I have to confess, I've not read the novel yet. Ender's Game is one I own and it is on my "waiting to read" stack. Between the insane hoopla around it's author, Orson Scott Card and the quality of the film, I'm inclined to move it up in priority of books to get to.
Yes, I did enjoy this film. I enjoyed it a lot. How true an adaptation of the book it is, I don't know, though I've heard from readers that it was a pretty true adaptation of the images, concepts and themes encapsulated by the book.
There is nothing in it about gay marriage, btw. Or anything gay at all. And that is why it is hard to write this review. I tend to oppose OSC's publicly stated views on gay marriage. And, he is said to have said some pretty outrageous things at points about Obama as well. On the other hand, though I agree with many of the stances of the pro-gay marriage crowd, I LOATHE their tactics. I love classic science fiction literature. I love encouraging it's reading. When an activist gets on a fanatical, hysterical tear and insists that their beloved idealogy become a black hole in which all drifting near it's even horizon must be dragged inside, we part ways and part it hard.
Yes, OSC has some hard, publically stated views about gay marriage. Yes, he even is active in causes which oppose such. But that does not make him bad or evil, despite what the activists say. In fact, by many accounts, he is actually a decent guy. Further, again, that stuff has nothing to do with Ender's Game, the book or movie. And responsible activists are doing no favors to their cause dragging such into their net. But they did, and it seemed their efforts may have contributed to the struggles of the film in the theater.
But what did they oppose exactly? They opposed a film that posed a future environment where humanity is at war with an insectoid alien race known as the Formics, ant like creatures living in hive based societies. Humanity has driven the Formics back to their homeworld, yet describe the situation as a "desperate" one, where they need a unique kind of soldier to prosecute this war at it's most lethal. Such command best be executed by children trained in the techniques and technology developed to fight the Formics. Colonel Hyram Gruff (Harrison Ford) recruits Ender Wiggins (Asa Butterfield) to train with other cadets to fight this war and he turns out to be a prodigy, mastering and exceeding the standards and expectations of the program. Eventually, he is given command of an exercise that simulates a final assault on the Formic homeworld. But there are things that Ender is not telling.
Great story. Not only does it deal with some classic science fiction themes in a military sense, but it asks some pertinent questions in our times. Such as questioning military/policy leaders, even well meaning ones. It poses questions of the dehumanizing and distancing effect of drone warfare. It poses the concept of empathizing with the "other", learning about them, especially before you decide to exterminate them, hoping that it offers more choices than slaughter. And it also raises disturbing questions about the use of child soldiers, an issue very much a problem in our modern world. Is it right to train young people who still haven't formed their moral character to become killers (it does NOT advocate such, despite one anti-OSC activist claiming otherwise. It in fact does the opposite, or at least asks pointed questions about it).
The relevant questions that Ender's Game posed are well worth pondering. I hope that more discover the film in the after-market and read the book as well. As to the activists who want to discourage such, based on their bloody single mindedness on one issue...shame on you.
You are wrong.
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