Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Ending the games

Ender's Game





    I’ve never read Ender’s Game, nor any of Orson Scott Card’s books. I don’t care to listen to the man preach to me about the evils of gay marriage. I will let him tell me a story of space, aliens, war and the lengths one goes to when they feel they have no other choice because the two are not mutually exclusive. I can enjoy a story and a movie while keeping the thoughts an opinions of an author. Reading and watching Twilight (why did I admit to this?)didn’t make me want to join the church of the sparkly vampire virgin. If I see an “artist” doing something that physically disgusts me, I do not eliminate his art, I just choose to look at what I want to see in them. Let’s face facts, the people who hate gay people and are disgusted by gay marriage, probably aren’t gonna be convinced by me not going to their movie that everyone is entitled to love anyone they want. Don’t cut yourself off from different points of view because you don’t agree with them. Isn’t that the same as saying that you don’t like gay marriage?
    Alright, enough heavy stuff. The important thing to know is that Ender’s Game is a great science fiction movie. The year is 2086 and an alien race called the Formic attack Earth. Thanks to the ability of a single pilot, the aliens are destroyed. Exactly how it happened is a mystery. Mazer Rackham is a hero to the human race and the aliens were defeated. It is known that the aliens are assembling a new attempt at conquering Earth.  Enter Asa Butterfield as Andrew “Ender” Wiggin, a child genius who has the ability to out think and defeat any opponent.  He is recruited by Harrison Ford’s Colonel Graff to join an elite squad of kids who show the promise and the ability to lead the human race in the war against the Formic forces and end the threat for good. To quote Law and Order, these are their stories.
    The subtle and nuanced work of Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, and Abigail Breslin hold their own against the world famous Harrison Ford, Viola Davis and Ben Kingsley. All the key roles are perfectly cast. I’ve been personally worried about Harrison Ford in recent years. He seemed to have fallen into mumbling and resting on the laurels of being one of the most iconic characters in the history of film. Here, Harrison Ford is engaged and indeed very solemn as a man who is most likely destroying these children’s lives.  Ender’s trials throughout the movie show us the lonliness of genius and the consequences of bullying. A whole lot of this movie is a telling statement  on our society. Hailee Steinfeld as Petra offers the lone bit of support and caring for the first part of the movie. As time goes on, Ender builds a team of the losers and freaks and turns them into an elite force to help him fight the Formic army. The key to Ender’s Game is not what happens in the movie but the motivations for most all the tormentors in Ender’s Life. Fear. The bullies, the leaders, Ender, his crew, even the Formic...they all fear what they can’t control.  Fear is the overriding element of every torture, bullying, and action in this film. Perhaps if Mr. Scott Card could look at his own book for inspiration he’d stop trying to attack love and embrace it. That is the point you can derive from Ender’s Game. It’s a good one.

Mr. Unhappy Sez: In the end, hate is beaten by love. Always will. Ender’s Game is a great movie. Don’t let your hate stop you from seeing it.

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