US: Campaigners call to boycott upcoming film ‘Ender’s Game’ over anti-gay controversy
An online campaign is urging moviegoers to boycott the upcoming release of “Ender’s Game,” a big-budget Hollywood movie based on the work of a notoriously anti-gay novelist, who last year described same-sex attraction as a “reproductive dysfunction”.
The “Ender’s Game” author, Orson Scott Card, has been the subject controversy before, after it was revealed in February that the homophobic novelist was to be hired to write for DC Comics.
The new campaign “Skip Ender’s Game”, launched by Geek OUT, asks LGBT rights supporters to “keep your money out of Orson Scott Card’s pockets” by opting out of seeing “Ender’s Game” in US theaters when the film is released in November (October in UK and Ireland).
The group is also organising a series of events in New York, Orlando, Seattle and other major US cities to coincide with the movie’s release.
Geek OUT said: “By pledging to Skip Ender’s Game, we can send a clear and serious message to Card and those that do business with his brand of anti-gay activism – whatever he’s selling, we’re not buying.
“The queer geek community will not subsidise his fear-mongering and religious bullying. We will not pay him to demean, insult, and oppress us.”
They also urge: “Do not buy a ticket at the theater, do not purchase the DVD, do not watch it on-demand. Ignore all merchandise and toys.”
In 2012, Mr Card referred to same-sex attraction as a “reproductive dysfunction” in a Rhinoceros Times opinion piece.
He wrote: “Normalising a dysfunction will only make ours into a society that corrodes any loyalty to it, as parents see that our laws and institutions now work against the reproductive success (not to mention happiness) of the next generation.”
The Geek OUT website states: “Even as the film’s marketing campaign scrambles to distance the film from the author’s controversial reputation, Summit is angling Ender’s Game to be the next big sci-fi blockbuster.”
More information on “Skip Ender’s Game” can be found on the campaign’s official site.
