Comment: Ender's Game Director Uses Wagner To Defend Movie Adaptation

Orson Scott Card: Is that a coat or a "Chip" on his shoulder?

Our editor comments on recent events surrounding the film adaption of Orson Scott Card Ender's Game,  its author's anti-gay marriage rant, its director's reaction and admitted love for Wagner

Least you missed it -  I did, I have always found Card's book seriously over-rated  and I am not unfamiliar with the science fiction genre - there have been calls to boycott the film adaptation of his novel (the first in a very, very long series). And why? Well perhaps due to comments by Card such as:

"Marriage has only one definition, and any government that attempts to change it is my mortal enemy"

“They steal from me what I treasure most, and gain for themselves nothing at all. They won't be married. They'll just be playing dress-up in their parents' clothes.”

And this is just a brief snippet of his long, oh so long, rants against gay marriage. Indeed, so long are they that, many  are even more copious then his  3000-word essay comparing  Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler. 

For obvious reasons this has all been causing controversy in Hollywood (and elsewhere we would hope). And has lead to calls to boycott the film.

Now, I would have to agree that we should not ban or boycott a film just because of its authors views - as a regular readers are more than well aware.  And indeed, its director, Gavin Hood,  has resorted to turning to Wagner to defend the movie. As he recently said: "

"I love the book Ender's Game, it's all about tolerance and compassion, and understanding the other. It's very difficult for me to reconcile that with his clearly contrary views to the ones I hold on the issue of gay rights. Should I not have made the film because of his views? (Ed All true although, one wonders what British and American Wagner conspiracy theorists, that find negative Jewish stereotypes in his work, would make of the fact that the evil aliens in Card's book are called Buggers?).

"We are having this conversation precisely because the themes of the book are at odds with his current ideas.

"We love the music of Richard Wagner, but he was a deep anti-Semite. I love Braveheart, but I don't like what Mel Gibson has been saying about Jewish people. Art and their creators often diverge.”

And again, I  would have to agree, although I would like to say that Wagner also called for Jewish integration into German society and, despite his often odious views, expressed admiration for Jewish culture on the odd occasion, . Which just goes to show that unlike Card, to use another  British colloquialism (you know like "bugger") - he wasn't a pillock all of the time.