Voices
statement but in a very low-key
way. If you want to boycott it,
then great, go right ahead. And
if you truly want to demonstrate
your objections to Scott Card’s
ideas, but really, really want to
see Ender’s Game, then go see
the movie and give twice as much
money as your movie ticket cost
to a decent advocacy group that
opposes his personal opinions.
Because to be honest, it really
doesn’t matter very much whether
you go to a movie or don’t, whether
you read a book or not, whether
or not you personally go to Chickfil-A twice a year. Though mass
campaigns undoubtedly can have
an impact, especially in PR terms,
a few dollars spent on a ticket are
not going to make a huge difference one way or the other to the
issue itself. It’s a nice enough gesture if you want to make it, but
more important is how you allow
the debates that surround these
questions inform your thinking,
and help you understand how deep
your feelings are about the issues.
Look at the wider picture of society’s bigotry, not just the ramblings
of one grumpy Mormon church
member whose views don’t come
as a huge surprise to anyone.
When you’ve thought that
ANDREW
LOSOWSKY
HUFFINGTON
07.28.13
through, then don’t not see a movie
as your method of response. This is
a negative non-reaction that does
very little to help or hinder anyone.
Instead, do something positive:
spend time informing yourself of
the issues, research local groups,
volunteer, give money, write and
circulate stories that contradict
objectionable ideas — whatever you
feel is most effective and realistic
Look at the wider picture
of society’s bigotry, not just
the ramblings of one grumpy
Mormon church member
whose views don’t come as a
huge surprise to anyone.”
for you, as Geeks Out also suggests
on its Skip Ender’s Game page.
Yes, doing this will be a lot
more work than simply going to
see a different movie, but the results will impact you and everyone
around you a lot longer than the
duration of a film. And that, more
than any movie ticket bought or
not, will really, really piss
off Orson Scott Card.
Andrew Losowsky is the books editor
of The Huffington Post.