As Ender News is not a political blog, I will leave the following quotes uncommented, just this much for the background of it all: as I have pointed out here, Mr. Card's involvement in the movie project is limited to contributing his original story. His work on the project ended when director Gavin Hood came on board, and that was in the very early stage of the Summit Entertainment project, as Gavin wrote an entirely new screenplay from scratch.
Here is an independent opinion from 'Milk' writer and gay civil rights campaigner Dustin Lance Black, as quoted by The Guardian, who also states that Orson Scott Card hasn't been involved "in decades":
"Boycotting a movie made by 99% LGBT equality folks in an LGBT equality industry is a waste of our collective energy. Making one phone call to a relative in the south who isn't quite there yet would be 1,000 times more effective. The homophobic novelist who wrote the book hasn't been involved in decades. Misguided boycott."Here's what Harrison Ford and other Ender's Game stars had to say about the issue last night:
Harrison Ford (via StarPulse):
"He [Orson Scott Card] has written something that I think is of value to us all concerning moral responsibility. I think his views outside of those that we deal with in this film are not an issue for me to deal with and something I have really no opinion on. I am aware of his statements admitting that the question of gay marriage is a battle that he lost and he admits that he lost it. I think we all know that we've all won. That humanity has won. And I think that's the end of the story."Harrison Ford (via Associated Press):
"No part of the story concerns Mr. Card's theories about society in terms of gay issues or homosexual issues. So I hold it completely separate. I think it's an imaginative and complex story. And I'm glad he told it. And I'm glad I had a chance to be a part of it. I think he has a right to his opinions and I think he has also made it clear that it was a battle that he fought and lost and would like to get on with the rest of life."Roberto Orci (via The Los Angeles Times):
"The truth is you never want to court controversy, but we decided to use the attention on us to support Lionsgate's statement of support of LGBT rights. So rather than shy away, we are happy to embrace it and use the spotlight to say we support LGBT rights. I would hate to see the efforts of all the people who made this movie thwarted for the less than 1% of the people behind the movie, particularly because the message of the book and the movie is tolerance, compassion and empathy."Gavin Hood (via Associated Press):
"My view is, I've been a member of the Courage Campaign for many years and I'm a little distressed by his point of view on gay marriage. However, the book is not about that issue, so I hope people can still appreciate the book because I think he wrote a great book, and the themes and ideas in the book, I think, are universal and timeless and applicable, and I hope the book will still be appreciated as a great work of art, even though I don't agree with the author. I optioned the book, not an author, and I love what the author said in that book."Asa Butterfield (via Associated Press):
"I agree with rights for everybody. You can't blame a work for its author."Okay, I know I just said I wouldn't, but let me close this with a personal comment anyway. No matter what your position might be regarding Orson Scott Card's opinions, what he chooses to campaign for, how he chooses to use his personal money and all those things... Mr. Card wrote an outstanding piece of Sci-Fi literature; a wonderful, imaginative and moving story that is cherished by so many, with defining virtues as compassion and tolerance that should be at the core of our modern society. And he deserves praise for that. No matter what you think about any of the other issues. Period.
0 comments:
Post a Comment