Ender’s Game is receiving the film adaptation treatment; starring Harrison Ford, Asa Butterfield, and Ben Kingsley thrown in for good measure. The movie is based on Orson Scott Card’s book, with the screenplay written by Gavin Hood, who also directs.
I haven’t kept up on the movie on here, and admittedly it’s because of preconceptions I had. Card was making the news with homophobic remarks towards gay marriage, and apparent racist comments towards a political figure, and it turned me off from the film. I wasn’t going to give it a chance.
Then today I read this from Harrison Ford:
“This movie doesn’t address any of those issues. It was written 28 years ago; it’s a very impressive act of imagination that he could predict the internet, and that he could predict drone warfare … There is nothing in the film or the book addressing his current dispositions, or prejudices. We care about the positive aspects of the story we are telling.”
Writer and director, Hood, had words about it too:
“It’s well known Orson Scott Card and I have different views on the issue of gay marriage and gay rights … It has been a real dilemma for me: I love the book Ender’s Game, it’s all about tolerance and compassion, and understanding the other. When I first read the book I was deeply moved by a story aimed at young people that I could share with my children and access ideas in a way that was exciting for them, and yet allowed us to talk about compassion, tolerance, diplomacy, even.”
It snapped me out of my knee-jerk reaction, and to separate the author’s recent remarks from Ender’s Game. You can expect me to finally read the book. And if Ford’s and Hood’s remarks hold true — pretty much a given — I’ll become excited for the movie’s release.
Ender’s Game hits theaters November 1.
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