'Ender's Game' Film attracts boycott


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It's one of the most highly anticipated films of the upcoming holiday movie season, though "Ender's Game" now has a considerable amount of controversy to go with the hype.

Geeks OUT has launched an online protest of the film due to author Orson Scott Card being an outspoken opponent of gay marriage. Called "Skip Ender's Game," the boycott urges potential audiences to steer clear of the film, which is based on Card's popular 1985 novel.

"Do NOT see this movie! Do not buy a ticket at the theater, do not purchase the DVD, do not watch it on-demand," Geeks OUT officials write. "Ignore all merchandise and toys. However much you may have admired his books, keep your money out of Orson Scott Card's pockets."

Geeks OUT is organizing a series of "Skip Ender's Game" events in New York, Orlando, Seattle, and other major U.S. cities to coincide with the movie's debut this November.

Orson Scott Card has been an outspoken opponent of gay rights for several years. In 2009, he joined the board of directors at the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), which opposes same-sex marriage and was created to pass California's Proposition 8. His own personal views on the LGBT community were expressed in a Mormon Times piece that same year: "Marriage has only one definition, and any government that attempts to change it is my mortal enemy. I will act to destroy that government and bring it down."

In that same op-ed piece, Card wrote that gay marriage "marks the end of democracy in America," that homosexuality was a "tragic genetic mix-up" and that "allowing courts to redefine marriage was a slippery slope towards total homosexual political rule and the classifying of anyone who disagreed as 'mentally ill.'"

Card also referred to same-sex attraction as a "reproductive dysfunction" in a May 2012 article in Greensboro, North Carolina's Rhino Times in support of the state's gay marriage ban Amendment One.

"Ender's Game" follows the adventures of Ender Wiggin, a gifted young boy who's trained at an advanced military school to lead the attack against the second wave of an alien invasion that left the Earth decimated 70 years earlier. The film, directed by Gavin Hood and starring Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Abigail Breslin, and Hailee Steinfeld, will hit theaters on November 1.

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If I understood this correctly, the film itself doesn't have anything anti-gay etc. So the decision to boycott is chosen purely on the beliefs of the author. Maybe it's just me, but that seems like the dumbest excuse to boycott ever.

 

Next thing you know authors/directors will have to live their lives in isolation just incase they do something that offends someone and in turn decide to boycott one of their creations... If you're going to boycott, do it over the content of the creation (movie/book/etc) itself...

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Geek Out sound a little butthurt. How ironic. :rofl:

 

Edit: Actually, that's not ironic. Moving on... :whistle:

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Based on their premise we shouldn't watch any Bond movies as Ian Fleming was clearly racist in a number of 007 novels.

 

Can't wait to see Ender's Game. I don't agree with the Authors stance on gay marriage but he's entitled to his beliefs.

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Wait .... how does same sex marrige have anything to do with this film?

The author that wrote the book that the film is based on, is a highly religious and opinionated Mormon.

 

I think Card gets a flat royalty on the use of his book/script -- not a percentage of the film's gross.

 

So this would be a pointless boycott, other than grabbing attention. ;)

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If he wants to live in the dark ages then let him. He's one person, he doesn't have the ability to do anything other than make himself look silly with such remarks.

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If he wants to live in the dark ages then let him. He's one person, he doesn't have the ability to do anything other than make himself look silly with such remarks.

 

OK, wrong.....never heard of minority influence and it's path to conformity?  However, as SledgeNZ said, he is entitled to his beliefs, and this seems a slender link that Geeks Out has seen fit to latch itself on to.

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So I should boycott a movie based on the writes personal belief ? hypocrites much. 

 

His personal belief isn't going to change the world one way or the other. there's far better ways to spend your energy to change the whole gay marriage issue than to boycott a potentially awesome movie. 

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Honestly the movie looks really bad. That's the reason people should avoid it. I might be wrong but it looks like Twilight tailored for tennager boys. I'll wait for a TV release.

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Honestly the movie looks really bad. That's the reason people should avoid it. I might be wrong but it looks like Twilight tailored for tennager boys. I'll wait for a TV release.

 

Do you know the Enders game story/book ?

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I've always wondered, is Card simply against same-sex marriages or is he also homophobic? I've read Ender's Game many times, and I always get the "wrong" impression of Andrew's relationship with Alai...

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^ Maybe Card is in the closet. :laugh:

 

It is his Mormon religion that drives him to speak out against gay stuff.

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Do you know the Enders game story/book ?

 

No. But i'm talking about the look of the movie here not the story. It really looks like a movie tailored for teenager boys.

 

The Hunger Games story did contain a lot of adult materials. The movie itself was an overrated PG movie tailored for teens.

 

The Enders Game looks the same. Could be wrong of course.

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No. But i'm talking about the look of the movie here not the story. It really looks like a movie tailored for teenager boys.

 

The Hunger Games story did contain a lot of adult materials. The movie itself was an overrated PG movie tailored for teens.

 

 

^ So teenage boys don't have money, boredom, and don't deserve to have movies that appeal to them ?

 

Why must every movie try to be all things to everybody ?

 

And when I was forced to read Ender's Game in high school, it seemed rather adult themed to me.

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Wow. Stupid boycott is stupid. This makes me want to go and watch it when this movie wasn't even on my radar.

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The movie and book series have nothing to do with his personal beliefs. What a stupid reason to boycott something.

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No. But i'm talking about the look of the movie here not the story. It really looks like a movie tailored for teenager boys.

 

The Hunger Games story did contain a lot of adult materials. The movie itself was an overrated PG movie tailored for teens.

 

The Enders Game looks the same. Could be wrong of course.

 

I you knew the story you would understand why it looks like that. 

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This isn't like the Chick-fil-A controversy where the company was openly campaigning against marriage equality and donating millions of dollars to the cause. Here we're talking about a director who personally opposes gay marriage. That may make him a bigot and a horrible human being but I don't feel that it's worthy of a boycott. It would be a different matter if he was leveraging the movie to campaign against marriage equality.

 

To be honest I hadn't even heard of this movie until the boycott, so I wouldn't be surprised if this is simply a viral marketing campaign.

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Wait .... how does same sex marrige have anything to do with this film?

I agree.  I do not care what the authors views are.  That is his belief system.  I want to see a kick ass movie as I re-read these books often. 

 

 

No. But i'm talking about the look of the movie here not the story. It really looks like a movie tailored for teenager boys.

 

The Hunger Games story did contain a lot of adult materials. The movie itself was an overrated PG movie tailored for teens.

 

The Enders Game looks the same. Could be wrong of course.

 

I thought this was a YA book?  I read it when I was in 6th grade. 

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Boohoohoo. Another homophobe wants the rest of the world to pander to his particular religious sensibilities. Get back to the stone ages.

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Doesn't sound like a movie I want to see. But I'm not sure about boycotting anything over a personal opinion about gay marriage. For many, it's a religious matter.

 

If he was anti-gay, I would agree. But being anti-gay marriage, that's a tougher call.

 

I suppose since he used his monies to organize a movement against it, a boycott of the film may be fair game. Tough one.

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