Culture

The Screenwriter Behind 'Milk' Thinks You Should Still See 'Ender's Game'

LGBT activists are protesting the release of Ender's Game and Lionsgate is trying to put as much distance between themselves and the film. But there's still one gay rights/film industry type who thinks you should see it. Dustin Lance Black, the screenwriter behind Milk, took to Facebook this weekend to tell his followers to support the movie.

By Arit John
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LGBT activists are protesting the release of Ender's Game, and Lionsgate is trying to put distance between itself and the film. But there's still one gay rights/film industry type who thinks you should see the film. Dustin Lance Black, the Academy Award-winning screenwriter behind Milk, took to Facebook this weekend to tell his followers to support the movie. His comments follow calls from groups like Geeks OUT to keep money out of the hands of Orson Scott Card, the Ender's Game novelist and very vocal anti-gay-marriage activist.

Like Card, Black was raised in a Mormon family. Black also is an active LGBT activist and campaigned against California's Proposition 8. In a Saturday Facebook post that has since been deleted, Black wrote:

There's so much good to be done right now. Boycotting a movie made by 99% lgbt equality folks in an lgbt equality industry is a waste of our collective energy. Making one phone call to a relative in the south who isn't quite there yet would be 1000 times more effective.

He also tweeted a link to the post:

In a follow-up comment, Black called the boycott "misguided," and wrote that “the homophobic novelist who wrote the book hasn't been involved in decades.” Earlier this month Black spoke with the New York Times about the film, noting that “[LGBT activists] haven’t been getting the numbers we’ve seen by disengaging."

Black did not immediately return requests for comment on why he removed the post, which was deleted by 8 PM EST due to negative comments. Across the Internet he's been taken to task for his anti-boycott stance. Back2Stonewall accused him of trying to protect his career, a "gutless, craven move." The Backlot simply disagreed with the idea that boycotting is disengaging. "Love you, Lance, but you’re so wrong here," wrote Ed Kennedy. "We’re doing the opposite of disengaging."

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.