The controversial film continues the antigay blunders in the merchandise.
October 30 2013 6:51 PM EST
December 16 2015 9:54 PM EST
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The controversial film continues the antigay blunders in the merchandise.
"Bugger" is antigay slag in British English. "Bugger" is also the name of the fictional insect-like alien species from the Ender's Game series of science fiction novels by Orson Scott Card (pictured).
Card could claim that because he's not British that he didn't know he was being a total antigay jerk when he decided to call his novels' villains "Buggers." I don't know if he has ever claimed innocence on that, but it doesn't matter. He's a writer, and writers traffic in words. The definitions and nuances of words are particularly important to writers. They read a lot of words and write down a lot of words to do their jobs. It's no stretch to say Card was certain he knew exactly what he was writing when he called his fictitious extra-terrestrial insect-like villains the same slur used by real life actual jerks on Earth for gay men.
Plus he doesn't mind saying hateful antigay things anyhow (enough to spark a boycott), so who's believe him if he played the naif?
But whoever is in charge of these wares, for the film adaptation of Ender's Game about to come out, cannot be given a pass. Cafe Press is selling "Fear the Buggers" gear as "Official Fan-designed Ender's Game T-shirt." For real?
Merchandising fail. Big fail.