So it turns out that one of my favorite authors turns out to be a raging homophobe. Should I care about it?
Most of the authors I read I don't know a single thing about. Maybe some of them eat babies or run dog fighting or something, how would I know. Somehow it's gotten out that Orson Scott Card has a thing about gays. I guess it's fairly consistent with his Mormon beliefs.
Thing is, I always thought I did know something about OSC. Sometime back in the past I read an afterword in one of his books where he explains that he was starting a theatre and only became a sci-fi author to try to keep the theatre afloat. Something in that alway resonated with me. I felt a connection.
I do have to say that even without knowing his stance on gays I have been having a little trouble with OSC of late. I've been reading his page and his blog and there's more and more every week that I don't agree with. He's a big Bush supporter, he's critical of a lot of entertainment, we're just not on the same page.
But that shouldn't take away from Ender, or from Magic Street, or Alvin Maker. I wonder if I'll be able to separate the man's work from the man's views.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Some of My Best Friends Are...
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4 comments:
How do you seperate a man's work from his views? Isn't it likely that each informs the other? Ayn Rand wrote page-turning novels, but whew! the philosophy.
Don't get me wrong, I loved the Ender's books. I might re-read them however, in light of the knowlege of OSC's political leanings. It may be that those proclivities are in there. Those of us with different socio-political inclinations may simply not pick up on those things with which we don't agree.
> I wonder if I'll be able
> to separate the man's work
> from the man's views.
It can be done. I've been a huge fan of Stephen King since before we were in high school and I've known for a while now that he's about as Left as they come. Doesn't really bother me, though. His work is still just as enthralling as it always was.
Likewise actors. Tim Robbins, Alec Baldwin, Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn are crazy-left and I don't agree with just about anything they say but they all have fabulous talent and I have no problem enjoying their performances on screen.
Bottom line, I couldn't care less what political views my car mechanic holds. So long as he fixes my car, I'm good. Same holds true for entertainers. If they entertain me, then they've done their job. How they feel about the war or abortion or illegal immigration is irrelevant.
i had the same reaction the other day when i found out beck is a scientologist.
I love Ender. I'm not sure that there is a problem with a person's beliefs and their work. Is his work affecting gays? He's not writing Sci-fi that's anti-gay...
I understand the theory that they inform each other, and I'm sure that you can't totally seperate them, but I don't write shows with a Jewish air...
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