Hand-wringing and Ender's Game

This is actually almost exactly how I pictured it.

So there's a stink all over the science fiction reading and watching world about the Ender's Game movie, and if people going to see it are justified in giving money to boyish, Birkenstock-wearing Orson Scott Card, famous author and crazy homophobe.

Card's history of speaking craziness on the subject of same-sex marriage is well-established. He's been outspoken on the matter since 1990, but his work to oppose same-sex marriage has become increasingly public and his words on the matter have become increasingly strident. He now sits on the board of the National Organization for Marriage and has advocated the overthrow of the United States government should same-sex marriage become legal:  

[W]hen government is the enemy of marriage, then the people who are actually creating successful marriages have no choice but to change governments, by whatever means is made possible or necessary… Regardless of law, marriage has only one definition, and any government that attempts to change it is my mortal enemy. I will act to destroy that government and bring it down….

 Many pixels have been slain in the attempt to persuade people to see the movie despite Card's financial gain or to not see the movie to send a message to Summit and Card that Card and his views are objectionable. There are good people making good arguments on both sides of this issue. I don't know what the right answer is. I worry that if I go see it some of my dear friends who are gay will think I am not supportive enough of their rights if I can't forgo this movie.  Perpetual liberal hand-wringing is so cliche, but not without good reason. It's a genuine concern.

Today, I read a guest blogger write on the subject at Marshall Ryan Maresca's blog: Orson Scott Card and Tolerating Intolerance. I found the argument there persuasive and thoughtful, and responded to it and to another commenter:

If it's the trickle-down effect of Card's tithing/financial support of groups like NOM that is of concern, one could always donate the cost of a ticket or more to an organization that supports your values on the other side, like the Human Rights Campaign or the It Gets Better Project.

I'm torn about the movie still, and my husband has decided NOT to see it for the reasons SmallDoc mentions above. The book wasn't an important part of my childhood: I read it when I was 20. But it is an extremely influential book to my personal belief system, which is in complete opposition to Mr. Card's on this issue.

Somewhere I read that MLK Jr.'s own views on homosexuality were a sort of kindly "it can be fixed" mentality. I deeply admire him despite this. I think we should, when we can, separate the work from the source. History tends to do it anyway (as is has, for the most part, with King), and when the stories stand entirely free from the objectionable view, it's in the interest of everyone to preserve the good parts.

I still can't find the essay that made the argument that like King's homophobia is largely forgotten now, one day Card would likely only be remembered for the themes of Ender's Game and not the work he's done in opposition to same-sex marriage. I'm not sure it's true: Card's bigotry is much more vocal than King's, and the internet remembers forever. I'm not sure that Card doesn't deserve an asterisk next to his name on these matters for all time, so maybe that's wishful thinking.

What I think I know after thinking about this for months is that Ender's Game is not an anti-gay work. Should Hollywood ever decide that making Card's anti-gay, Hamlet's-dad-was-a-pedophile version of Shakespeare's play into a movie, I will not be attending that at any price. I probably WILL go see Ender's Game in the theaters--even if it's by myself--and I will make a donation to both The Human Rights Campaign and the It Gets Better Project with "Ender's Game offset" written in the memo line. It's an imperfect solution to what has remained a thorny problem for me.

I hope my friends will understand.