most religious people are not bigots. For that matter, most non-religious people are not bigots. Orson Scott Card is a bigot, and hides behind his religion as an excuse.
Jim Wolfson
I just might go twice.
Chris
Where’s the option that states “I support fully what the author has said and look forward to his movie in theaters” ?
Julian
Ah, that’s called highdefbigot.com 🙂
Pete G
Orson Scott Card is a great sci-fi writer and Ender’s Game is in my top five all-time favorite novels. Will definitely see it.
The fact that he is against homosexuality is his right as a person to believe in the faith of his choice (or not in anything, for that matter. I never cease to be amazed at how you seem to be able to be for almost anything in this country as long as it’s liberal in nature, but if someone expresses conservative moral opinions, they get shunned like lepers.
ANYWAYS….I’ll see the movie and buy the Blu-ray just to show my support. It’s a fantastic story.
Michael
I am getting so sick of all of the P.C. Bullshit. Personally, I don’t care what two people do with their lives so long as it doesn’t infringe upon my rights. Gays have no special rights above mine. Quit trying to force your agendas on the world. When my children ask me why there is two men or women holding hands or kissing, and then instinctively know and say that they won’t be able to make babies, what the hell am I supposed to say? I’m just tired of it already.
Josh Zyber
AuthorNo one is asking for special rights above yours. They are asking for the same rights you have. I am sorry that you don’t know how to explain this to your children. However, as a responsible parent, it is part of your job description to talk to your kids about difficult, complicated subjects such as drugs and alcohol, death, illness, war, terrorism, accidents, natural disasters, violence, bullying and, yes, even sex. Children do not instinctively know that two men or two women cannot make babies. You have to explain that to them, just as you will have to explain that sometimes a man and a woman may hold hands or kiss without making a baby. If you need help with any of this, there are many resources available to parents such as yourself. I sincerely hope that you find a way to talk to your children about all of these topics and more when they are ready and the timing is appropriate.
Michael
As I already stated, I don’t care what two people do as long as it doesn’t affect me. I know and I am friends with several people whom are gay. What difference does it make. I think that as a society, we are already to a point where it’s accepted well enough that people need to stop forcing their views on others. Live your life in whatever way you want to, just stop shoving it in everyone’s face. I even believe gay people should have equivalent rights. Not necessarily the same rights though. (I believe marriage is for a man and woman, have a civil ceremony instead. I don’t think it’s a good thing to adopt children and raise them in that environment, etc.). And as far as my children, no I have never had to “teach them” that a baby comes from a man and women. It is a natural way of seeing things by virtue of being a human being and able to form their own, individual thoughts. It’s too bad someone such as yourself cannot accept that other people have viewpoints other than yours and that they are not bad people because of it.
Josh Zyber
AuthorI don’t think you’re a bad person, Michael. However, I do think that Orson Scott Card is a bad person. He wants all gay people to be declared criminals for no other reason than being gay, and thinks the American government should be overthrown if that’s what it takes to make that happen. I don’t see you saying anything that extreme.
Separate from his views on sexuality, Card has also made statements that he thinks 9/11 was necessary in order to rally Americans to wipe Islamism off the planet, and that he believes Barack Obama is secretly recruiting urban gang members into paramilitary riot squads in order to instigate an apocalyptic race war. These are his real beliefs that he has espoused publicly. The guy’s a loon. I would really hope that anyone would take a good look at the man before standing up to defend him.
John Peacock
You say they love each other. Done.
Drew
Josh, you really should change the poll options. I’m not stating that I personally need a new option, but some of the other people posting have a valid point. There should have always been an option for people that strongly support Card’s stance, and who will be seeing the movie to display that support. I’m not sure how you left out an option (options) for people that support Card, and want to see the film to vouch their support. It was probably just an oversight on your end. You can easily rectify it.
Drew
Let’s start the poll over, with some legitimate options for people that are backing Card, and want to support him by paying to see his novel adapted to the silver screen! C’mon, Josh, you know that’s the proper thing to do.
Josh Zyber
AuthorThe poll has an option for people who plan to see the movie. The poll does not need any other options. I will not restart the poll after several hundred people have already voted.
hurin
It is obvious there is no point in reading the review of the Bluray once it comes out. No matter how good the movie is. Josh would never allow a positive review to appear on this site.
Josh Zyber
AuthorThat’s not fair at all, and I think you know it. First off, other than those I write myself, I have no control over the Blu-ray reviews on this site. That’s handled separately. I only manage the blog. More importantly, I’ve never censored any of our other writers in the blog from expressing different opinions than my own. I think you may recall Luke giving a rave review to Prometheus when it played in theaters.
And thirdly, I’ve already said that I like the Ender’s Game novel despite its author’s behavior. If I have any bias against the movie, it’s primarily that the director previously made X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which was a gigantic pile of crap.
Julian
“Hook” got five stars (and rightly so!). HighDefDigest never censors its authors, or forbids them to give positive/negative marks to a movie. Which is awesome.
Shannon Nutt
You’re right, Julian…I know many who boycott my work because I thought the first season of THE NEWSROOM was awesome. 😉
Shannon Nutt
Here’s a link to Card’s full essay, which was published in 1990 – that’s right, a full 23 years ago. Anyway, feel free to read it and decide for yourself about Card and whether you should skip this movie/his work:
http://www.nauvoo.com/library/card-hypocrites.html
Josh Zyber
AuthorShannon, Card continued to be a board member of the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage, which exists for no other reason than to deny gay rights, until earlier this year. Also, his so-called “prediction” about Obama’s diabolical race war was written in May of this year:
http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2013-05-09-1.html
QUOTE: “In other words, Obama will put a thin veneer of training and military structure on urban gangs, and send them out to channel their violence against Obama’s enemies.”
Yes, Card attempted to couch this in the guise of being a “thought experiment,” but he also goes out of his way to explain how it’s a “plausible scenario.” The actual “thought experiment” part of the article only comes at the very end, after Card has repeatedly compared Obama to Hitler and stated as uncontested fact that our President is colluding with Islamic terrorists (which by his definition means all Muslims) to systematically destroy the United States. This thing is absolute lunacy on every level, and the man wrote it this year. Not 23 years ago, FIVE MONTHS AGO.
So please, read THAT and decide for yourself about Card and whether you should support his work.
Just because Card calls himself a “Conservative” doesn’t mean that all other (actual) Conservatives need to rally behind him. You can hold conservative political views and still recognize when someone has lost his freakin’ gourd.
Lord Bowler
“Of course, this all brings to mind similar controversies involving other disgraced artists such as Mel Gibson (anti-Semite), Roman Polanski (rapist) and comics author Frank miller (misogynistic loon).”
I object to placing Polanski in this group of artists. None of the other “artists” were convicted of a crime (that I know of). To make Rape the equivalent of a drunken rant like Gibson’s is like saying the woman raped was “asking for it”. One is a crime, the other is a personally-held belief.
You could have included Alec Baldwin’s rant against his “fat pig” daughter (his words on his wife’s answering machine), although I didn’t see any “disgrace” attached to his name. Or the many “artists” that praise socialist/communist governments responsible for the most deaths in history. Hitler, Stalin and Mao and their modern equivalents, Kim-Jung Un, Castro and Chavez.
While I find Baldwin, (Sean) Penn, and many other “Artists” beliefs’ disgusting, they’ve not committed a crime like Polanski that in my mind would warrant Capital Punishment.
That said, I take the film or book as it is and is intended. Unless, the artist specifically says what his intention was, for example, C.S. Lewis and The Chronicles of Narnia. An admitted Christian allegory.
I’ll see the movie, Ender’s Game and probably will read the book and decide if I like based on what I see/read.
Trond Michelsen
So, have you paid to see Hangover/Hangover II? How do you feel abou Charliet Chaplin’s movies? Bought any West Wing DVDs?
Lord Bowler
Who is Charliet Chaplin? Did he/she rape someone and get found guilty?
I saw Hangover via Netflix and Hangover 2 via Cable. First one had some funny parts, but overall I disliked it. Second was just plain stupid and I don’t intend to see the third. I don’t care for this type of movie anyway so I didn’t expect to like it, but gave it a shot.
Never saw the West Wing, don’t know if I could watch it with Sheen’s politics involved. That being said, was Sheen or Sorkin (writer?) convicted of a crime?
My main point was, bad behavior is different from criminal behavior. You can not decide to read a book/watch a movie because you dislike the artist, but to compare communist or a drunk to a rapist is just not equatable.
Wesley Snipes was found guilty of tax evasion and served his time. I also don’t like his politics, but if a movie he’s in looks good, I may watch.
Trond Michelsen
I think you know who I meant, even if a t got stuck at the end of the wrong word.
Chaplin had sex with underaged girls, who he later married. Mike Tyson is a convicted rapist and Rob Lowe made a sex tape with a 16 year old girl.
Aaron Peck
Card is getting nothing from this movie. He sold the rights to the book years ago and got paid then. If you boycott the movie it doesn’t hurt him one bit. He doesn’t even make residuals on the box office from this movie.
http://www.thewrap.com/orson-scott-card-boycott-enders-game-box-office-book-instead
Josh Zyber
AuthorInteresting find, Aaron. Curious that Card is still listed as Executive Producer on the movie, though.
Aaron Peck
Most likely a “Thank You” credit. Or something drawn up in the original contract when he first sold the story. Where he’s making a ton of money is through book sales which have gone to #1 over the last couple weeks because of the movie.
Steve Klein
Didn’t vote in the “poll” with its leading choices which others have called out well. IMO one more option should have been available: “I prefer my informational online viewing agenda-free, and due to Mr. Zyber’s use of highdefdigest.com as a platform for his personal agenda I’ll be leaving it and its sponsors’ ads for alternative sources of relevant home entertainment information.” Everyone’s entitled to an opinion and to express it how they choose, just as I’m entitled to not care to read it with my daily dose of home entertainment news.
Kraig McGann
My first issue is with the use of the word “homophobe.” It infers an irrational fear of homosexuality to describe people who do not embrace and/or celebrate the unnatural behavior of some individuals. I am indifferent to sexual orientation and support civil unions for all couples. In spite of that, I will be called a nut job, a bigot, and an unpleasant individual becauase the one issue I have is with gay parents. It is my opinion that it is unnatural and may prove to be unhealthy for the children. People seem to forget that two genders were created for procreation and child rearing. They each are intended to imprint certain qualities. That said. I do not think being hetero makes a person qualified to be a parent and also do not believe that a gay person cannot genuinely love a child. Mr. Zyber’s support for the “homosexual activist agenda” and any other liberal, PC, or Big Government program, does not make him unpleasant or a nutjob. It makes him something worse: an ignorant lemming that abhors self reliance, rugged individualism, and even freedom if he is unwilling to allow individuals to disagree with his personal beliefs.
Trond Michelsen
So, you’re saying that you think your fear of homosexual parents is rational, and therefore not a proper phobia?