Pretend you never read the book...

Rating: 10/10 (9 November 2013)

I haven't read the book, so I'm undisturbed by the "flaws" so many of the book's fans kvetch about. Book and film are such radically different mediums (or "media," if you prefer) that a complete re-conception is required when adapting novel to screen. And no two people will ever agree on the way it should be done. Personally, I appreciated that the action scenes were kept brief and crucial to the story's development. The main characters had more room to breathe than in most action-oriented movies, where they have only about two hours to work with. I also appreciated that they avoided the deadly boring black-and-white contrivance of "good guy" versus "bad guy" (which utterly ruined Avatar, in my opinion). The ideas of empathy and ruthlessness, preemptive strike or diplomacy, fascism and individuality, winning and the cost of survival, were all interwoven and given authentic voices. The characters were about as nuanced as could possibly be expected in a sf alien battle movie. It's a shame so many people chose to make it about whining over Card's beliefs, which were consistently exaggerated when not outright misrepresented. The homosexual activists seem determined to silence those who conclude, based on reason and logic and not just "faith," that homosexuality is disordered, and that marriage is not a right but an institution founded on human nature and the procreative function that deserves safeguarding from distortion and defiling. There's only one clear and compelling interest that the government has in marriage--the engendering and raising of subsequent generations. Which is impossible between two people of the same sex. Card is on the correct side of the argument, regardless of how unpopular it is with the strident, yowling liberals.