Orson Scott Card is his own worst enemy (and the enemy is winning)

There is an Ender's Game movie coming out. Big revelation, I know. I'd like to address one Tweet from one of my favourite internet critics, MovieBob, when he pondered what kind of damage Orson Scott Card could do to that project between now and November.

I'd say it's a simple question to answer: he already has.

There are mountains of quotes, articles and posts he has made on the subject of homosexuality (in particular), climate change, Israel, the Iraq War, etc. Mountains. The dude doesn't have to breathe another word, in all complete seriousness. If you know where to look (and there are many, many people who will help point you in the right direction), you can get volumes of his screeds.

Timing is everything: as recently as five years ago Card could probably have skated by consequence free. Remember, the election that brought in Obama also struck down same sex marriage in California. Four years before the Republicans won the White House for a second term by exploiting fear of same sex marriage. Now, with Minnesota proudly joining the ranks of the 12 states that recognize same sex marriage; and New Zealand, Uruguay, and France now recognizing same sex marriage, its going to get harder to rationalize away Card's "traditionalist" beliefs.

I'm actually interested to see what will happen to Card's creative output in a decade when same sex marriage gains more traction. I don't believe its going to be legalized nationwide for another fifteen to twenty years at least, though perhaps I'll be pleasantly surprised. I don't expect him to be completely forgotten, as Ender's Game is a seminal work within science fiction; but his luster will dim, that much is clear, with the consequence of the rest of his body of work being ignored. Within half a century all he will have left is one book and a handful of angry screeds. That will be tragic. But it will not be unearned.

Naturally, the producers will (when Card's nonsense inevitably get raised) distance themselves from him. Card will go on a tangent about being censored and the media distorting his words, the first reactions of someone who has espoused unpleasant beliefs and is now being held to task for it. He'll double down further on his beliefs; and as America changes he will continue to be more and more isolated to the point where people will wonder what was so magical about him to begin with.

That's the way he wants it. So long as he's happy, I suppose.