First repeater entry for the Authors Behaving Badly file: Orson Scott Card, who's evidently miffed at George Lucas for being . . . more successful than he is? That's all I got out of it that made any sense. I especially like the hot pink ad in the middle of the first page: You could win a year's worth of Christian books for your book club, click here to enter. Yep, that's subtle.
I suppose as a SF writer I should say something about Star Wars. Okay, here goes: George Lucas, you've brought happiness to billions with your movies. They're inventive and fun, and I hope you make a thousand more. Thank you. P.S. My son loves Natalie Portman and you, in that order.
Orson first made the file when he made himself the Support Gay Bashing poster child.
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ReplyDeleteI've not deleted any comments on PBW until today, because no one has used them as a link dump before the above comment post.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to comment here, comment. If you have nothing to say, don't comment.
"Some fans are so loyal they have even adopted “Jedi” as their official religion on census reports and The Force as their equivalent of a “personal savior.”
ReplyDeleteWhat. The. Fuck?
I assume he's talking about the most recent UK census, where there was a campaign to get people to write-in "Jedi" under "religion", with the idea that if a certain number of people claimed it, it'd have to be listed as an official religion.
It was, in other words, a joke. Quite a famous one.
I very much doubt there really are 350,000 people in the UK who actually believe in the Force, so using that as a launchpad to go attacking a movie franchise for dangerous real-world religious overtones seems more than a little stupid, whatever Card thought of the film.
Idiot.
A pity. I used to admire OSC. I suppose you don't have to approve of somebody's politics or world view to like their writing, but... sigh.
ReplyDeleteI usually try not base my book-buying habits on what I know of the political or moral beliefs of the authors writing the books. That is hard to do in this day and age when so many of my favorite writers have weblogs and online journals in which they give their opinions. I actually like reading how other people I admire feel and think. I have definitely disagreed with the personal philosophies of some of these writers, but I don't let that influence my book-buying habits because that seems vaguely close-minded to me.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I broke my own rule in regards to Orson Scott Card. It's not that I dislike him for his beliefs because I have friends and family (sadly) that hold the same beliefs and I haven't disowned them or anything. It's the pompous, Holier-than-thou tone that this guy uses. If his fiction writing is even a smidge similar in tone, I have no desire to read it.
The fact the Orson Scott Card is a narrow-minded bigot isn't stopping me from buying his books. The fact that he is a pompous, arrogant narrow-minded bigot is what makes me roll my eyes when I see his name on a book cover.
Crista
I think everyone is entitled to their opinion, even OSC. I don't have to agree with it, and if it's stupid enough, I'll point it out so we can all learn from it.
ReplyDeleteI buy books for the books, not the authors, although I have one rule: I refuse to buy, promote or endorse anything written by racists or bigots. Purchasing a book by someone who openly bashes people for their skin color, culture or life choices makes me feel as if I'm contributing to their ongoing hate campaigns, and I can't handle that. This is simply speaking as a reader, not a writer.
It's really sad to see OSC slip down into this bizarre bigotry, especially since my favourite book of his, "The Speaker for the Dead" is one of the kindest, most passionate speeches for understanding and tolerance. What on earth has happened to the person who wrote _that_?
ReplyDeleteAlkinoe from Forward Motion
OSC seems to be getting loopier and loopier as the years progress. Not even the OSC apologists who've insisted in the past that his offensive statements have been forced on him by his church can deny the shrill tone coming out of him is his and his alone.
ReplyDeleteI'm not about to throw away my copy of Ender's Game, but I've got no intention of buying anything else he publishes. He's got every right to spout off to his heart's content, but his audience is getting progressively smaller...
Actually, OSC kind of likes the movie in his review on his website at www.hatrack.com; I think the beliefnet post was more about folks trying to turn a fictional religion into a real one.
ReplyDeleteSometimes the internet can give us too much information. Yet, if it weren't for the intenet, I don't think I would have bought half the books I bought last year due to weblogs and recommendations online.