Harrison Ford again defends Ender’s Game film: ‘I wrestled with whether to take the part’

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Harrison Ford has again defended the Ender’s Game film, which received heavy criticism because of the anti-gay views of Orson Scott Card, writer of the book on which the film was based.

An online campaign urged moviegoers to boycott the upcoming release of “Ender’s Game,” a big-budget Hollywood movie based on the work of notoriously anti-gay novelist Orson Scott Card, who last year described same-sex attraction as a “reproductive dysfunction”.

Speaking of his appearance in the film at a press event on 7 October, Ford said he thought it was important that he had appeared, as it opened a dialogue on the issue.

Echoing what he said in an interview back in July , he said he thought the themes of the book were at odds with the anti-gay rhetoric by writer Card.

“It’s well known Orson Scott Card and I have different views on the issue of gay marriage and gay rights,” he said, according to the Guardian. “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.”

“Should I not have made the film because of his views?” he asked. “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.”

Back in July, he said: “I think none of Mr Card’s concerns regarding the issues of gay marriage are part of the thematics of this film.

“He has written something that I think is of value to us all concerning moral responsibility. I think his views outside of those that we deal with in this film are not an issue for me to deal with and something I have really no opinion on,” he said.

“I am aware of his statements admitting that the question of gay marriage is a battle that he lost and he admits that he lost it. I think we all know that we’ve all won. That humanity has won. And I think that’s the end of the story.”

At Comic-Con there were no signs of any protest, despite the calls for a boycott. The film’s director also commented to say that the book the film is based on is “great”, and “is not about” equal marriage.

Screenwriter of the Harvey Milk Biopic ‘Milk’, Dustin Lance Black, weighed into the argument to say that the campaign to boycott the film is “misguided”.

Producing the film, Lionsgate responded, saying it has a longstanding commitment to the LGBT community, and that although it does not agree with Card’s personal opinions they are not linked to the book or the film.

The proponents of the boycott then replied to reject Card’s call for tolerance.

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