Good afternoon, everyone. Today, I'll be discussing the book Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (1985), and more specifically, how I think (from what the trailers have shown me) how it will compare to the movie. So here we go. Possible spoilers ahead, so if you plan on reading the book (or watching the movie) enter on your own whim. I will try to keep the spoilers to a minimum. Very spoiler-y parts will be run over in gray, highlight them to read those parts.
So first, lets discuss the author. Orson Scott Card (OSC) has written over 50 books, many in the Sci-Fi genre. You can correct me if I am wrong, but I didn't notice any extremely prevalent viewpoints in Ender's Game (although I can't say much about his other novels), and so because of his personal opinions on topics such as same-sex marriage, political stance, religion, and science he has been under fire by various people. You might find some people with VERY strong opinions about his writing. I have talked to some people who really love his books, and some who really hate them; when I asked them to provide reason for these opinions, usually it was his opinions that were the reasons for someone liking his books.
Now, the book, in my opinion, was very good. It was only until I inquired with others about why they liked or disliked the books that I looked up what his beliefs were. So I wasn't reading the book because I disagreed or agreed with him in one way or another (I read it cause it was assigned for book club). Back to that, the book was good for a couple of reasons. I like science fiction, and I pleasantly enjoyed imagining what the games he played would be like. I like how humanity was one of the "themes" of the book, which was present throughout most of it. I also like that it made me think, I read it, and I felt like I could clear my thoughts and talk to people in a way that made sense. If this post doesn't make sense, it's mostly cause I am not reading the book anymore.
I watched the trailer the other day, after finishing the book (both trailers are viewable here and here), and from what I saw, it will not even be close to the book. I know, this is typically how movies are, but hear me out. At about 1:40 in the second trailer, he is inside of his flagship, controlling the fleet, ready to destroy the planet in the distance. In the book, this wasn't the case; he spent his time after graduating from the first school playing more simulations, thinking he was only playing games and preparing for the war. It was not revealed until later that he was actually controlling a real fleet, and fighting against the Buggers in the war. He felt almost overwhelmed and defeated in the final battle, and all but gave up and, as he thought, "broke the rules." When it was revealed to him that he had just won the war, he got angry. He didn't want to kill anyone, even the Bugger enemy. In the movie, it seems like he is almost happy to be fighting against the enemy, and the whole book's conflict of being human seems to have been erased.
So that brings me to the question. How far can a movie really stray? Does the director not want to include it, because he does not agree with OSC's beliefs? Or is there something else? Or am I overanalyzing it entirely and merely taking assumption based on a couple short clips? I dunno. I still am gonna go see the movie when it comes out, and hey, maybe I'll like it as much as I liked the book. We'll see.
On a side note, I would like to brush on a connection I noticed. This book, in at least the atmosphere of it, seems very similar to Starship Troopers (1959). Space wars, "Bugger" hostile aliens, propagandic in some minute way. Stuff like that. I looked it up, and OSC said he had not even read the book until after he wrote Ender's Game. Just some food for thought. There's another book I should start reading. Maybe after I finish all the ones I got. Hmm...
(Word Count: 730 words)
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