Final Ender’s Game Trailer Released Today

Hi tynkyr belle!

When it comes to this subject, I defer to John Scalzi’s views on this issue. In my opinion, he nailed it and provided the perfect response. In his blog post “Boycotts, Creators and Me” he states: “If your conscience tells you to boycott or avoid the film because of Card’s positions on the rights of gays and lesbians, then, you know, do it. Card is entitled to speak his mind on gays and lesbians and same-sex marriage. You are equally entitled, on the basis of that speech and his political efforts, to decide not to support him or a film based on his work. That’s entirely fair.”

I am not going to go through Mr. Scalzi’s post line by line. If you are interested in the topic check out the link. If you feel the need to boycott Ender’s Game and all things Card because of your personal beliefs, then you should do just that. As John Scalzi said that’s totally fair.

I don’t buy into Mr Card’s anti-gay stance, but at the same time I do enjoy his fiction. In my opinion, his anti-gay philosophy makes no sense and shuns reality. To think this way does not mesh with reality and is anti-social in scope. Societies and belief systems as all science fiction authors are acutely aware evolve and change over time. I think the best example of this is Joe Haldeman’s novel The Forever War. In that book many centuries pass and eventually homosexuality becomes the norm and heterosexuality becomes a curiosity. In the novel, however, the main character William Mandella is not harrassed for his sexual preference. People fall in love and pair up regardless of gender, and everything’s good as long as the missions are accomplished. Even though homosexually is promoted by the government as a way of controlling population growth, there is no pressure on Mandella to become a homosexual. The government would prefer all citizens become homosexuals since that’s what they engineer and promote. If you are heterosexual, however, there is no pressure to change your sexual orientation.

My personal belief is that people should be allowed to be happy. The Declaration of Independence states that we have the right to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” To treat gay and lesbians as second class citizens, denying their ability to marry, designate survivor benefits in insurance policies, and such, is without a doubt denying their happiness, which in my opinion is guaranteed by our constitution. Our society is changing, and I for one think its for the better. People should be allowed to form their own personality identity. I am a heterosexual male – that’s who I am – it’s who I want to be. I have no right to tell another person whom they should be.

Our society is going through a transition period that is for sure, and there are awkward moments. I remember watching TV and a story on gay marriage started playing out. I am sitting in front of the TV watching my my 5 and 9 year old daughters. Made for some interesting conversation. Again, this is the society we live in, and we all need to make it work. There will be some awkward moments, but I think we will all get through it just fine.

Will I boycott Ender’s Game and all things Card? Of course not. I am the type of person as Scalzi describes that can divorce “the art from the creator.” Card is an excellent writer. I enjoy reading his stories. I look forward to watching Ender’s Game and I hope its a monumental success. Loshaos.com promotes all things Science Fiction. To sink Ender’s Game due to Mr. Card’s personal beliefs only hurts the entire genre.