The story comes from a book by Orson Scott Card written in 1985. Since Card wrote the books, he has expressed his own views on politics, homosexuality and other issues and caused a good amount of controversy. He recently was taken off a Superman comic book project due to the amount of backlash received from Superman fans and comic book store owners. The boycott of the Ender's Game movie is also due to his views on these issues.
It is worth noting that Card is a member of the LDS Church and that most of his views are likely based on his religious upbringing. I will also note that I do not agree with Card on any of his views.
While DC Comics eventually caved to public pressure I will agree with DC Comics' original statement regarding Card:
As content creators we steadfastly support freedom of expression, however the personal views of individuals associated with DC Comics are just that — personal views — and not those of the company itself.Fiction has always been about freedom of expression. I have never agreed with the boycotting of books or movies due to their content or even the artists involved with those projects. If I don't agree with the content and views within, I will likely not enjoy the movie; however, I will likely challenge myself and my personal views.
That being said, I have read Ender's Game. The book was great. I read the book prior to hearing about Orson Scott Card's personal views. His views are not revealed in the book. In fact, there are emotionally intimate relationships between Ender and his schoolmates. I wonder if any of the boycotters have read the book.
Tom Cruise is a great actor. I disagree with a lot of his views over the past several years. Have I stopped viewing his movies because of this? No. Like I said, he is a great actor and I am able to separate his personal views from his work.
By supporting a movie, you may be financially supporting that person's views. This is true, but how many things do you purchase in a day? It would become exhausting to research the personal views of everything that you support. Does every actor in a movie have your same views? Do the writers? Do the producers? What about the editors? All performers from the soundtrack? Key grip? Stunt men and women? They receive money from their job the same as you do. They can spend this money to support whatever programs they deem important to them, whether you agree with them or not.
Ultimately, the choice is yours to see a movie or not. Let's face it, we all set priorities with movies and the personal views of actors, directors, writers or even the original work's creator may affect that priority. Thor: The Dark World comes out the week after Ender's Game. If given the choice, I would rather see Thor. I want to see Ender's Game, but I'll be out of town this weekend and I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to see it. If it doesn't last long in theatres, there is a likelihood that I will not be supporting it's box office numbers. That's just the choice I'm making and it is not based on any reasons other than priorities and time.
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