Orson Scott Card's Game

Homophobic Propaganda

In college, I took an English elective called 'Science Fiction.' It was a fun and easy class, though there was lots of reading. We had to read 4 novels and dozens of short stories. Not that I minded. I was always a big reader and Sci-Fi was my second favorite genre. 

One of the books we read was Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Like many novels and movies in the genre, it was about a young warrior who had the potential to save Humanity from the aliens who were threatening our existence. And I really enjoyed it. It wasn't until many years later that I learned more about Card and his homophobic agenda. 

Card, a terrified Mormon who in 2008 wrote: "Regardless of law, marriage has only one definition, and any government that attempts to change it is my mortal enemy. I will act to destroy that government and bring it down…," he later went on to become a board member of the anti-equality hate group NOM in 2009. The subsequent anti-gay subtext of his works since Ender's Game suggests that gay men, specifically, are unnatural and deserve whatever pain and suffering they get, often equating us with pederasts.

Ender's Game (whose evil, invading aliens are called 'Buggers' - so subtle) is about to hit the big screen this fall with a cast of very talented people who should have known better. Hugo's Asa Butterfield; True Grit's Hailee Steinfeld; Ben (Gandhi) Kingsley; Abigail Breslan and Han Solo/Indiana Jones himself, Harrison Ford, are all in the film. And they have all tried to defend it by saying we should judge the art, but not the artist. Really? Isn't the point of art to depict the artist's point of view? Throughout my training as a performing artist, it was always stressed that a work of art was meant to depict the artist's true intent, regardless of how the viewer interprets it.

This past May, Salon.com published an article detailing Card's most heinous remarks, while pointing out the homophobia inherent in his works. Recently, Geeks OUT, an LGBT Sci-Fi fan group, has called for a boycott of the film. It doesn't matter to them (or me) that Card has already made millions from the novel and the movie rights. It doesn't matter that the filmmakers and stars are trying to distance the movie from it's source. What matters is pointing out that Card is a viciously antagonistic homophobe who needs a reality check. 

After the recent SCOTUS decision regarding DOMA, Card tried to do some damage control, saying:

 

"Ender’s Game is set more than a century in the future and has nothing to do with political issues that did not exist when the book was written in 1984.

"With the recent Supreme Court ruling, the gay marriage issue becomes moot. The Full Faith and Credit clause of the Constitution will, sooner or later, give legal force in every state to any marriage contract recognized by any other state.

"Now it will be interesting to see whether the victorious proponents of gay marriage will show tolerance toward those who disagreed with them when the issue was still in dispute."

Tolerance? Seriously? F*CK YOU, Orson! F*ck you so hard you bleed! F*ck you so hard you cry for your Mommy! F*ck you so hard that you finally learn what it means to be bullied and hated just for being yourself! Of course, you won't learn that lesson because your hatred, fear and ignorance have been ingrained in you by a cult founded by an illiterate farmer who convinced a bunch of equally ignorant Rubes that he could decipher a previously unknown ancient language which was revealed to him by an angel on 'golden plates' which he could never, ever show to anyone else.

Wow, that was uncharacteristically mean-spirited on my part. But I'm not sorry.

Here's the thing: If you're going to spend the majority of your life hating a group of people just for being who they are (and declaring war on your government for recognizing that group's inherent Human Rights), you have absolutely no business asking for that group to be tolerant of your hatred or the art you create which reflects it.

Despite liking the book and loving the cast of the movie, I will not be seeing Ender's Game, in any way, shape or form. And I encourage you to not see it, as well. And while I would normally post a trailer or video at this point in my rant, I simply cannot bring myself to do anything which might promote this movie. 

Please don't see this movie. Let it die the death it deserves. Let Card know we will not tolerate his intolerance. Skip Ender's Game and hold out for J.J. Abrams' Star Wars movies, instead. Hell, wait for the inevitably awful Avatar sequels. Whatever you do, let Card and his ilk know that they are dinosaurs living in the past, with little-to-no relevance to modern reality. And while I freely admit that most boycotts don't work, this one may actually send a message to the gayest (and most homophobic) industry in the U.S. Come on... You know Brokeback Mountain should have won Best Picture.

More, anon.
Prospero

Daddy Issues

If you met my father or worked with him, you would have thought he was a pretty great guy. Often funny; fairly intelligent; somewhat handy and occasionally a good cook, my dad presented himself as a perfectly decent human being. 

Those of us who lived with him, knew better. A racist, anti-Semitic homophobe who was fascinated by Alexander the Great; Napoleon and Hitler, my father was actually quite a jerk. He cheated on my mother (who foolishly took him back after the first time he left her for the woman who gave birth to my half-brother) at least twice that I can confirm. His vacations were spent painting the house or doing other things that excluded the rest of the family and never took us anywhere for more than a day (and even then, only when he had free passes to wherever it was we went). Of course, I didn't realize what a jerk was when I was younger.

Truth be told, as a child, I idolized my dad. As most kids do. I have tons of happy memories spent with my father at the movies; at family cook-outs; on day trips to the Jersey Shore; learning to cook my grandmother's recipes... He instilled in me a love of classical music and certainly informed my sense of humor. He taught me about classic movies and introduced me to the Universal Monsters. He showed me how to build a perfect wood grill fire and attempted to teach me how to drive. He told lots of jokes and taught me accents which I use to this day.

As I got older and reached adolescence, it became clear that my father resented my mother, my sister and I. And although I never officially came out to him, once he realized I was gay, he shut me out completely. He often quoted Thoreau to me: "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation." He complained, "There are men exploring uncharted regions of the world while I am stuck here, paying bills and painting walls." And whose fault was that? As a young adolescent, he repeatedly reminded me that I had an acne problem (his face was heavily scarred from his own, much worse bought with it) and complained because I didn't participate in sports. He absolutely HATED the fact that I discovered Theatre and constantly berated me for not wanting to become a doctor, lawyer or some sort of executive at a boring, soul-crushing corporation.

Don't get me wrong. I loved my Dad. I loved him right up until the day he died from a neuroblastoma at the age of 59 in 1998, less than ten years after he left my mother for the second time and married a trashy, wealthy widow who dragged him to Las Vegas for the last five years of his life. That wedding was one of the unintentionally funniest events I have ever attended, though it's a story for another time. I loved him, but didn't like him very much at all.

Dad died alone, with no one from his real family nearby. Six months before he passed, we had a phone conversation in which he said "I love you" to me for the first time in my memory.

I was camping with my then boyfriend in Provincetown when he passed-away on July 5th, just three weeks shy of his 60th birthday. When Ric and I got home that afternoon, Mom told me he had passed and honestly, I felt nothing. Just like the gal in that number from A Chorus Line. And for the longest time, I felt guilty for feeling nothing. I mean, this was huge. My father had died. I should feel something, shouldn't I? 

After several weeks of legal wrangling (impeded by the meddlings of the aforementioned second wife), Dad's ashes were finally sent back East and we buried them along with his father mother in St. Stephan's Cemetery in Trenton, NJ. The ceremony was attended by myself, his sister and exactly five other people (one of whom was the funeral director). It was then that I finally realized that everyone else who had known my father knew what a jerk he was and that they had stayed away in droves. And while I have long ago forgiven him for being such a creep, every Fathers' Day I resent the fact that I don't get to share with everyone else who has or had a really great Dad. And then I realize that given the chance, I would have made a pretty great Dad, having learned so much from having such a jerk for a father.

I know I'm not alone in this. Plenty of folks have absolute monsters for fathers. He never beat us, or stole money to support a drug habit or killed anyone. He worked hard to support, feed and clothe his family. He just wasn't all that into it, I guess. 

I hope you have or had a better Dad, than mine. I'd like to imagine that given the opportunity, I would have been a better father than mine was. And I do have to thank my mother, whose kindness, compassion and love of Rock 'N Roll counterbalanced all of his negativity. I have no idea how or why she put up with him as long as she did. Without him, my sister and I wouldn't exist, so I have to give him credit for that, too. Still... I wish I had a Dad I would want to wish a Happy Fathers' Day. 

To all of the fathers reading this, please know how much you mean to your children. Love them no matter what. Don't give them reasons to hate or resent you. Make them want to be at your side on your deathbed and give them reasons to mourn your passing. They'll be all the better for it.

More, anon.
Prospero

My Head Will Explode

I was going to write about the RNC tonight but I realized that if I did, my head would literally explode from their lies and hatred of women and gays. Subjugation of those one deems weaker than you has historically proven to be a winning policy. It worked particularly well during the dark ages, when only the clergy and the royals could read. Of course, women and gays no longer see themselves as weaker than the bullies who would make us 'less than' and they are now running scared and using every deceitful tactic they can to deny us rights.It's nothing less than disgusting. So much so, that I avoided tonight's coverage of the RNC in order to keep my dinner down.

Seriously, it is my hope that no woman is ever raped. But I really hope that no GOP-supporting woman ends up pregnant from a rape or forced incest. Can you imagine being compelled by law to spend nine months living with a reminder of the horrors and degradation of that event? Not to mention knowing that the rapist would have full parental rights to the child he fathered? I can only think that some Repugnican a-hole has secretly lobotomized the women who would support such a platform. Can you explain why any woman would support this? I don't know a single one who would.

And as for Marriage Equality - well, we've all seen how Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, South Africa, and Sweden have all fallen into the depths of the abyss because of they allow men to marry men and women to marry women. It's such a shame that those countries have been subsumed into the fiery depths of hell. Wait... what? They haven't? Shocking!

Why is it any politician's business who I love? Why is it any politician's business whether a woman chooses to have a baby they ca't support and do not want? Why is it any politician's business how I (or any of us) live the life that the U.S. Constitution guarantees we live it? Those sentences may not be grammatically correct, but I'll be damned if I'll let some rich, government fat-cat tell me how I can or cannot live my life. 

I know I'm probably 'preaching to choir' here, but the choice for any sane, rational human being is clear. Let our current President finish the job of cleaning up the mess left to him by a complete idiot, or allow Twit Romney and Paul Moron to run slipshod over the Constitution. That odd, buzzing sound you hear? It's Lincoln, furiously spinning in his grave because the party he once led has now become a bunch of hateful bigots.

I can't promise this will be my last post on this subject. In fact, I can almost assure it won't be. But until the current, ultra-right GOP is laid to rest, I will not be silent. And nor should you. 

If you care about Freedom; if you care about Human Rights; if you care about Women's Rights; if you care about LGBT Rights, you know what you must do this November.

Rant over. Back to the usual nonsense, next time.

More, anon.
Prospero

The (Literally) Biggest Jerk in America

A-hole Homophobe

While I live and work in neighboring PA, most of my family, the majority of my friends and almost all of the theatre I do are in NJ, so I have an interest in what happens there.

Yesterday, the NJ Assembly voted to pass an amendment which would legalize same-sex marriage in my native state. New Jersey's Repugnican governor has said that he will "move swiftly" to veto the bill, despite overwhelming evidence that the majority of New Jersey residents approve of legalizing same-sex marriage.

What the...?

The Honorable Christine Gregoire, Republican Governor of Washington State (which recently passed a similar bill) wrote to Christie in an effort to persuade him not to veto the bill (via):

As of this writing, Christie has yet to respond to Governor Gregoire's letter. Nor do I expect him to. As a Repugnican and a Catholic, Christie refuses to admit that he is among a dying breed of homophobes who are living on the wrong side of history. 

I don't understand how people can claim that same-sex marriage will destroy or devalue heterosexual marriage. Canada legalized it over 10 years ago, and they have hardly been swallowed down to hell. And don't even get me started on the revenues to be generated in the wedding industry. Why would any governor of any state want to lose out on more taxes?

Just as Washington becomes the 7th state in the U.S. to allow same-sex marriage, New Jersey is missing out on not only increased revenue, but maintaining its reputation as one of the most liberal and progressive states in the country. It makes me sad on so many levels. While I doubt that I will live to see the day when this country comes it to its senses and offers equality to all its citizens, I know that eventually, we'll get there. And folks like Chris Christie will join the ranks of George Wallace, Rush Limbaugh and Strom Thurman on history's list of people who were wrong.

Oh, and the enclosure Governor Gregoire mentioned in her letter? It's a transcript of the speech she gave on January 10th of this year. You can watch it, below:

Enlightenment, like change, is often slow and occasionally painful.

More, anon.
Prospero

"...and then I wasn't so excited..."

This is not a post about bashing Kanye West. There are plenty of people out there doing that already, and even if he is an ego maniacal asshole who completely deserves the bashing he's getting both online and the "legitimate" press (which he totally is and does), this post is rather about an unassuming young, beautiful C/W singer who was more surprised than anyone by her win at the VMAs.

19 year-old Taylor Swift had won Best Female Video for her song "You Belong with Me." Imagine the excitement and joy, at 19, you would have felt upon winning what has become a pop-culturally iconic award, only to have some dickhead, who exists only to promote himself and his own agenda, jump up and snatch your joy away by proclaiming that someone else's work was better than that for which you had just won a pop-culturally iconic award. Ms. Swift has been quoted as saying "At first I was excited because I won the award. Then I was excited that Kanye West was on the stage... then I wasn't so exited..."

Today, at my age, I would have punched that jerk in the nose (or at least not relinquished the mike). At 19, I would have had a very similar reaction to Ms. Swift's.

And then there's poor Beyonce Knowles - obviously both flattered and embarrassed - who did the only thing she could and demonstrated the true meaning of "class" when upon winning an award of her own, called Taylor Swift out to finish her speech. Beyonce continues to prove that beauty, talent and graciousness always wins the day. You can see sweet Taylor Swift's adorable, award-winning video here. Beyonce's video may have been hot and oh-so-parodiable, but Swift's video was charming, funny, romantic and fairly universal.

In other news... I had a sort of breakthrough tonight (well, technically last night). I think I may finally have found this character's voice. The rest should soon fall in place. I thank my director, who allowed me to figure it out on my own. I may still really dislike the play, but I think I finally figured out how to play the role in a way that will satisfy everyone - even me. Whew! Talk about cutting it close! We open this Thursday night...

More, anon (very anon, actually)
Prospero