Actor says controversy over author Orson Scott Card's views on gay marriage should not affect how film is seen
Andrew Pulver
theguardian.com
The film-makers behind the big-screen adaptation of Ender's Game have mounted a robust defence of their film in the wake of the controversy generated by pronouncements by Orson Scott Card, the book's author. Card, who until recently was a board member of the National Organisation for Marriage, an anti-same-sex marriage pressure group, and who in August wrote a 3,000-word essay that compared Obama to Hitler, has proved a major embarrassment for the production and has sparked calls for a boycott.
Speaking in London at a promotional event for the film, Harrison Ford, who plays Colonel Graff in the sci-fi epic, rejected any suggestion that Card's views are relevant to the content of Ender's Game. Ford said: "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."
Ender's Game, first published as a short story in 1977, became a novel in 1985 and tells the story of a school-age cadet in a training school, aiming to lead humanity's fight against an alien race of giant ants, nicknamed Buggers. It won the prestigious Nebula and Hugo awards, and was added to the official reading list of the US marines. Card is a credited producer on the film adaptation, which stars Asa Butterfield in the lead role, and is directed by Gavin Hood.
At the same promotional event, Hood was even more vehement in his rejection of Card's position on same-sex marriage. "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.
"The themes of the novel are so important to me – drone warfare, the way games and reality merge in the modern world, the way we hide behind a computer screen, that young people are seduced into war – and I love them from the book. It's very difficult for me to reconcile that with his clearly contrary views to the ones I hold on the issue of gay rights.
"Should I not have made the film because of his views? I wrestled with that, and you know what? I thought: if I don't put these ideas out on screen we wouldn't be having this conversation. We are having this conversation precisely because the themes of the book are at odds with his current ideas. I'm very proud of the film, and I felt strongly that I didn't want to lose my love of this book because its creator seems to be in a different zone to me on this issue."
"It's hard. We love the music of Richard Wagner, but he was a deep antisemite. I love Braveheart, but I don't like what Mel Gibson has been saying about Jewish people. Art and their creators often diverge. Art is an expression of our higher selves and we who make art don't always measure up to the art we create."
Ender's Game is released on 25 October in the UK, on 31 October in Australia, and 1 November in the US.