Usually we rely on Mel Gibson to get his personal politics tangled up in the films he's working on, not the authors of beloved science fiction novels. But these are the times we live in, when entertainment and life are no longer so mutually exclusive. Hooray for Hollywood!
As some of you may be aware, Orson Scott Card, author of Ender’s Game and its sequels, has long held a stance against gay marriage and homosexual behavior in general, going so far as to call the latter a “reproductive dysfunction” at one point. To each his own when it’s his own work at risk, but whenever a movie studio is putting more than $100 million into a project, they probably don’t want to alienate any segment of their audience.
You’ve probably noticed Card has been absent from the bulk of the Ender’s Game promotional material, and his controversial views are the reason why. Of course, those views have nothing to do with the book or the upcoming movie, both of which are far more concerned with unrelated military and political subject matter. But portions of the public have still reacted strongly, starting a Skip Ender’s Game website, along with a petition; and it’s lost on no one that this is back in the spotlight after the Supreme Court overturned the Defense of Marriage Act. In response the protests, Card released a statement to Entertainment Weekly, and it contains none of the brusque rudeness protesters would need to latch onto for argument’s sake.
After mentioning that the novel’s 1984 publication and future setting separate it from current political issues, Card writes, “With the recent Supreme Court ruling, the gay marriage issue becomes moot. The Full Faith and Credit clause of the Constitution will, sooner or later, give legal force in every state to any marriage contract recognized by any other state.” I cannot imagine him truly feeling the issue is “moot” in any way, but perhaps he’s capable of such thoughts.
Similarly, he’d like to know what all his naysayers are capable of, saying, “Now it will be interesting to see whether the victorious proponents of gay marriage will show tolerance toward those who disagreed with them when the issue was still in dispute.” That’s certainly understandable, as I’m sure he got tired of having gay rights questions thrown at him instead of sci-fi-related ones. But a lot of his harsher opinions are in print, and it’ll take more than federal approval of gay marriage to get those comments out of people’s minds.
As you can imagine, Card won’t be at the film’s festivities happening at this year’s Comic-Con. This should keep the focus on the film, as it should be.
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