Flutterby™! : Ender's Game 2013-11-04 22:37:01.498942+00

Ender's Game

2013-11-04 22:37:01.498942+00 by Dan Lyke 4 comments

A bunch of people have been passing this around, and if, like me and like most of my friends, you've got some conflicted feelings about reconciling Ender's Game with the attitudes and opinions of its author (and whether or not you should support the film, and...) this is a good dive into it: Grantland: Ender's Game, its controversial author, and a very personal history.

I can like a writer, singer, musician or actors work without liking the person. Same for politics and religion, I can respect a person even when I don't agree with them or like them.

And yeah, sometimes I bob my head to Michael Jackson music, although he personally made my skin crawl.

If only to a small extent, I try to be aware of how my actions impact the wider culture around me. It's one thing to feel sorry for Michael Jackson's eccentricities, and wonder if I'm enabling his eventual demise by listening to his music (well, now it's not, now it's wondering how I'm enabling the people who bought his record catalog), it's another to buy a ticket which supports someone who's railing against a free and just society.

Many friends are assuaging their consciences in this by making equivalent donations to LGBT rights organizations, and I think that's fair, but I also think...

Perhaps this is rather post-modern of me, but I think that it's also possible to distinguish the art from the artist and understand that the art's impact on the culture might be more nuanced than the artist's statements. In this case, I think there are lessons that can be learned from the story that may not, from later statements, be what the author intended.

I've no idea if this carries over into the movie, and I'm unlikely to find out, but I think exploring the notion of what we're really supporting when we engage with a piece of media is important.

My guess is that Card is a closeted homosexual which doesn't jive with his devout Mormonism.

ebradway: That does seem to fit a pattern... But I'll probably go see the movie anyway, I'm sure a large number of open minded, gay and lesbian individuals worked on it.