I'd like to focus on Orson Scott Card in this nonsense doodad I call meh blog. First off let me say I know little to nothing about anything and I only have my naysay opinions and life experiences to run off of so keep that in mind while we delve, you and I.
In light of the film coming out of Ender's Game there's been a lot of upheaval involving the gay community concerning Orson Scott Card's clearly dickish stance on gay marriage and all things not right wing (I've linked his essay here but be warned it is absolute puke status, I could barely get through it). This was a fairly recent discovery on my part, probs within the last few months that one of my literary heroes was a bigot and using the funds I had provided as a fan and follower to finance hate. By no means am I okay with this. HOWEVER. And this is a big however, so much so that I feel the need to move on to a new paragraph...
No matter how much of a shithead a person is in life, I believe everyone has something positive to offer the world. Ender's Game changed my life. It changed my perspective in a very positive and reinforcing way and made me stronger. I will never let go of that. That book and it's message was a gift to me. I had a hero, not just Ender but Bean and Petra and Nikolai and Alai and the list indeed goes on. So many characters had such vibrant redeeming characteristics all making up for each other's losses that I couldn't help but think what a brilliant piece of work it was. Like dayum.
I could metaphorically jizz all over this post with praise for that book, but I won't because it's besides the point. The point is, Card gave me a hero, NAY, several heroes I could look up to and if I had never known that their author and creator was such a dillweed, I know my reverence for that series would never have been called into question. But I do know. So what do I do. Is the question. Is the point.
I turmoil. I know that's not a verb but go ahead and deal with it. I stopped eating at Chick-Fil-A, I stopped shopping at Urban Outfitters (I've recently discovered this was a personal contribution by their CEO and was not directly affiliated with the store as interwebbed here), I stopped thrifting at Salvation Army, but this one gives me pause. This one lacerates my feeling box. Because it means more. It's like someone telling you Frank Miller is a pedophile.
That. Would. Suck.
And he's not so cool your cakes.
I don't even know how to end this post because I don't know how I feel anymore. I like to weigh my judgments cautiously in spite of my 5 year old demeanor. I don't feel like anything I have read up to this point by Card had any semblance of hate toward any group be it the majority or minority of the world. Every message has been an idea of hope, intelligence, and persistence. As one of my other positive influences would say "Ideas are bulletproof." Oh god no one ruin Alan Moore for me please.
Ideas are universal and owned by no one (thank fucking God). They live inside all of us and are bred from each other from the beginning of time, stemming from each other and growing with wild abandon. Ideas can be bad and good and as long as they affect you and make you think about your life...well then be grateful for that. I'd rather sit here and stew and contemplate my own stance on how I spend my meager time on this earth than waste it by...ya know...not doing that...or whatever.
Use your time wisely. There, that's sage. I did it. Blog over.
