Why I Won't Be Seeing Ender's Game (A Recanting)
Yesterday, I outlined the reasons I’d be seeing Ender’s Game in the theaters – mainly, because Orson Scott Card gives money to anti-gay causes. A lot of people said, “Oh, that’ll just encourage Hollywood to pick up all of Orson Scott Card’s books!” I find that to be a poor argument, because a) OSC has been a nightmare in PR for the studios thus far, unable to keep his mouth shut, b) they’ve doubtlessly purchased the sequel rights just in case, and c) his other books aren’t Hollywood-friendly. All that assumes that Ender’s Game is a smash hit. As such, I’d put that in the “low risk of OSC profiting further than he already has” category.
However! The great Billy Martin has informed me that writers traditionally get points on the back end when they purchase your book rights – something I’d not heard before, but he’d know, considering his book Lost Souls was optioned at one point. According to him, that’s how they avoid paying you up-front.
(I should add that if you’re interested in getting some good book doctoring, Billy – formerly Poppy Z. Brite – knows his stuff and is reasonably priced, so check him out if you want your stories critiqued.)
Yet even if that was not the case, many others pointed out that I’d missed that Orson Scott Card has a producers’ credit on the film, and as such he will get paid if it does well. So I recant and will not see it in the theater, which will disappoint my wife. And me, since I really like seeing big explosions in the theater; it’s not the same at home, despite our home theater and surround-sound.
It’s been suggested that I pay for a ticket for some other movie I like, then sneak in to see Ender’s Game. That would be illegal. It would also ensure the theater gets paid, make sure the money goes towards causes I like, and still let me see the movie I’m curious about. But you know me, I’d never break the law.
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- Why I’ll Be Seeing Ender’s Game | Ferrett Steinmetz - […] (EDIT: Upon being presented with new facts, in fact, I shall not see it. Read here to see why.)…
So then if you post a review in the next couple of weeks, it should be considered to be purely speculative?
Nah. I’ll cop to having seen it. I just won’t pay for it.
Hi! I’ve wrestled with this one myself. Here are few more facts from Hollywood. There are seven different kinds of “Producers.” What kind of “Producer credit” OSC gets is key. Almost all of those kinds of “Producers” contribute their own money to get the movie made, one kind networks to get interest in their movie. Different. Tickets. Moviehouses do not make money on ticket sales. None. Moviehouses make money on concession stands. That’s why your candy / popcorn/ soda prices are so high. You want to close down your local moviehouse? Don’t buy popcorn, etc. Sneak in your own food. You want to support the moviehouse and not OSC? Go to the concession counter, buy a lot of junk food and leave. Nobody does this, but it’s perfectly legal. OSC wouldn’t get a penny. Ticket sales determine whether or not your movie was a “hit” or a “flop.” The more people that go to the movie, the more likely for it to be a “hit.” That’s how people get paid, and get more work in Hollywood, and the legitimate reason to avoid the movie. That said? Yes, I find OSC abominable. There is nothing that I like about OSC or his rhetoric. Then- there’s this: Which matters more with art, the fact that the art might be worth having in the world for all the reasons art is created, or that the artist is reprehensible? Sticky-wicket. How many times in my life have I paid for a movie, exhibit, bought a book, record/ cassette/ DVD etc. that had an author, artist, writer, producer whole-list-o’-credits attached that had people that were just, if not more, reprehensible in moral ethics, public words, private lifestyle than OSC? Well- hmmm probably a lot.. maybe sometimes unknowingly. Do I research the list of all artists before attending a movie? Let me see what that list of Foley Artists, Special Effects Guys, Transportation and Krafft Services Coordinator have been up to lately….You get the idea. Whether or not these movies hit the benchmark also determine whether or not all those people running in the credits, have imdb pages, and wish their unions really *were* behind them? They’d like to work again. They took this job because it’s their job. Their unions don’t let them work other jobs. They are banking on this movie to get another job. I’d like the people in the Ender’s Game credits, who might not be aware of OSC’s rhetoric, to be able to get their next gig, in spit of OSC’s mouth and personal rhetoric and hateful vitriol. I’m going to the movie. I am not supporting OSC by doing so, I am not anti-gay rights, I can contribute to LGBT causes more directly in other ways (and do.) In addition, “Ender’s Game” is *the* book that opened my mind and imagination to Science Fiction. I read it at the right time, and had a “Wow” moment, that carried Science Fiction forward for me. I cared about “Ender,” not OSC when I read the story. I am not going to be cheated out of the experience of watching Ender’s Game, a story I love, on the big screen, because the author is a douchebag. That would be like never buying and using butter again to protest Paula Deen. There are a lot more people working in the butter companies and on Food Network. Same here. Go to the movie. You’ll be supporting LGBT people directly (I’m guessing quite a few LGBTQ people ignored OSC and worked on the movie, because it’s their job to do so, and their job is counting on that you go. They’re hoping you are, because it’s the ultimate “screw you” OSC, and they’ll keep working in Hollywood. And, we want that for them, and to see the movie. Don’t disappoint your wife. Go. See you at the movies.
And here is that rare occasion when I disagree with the Ferret.
Part of it of course stems form the fact that “Ender game” is a masterpiece, at least IMHO, a book that I love and that I really want to see in movie form.
But that’s not the main point. The main point being, in perfectly fine to boycott something that we don’t like. It’s a tool that we have to make to world a nicer place for us. Some football player is abusive in the field? Boycott! A pasta company says that the perfect family is the traditional family (Barilla in Italy)? Boycott! A company doesn’t employ black people? Boycott!
I could go on and on but I think you already guessed where I’m getting at. This movie is not in any shape and form homophobic. You guys are boycotting it because the author of the original story has some terrible world views and it’s not shy about them.
I can certainly agree that these are opinions that should be fought but this is certainly not the way. You want to punish somebody for a crime of speech, in an ideal world, where this boycott went to the full extent, he and everybody who worked with him, should be left jobless and penny less.
This is wrong when the right does it and it doesn’t become right, no pun intended, it it’s done for a good cause.