Orson Scott Card has been getting a lot of attention of late. Between the Marvel hire and forthcoming adaptation of Ender's Game, there are a lot of people asking whether it is a moral question to consume the work of an artist committed to . I'll offer my thoughts by way of weighing-in on Alyssa's recent post in which offers several suggestions as to whether and how to watch a movie based on the work of a vocal and committed anti-gay activist.
Alyssa proffers 4 choices for people who loved the book and desperately want to see the movie but don't want to support a man with intolerable political views even indirectly. Here was the choice most salient to me:
2. Employ political moral offsets: If Card has points on the back end, the percentage of the purchase price of your movie ticket that goes to him will still be relatively low. But even so, offset that financial contribution to his well-being with a political contribution to an organization that fights precisely the kind of hatred that Card supports. As a ballpark, I’d suggest twice the price of your ticket purchase to Freedom to Marry, an exceedingly canny organization that does all sorts of wonderful marriage equality work. The Gay And Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, which does a lot of media work, including publishing the excellent television census of LGBT characters, the Network Responsibility Index, is also a great candidate for donations.
In all likelihood, I won't see it in theaters but if I do, I'm taking Alyssa's advice and making an equal or greater contribution that will help fight hatred. I hope everyone else who chooses to see this film will too.
thanks for the link to that post. it is a dilemma, and I, too, like the option you highlight.
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