![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.amptoons.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/orsonscottcard1.jpg\" "\\"orsonscottcard\\"")
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There are a lot of boycotts I’d support. But artists shouldn’t be boycotted for their political views.<\/p>\n
Three quick disclaimers: 1)<\/strong> I think it’s fine if you’re skipping the movie because you don’t want to support a vicious homophobe like Card. 2)<\/strong> Obviously, people have a free speech right to call for a boycott. 3)<\/strong> I have zero sympathy for Card, considering how much work he put into making his own hateful bed (using scorn sheets and spite pillowcases, no doubt).<\/p>\n But an organized boycott<\/a> against an individual artist for his political views goes against a culture of free speech. If people feel their jobs or livelihoods are threatened if they state their political position, then that creates an coercive incentive for people to shut up.<\/p>\n Furthermore, that’s not how art should be judged. In this case, I’m not very concerned – Ender’s Game<\/em> looks like it’s going to be utterly mediocre – but as a general principle, art should be judged by whether or not it’s good art, not by whether or not the creator is a good person. Alexandra Petri<\/a> hits on this point:<\/p>\n Comb through the ranks of great artists and creators and it\u2019s easy to find things to object to in their personal lives and beliefs. Henry Ford was anti-Semitic. So was Richard Wagner. They do things that make you sick. They believe things that are fundamentally wrong. But they are capable of creating things that take your breath away.<\/p>\n Oscar Wilde, no stranger to intolerance, wrote in a review that “The fact of a man being a poisoner is nothing against his prose. The domestic virtues are not the true basis of art, though they may serve as an excellent advertisement for second-rate artists.”<\/p>\n If you are only willing to support artists who agree with you, you wind up stuck with a lot of mediocre art. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n In a society with a healthy free speech ethic, people can disagree – even about serious issues – without striking at opponents’ livelihoods. <\/p>\n * * *<\/p>\n Before any conservatives reading this get too smug and “well, of course lefties are against free speech” about this, please recall that anti-gay folks get people fired for being gay, or for being pro-gay, all the time<\/a>.<\/p>\n * * *<\/p>\n Here are some recent pieces I’ve read about the Orson Scott Card thing:<\/p>\n I’ve Decided To Give Orson Scott Card The Benefit of the Doubt! | Popehat<\/a> (The title of the post is sarcastic, and the post itself is a hilarious takedown of OSC’s recent plea for tolerance.)<\/p>\n Orson Scott Card Wants You to Forget How Much He Hates Gays | Epsilon Clue<\/a><\/p>\n Is the Debate Over Same-Sex Marriage and ‘Ender’s Game’ Just Starting? – WSJ<\/a><\/p>\n Joe. My. God.: Orson Scott Card Pleads For “Tolerance”<\/a>. Best sentence: “Oh, how very interesting <\/i>the talk must be at NOM headquarters today upon learning that a member of their board of directors has just told a national magazine that their entire campaign of hatred is now ‘moot.'”<\/p>\n Geeks OUT Responds to Orson Scott Card, Still Plans to Skip Ender’s Game | Geeks OUT!<\/a><\/p>\n Ender’s Game author Orson Scott Card issues plea for tolerance of his intolerance of gays | The A.V. Club<\/a><\/p>\n Orson Scott Card Boycott | The Mary Sue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are a lot of boycotts I’d support. But artists shouldn’t be boycotted for their political views. Three quick disclaimers: 1) I think it’s fine if you’re skipping the movie because you don’t want to support a vicious homophobe like … Continue reading