*Note: before you start reading,
please be aware that I am going to talk about some of the darker things OSC is
known for, and I am separating his writing advice from his personal opinions on
other topics.
Orson Scott Card, author the numerous
science fiction novels including the Ender Series, conducts a yearly writing
workshop in Greensboro, North Carolina. Now, there is no story (with the
possible exception of Harry Potter, but it's a close call) that I've read more
than the Ender books. Naturally, I wanted to attend.
I learned about his writing classes
in a very round-about manner. In part because I've developed this notion that
someday I'm going to pen a science fiction novel of my own and I want to
critically examine other people's stories, and in part because I just love
reading the stuff, I bought a "Year's Best of" science fiction
compendium. At the beginning of the book there was an editors note, which
included a summary of the state of the science fiction short-story industry. It
was here that I learned about Orson Scott Card's magazine, The Intergalactic
Medicine Show, and was reminded that he also maintains a website, hatrack.com.
I visited his website and randomly found myself looking at the site's calendar,
which at the time had only one event on it: his August writing workshop.
What better way to learn about
writing science fiction than by taking a class taught by one of my favorite
authors? Now, I want to make it clear that although I love the Ender books and
it was through them that OSC gained my admiration (which has since been lowered
a few pegs), I knew next to nothing about the man. I knew that he was a Mormon
and that he lived in NC, but that was all. Actually, that's not entirely true.
I thought I understood what his character must be like, since I'd read
so many of his works. But it turns out that a work of fiction isn't necessarily
as good a window into the author's soul as many assume.
Before the workshop, I was telling my
colleagues in the office that I was going to take a writing course from OSC,
and did they know who he was? One of my colleagues (who happens to enjoy
science fiction) told me that OSC was a homophobic bigot who supports hate
crimes against homosexuals. Wait, WHAT?
Naturally, I was shocked and more
than a little perturbed, so I went online to see what she was talking about.
For those of you in the know, I just want to say that this post is not meant to
discuss, cast blame on, or excuse OSC's opinions on gay people. Yes, he wrote a
shockingly vitriolic essay for a Mormon publication on how the government
should not have the power to give marriage rights to homosexuals, and we should
replace our government for trying to do so. Learning this upset and confused me
greatly, but I had already paid for my plane ticket and for the class, so while
I toyed with the idea of canceling my attendance, ultimately I decided to go
anyway and see what I could learn.
Because I've brought it up and I
don't want to talk about it later in the post, I'll summarize my conclusions on
the homophobia issue.
OSC's essay was irresponsible at best.
My assessment after talking to him in-person was that he certainly does not
support hate crimes, and his very strong religious beliefs are what drive his
views on gay marriage.
He absolutely believes that people
are gay by choice, and rejects the notion that homosexuality could be genetic,
on the basis that if this were the case, you'd expect the "gay gene"
not to get passed on, for obvious reasons. I know enough about genetics to
understand his argument, but not quite enough to refute it properly.
He "gay by choice" argument
is based on personal anecdotes of 'friends' (his word) who were married for
years and then "decided" they were gay, as well as friends who were
gay then decided they were straight.
He volunteered the information in the
last two points as a non-sequitur in a private conversation with me that was
actually on climate change ... yeah, he doesn't believe in anthropogenic
global warming. Grr.
Okay, I've spent way more time discussing that
issue than I meant to, and I need to go to work, so I'll have to write part two
of this post later.
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