Back Seat Quickies #96: Why I’m Going to See Ender’s Game

I like this idea here. This could work really well, especially if a lot of other “Cards” donate simultaneously. I do disagree with some of your points though.

First of all, I think the main point isn’t to prevent people from seeing a (probably) good movie or to make sure an ass doesn’t get rich. The point is to show bigots that there are consequences to their actions. This is why the comparison to Lovecraft and MJ doesn’t really work. They have both been dead for years. There’s no way to change their behavior now.

Also, at least with the case of Lovecraft, it was a totally different time. Maybe if little HP grew up today he wouldn’t be a racist asshole. It’s possible, since he didn’t know then what we know now nor did he have as much opportunity to figure out that he was just wrong. We can’t give Card the same benefit of the doubt though. He’s lived through the biggest civil rights push the gay community has ever had in the US and has access to basically all of human knowledge (thanks again, Internet). He’s an ass despite having every reason not to be. (Note: I’m not saying that Lovecraft or CS Lewis or Tolkien or anyone who wrote before the Internet wasn’t racist, just that they actually had to fight be remain racist which, in my eyes, makes them terrible people as well as ignorant.)

My plan is to skip the opening of Ender’s Game. I usually see movies during the opening weekend (especially during the summer) and it’s often the metric that Hollywood uses to gauge if their movie did well. If enough people skip at least the first week that it opens “poorly” (say, number 6 or so) then studios will get a message that vocal homophobes suck.

You mentioned that a boycott would only show studios that Sci-fi movies are doing poorly, but I don’t think that’s the case. First of all, seven (arguably) of the top ten grossing movies this year are Sci-fi/fantasy. Secondly, it is already impossible to read anything about the Ender’s Game film without hearing about the controversy. Studios aren’t –that– dumb (that might be debatable too).

You don’t have to censor yourself or boycott it forever to show disapproval. I’ll probably end up seeing it the next time nothing interesting opens, or failing that, at least online when it leaves theaters. After hearing your idea though, I think I might do both. Imagine if Ender’s Game opens $10 million or so under the prescribed gross and, coincidentally, LGBT charities get a bump of about $10 million the same week … buy hundreds of “Orson Scott Cards.”