As I've written here before, I find the campaign to blacklist Orson Scott Card—which is, at heart, an effort to punish an artist for his political views—pretty disturbing, all the more because it's Hollywood, which has for generations treated the Hollywood Ten as something akin to saints, leading the charge.
And now, with some news you can use, comes The Wrap, who wants you, the conscientious reader, to know that the only way to actually punish this artist for his impolitic thoughtcrimes is to boycott the book version of Ender's Game, not the movie version. In a bluntly headlined post, "Orson Scott Card Won't Make Squat From 'Ender's Game' Box Office — Boycott the Book Instead (Exclusive*)," writer Josh Dickey notes:
Progressive people of the world, go ahead and see "Ender’s Game" this weekend with a clear conscience: Orson Scott Card won’t see a penny of your movie ticket money, TheWrap has learned. ...
If you really want to hit Card where it hurts, boycott his book instead: Card still profits handsomely from the novel, perched at the top of the latest New York Times Best Seller List for paperback mass-market fiction.
It's amusing to watch Hollywood types scramble about in a panicked effort to teach (tolerant, open-minded) progressives the best way to financially cripple an artist for holding political views they disapprove of. "No no, Hollywood is fine. We are the good people. The bad man is over there! Punish him for his heterodoxy!"
I can just see Dickey and others at The Wrap in the time of McCarthy, making lists of names of evil, evil communists to blacklist. "If you really want to hit Trumbo where it hurts, boycott Johnny Got His Gun and The Remarkable Andrew. That dirty commie still gets royalties from those works. But don't boycott the re-release of A Guy Named Joe! He won't earn cent one from that."
As I said, amusing. And more than a little despicable.
*I love that "Exclusive!" at the end. "BREAKING: We've discovered the best way blacklist an artist, and we're SUPER proud to lead the charge!" How dreadful.