Enders Game Thread

[Unkiewill]

@Kahuna - You need to put a spoiler alert message on your post. The ending of Ender's Game really blew me away. I lived in Greensboro, NC for a while and thought is was really cool to drive down Lake Brandt Rd from time to time. It is a great book but I never thought of it as a leadership learning guide in any way.

 

Has anyone read The Killer Angles by Micheal Shaara. It is a good look at several different leadership styles.

[Tampa Turtle]

I think Enders Game DOES have some good leadership lesson but much of the story is pretty dark and it is cruel. I mentioned this to my cheerful and sweet son who replied "well, life can be cruel".

 

But I have smiled to myself and thought of Ender when I once saw a "loser Patrol" of casts-offs gell as a unit, find some unlikely leaders and take off.

[Kudu]

Thanks Kahuna. With your permission I will use your objections for a category of "ethical choices" questions that a Scoutmaster can use on leadership weekends when the film comes out on DVD. I'll try to think of some suggested answers then add some EDGE and other group development questions, and post it at:

 

http://inquiry.net/patrol/training/enders_game.htm

 

Off the top of my head:

 

1) Ender's Game is science fiction. It takes place in a future time and in space. Do the games they play have anything to do with outdoor Wide Games in a Scout setting?

 

http://inquiry.net/outdoor/games/wide/index.htm

 

2) Does anybody in the movie show leadership, or is it just about "selection" and "survival of the fittest"? If so, who is more "fit," Bean or Ender?

 

3) Do any of the adults ever lead? Why would they manage and create situations in which boys must rise to the level required or get "frozen," or even die?

 

4) Are the boys merely pre-selected for the type of leadership abilities required by a specific set of circumstances? Or are they selected for their ability to think outside the box as the circumstances change?

 

5) Have you ever played any Wide Games in which Scouts are left to their own devices, even allowed to "kill" each other in the quest?

 

6) Could Ender be an example for youth leadership in Scouting? Is he perfect for his situation, or does he need Bean? Ender turns out to be the "chosen one," but he is not even told that the battle against the Buggers is the real thing. Why? Was that good or bad?

 

7) Ender is picked for certain abilities. What are they? Is he thrown into a meat grinder and manipulated to succeed? If he is merely manipulated, then why didn't the adults think of blowing up the planet themselves?

 

8) Is there nowhere in the novel an example of adult leadership? If not, to whom do the boys turn for leadership? Why do the adults set up grueling games for the kids to play?

 

9) Twice in the story Ender sees no solution, so he breaks the rules. What does Bean yell to him both times? ("The Enemy's gate is down!") What does that mean?

 

10) Finally, the ending is absolutely devastating to Ender. His discovery on the alien planet and the revelations that come with it would completely destroy most young people. How would Bean have reacted? How and when does Bean figure out that the battles are real, and NOT a game? Why does Bean tell Graff not to tell Ender?

 

11) Was what was done to Ender evil?

 

The basic idea is to come up with something along the lines of the "Master and Commander" DVD guide for Patrol Leader Training weekends:

 

http://inquiry.net/patrol/training/movies.htm

(This message has been edited by Kudu)

[Tampa Turtle]

Kudu,

 

That and the link, good stuff.

[Kahuna]

Kudu: You certainly have my permission. I like the way you have taken the points and turned them into inquiry subjects.

 

Please keep us posted on how they are received and what kind of responses you get.

 

Side note: Sorry I did not post "Spoilers" at the top of my post. Didn't even think about it.

[malinamartis]

Interesting game, i will read it all the times....

 

http://www.astermeds.com/

(This message has been edited by malinamartis)

[Kudu]

 

Orson Scott Card Interview on military leadership and the development of the character "Ender":

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMTpyh70m7w&feature=related

 

Orson Scott Card - Ender in Exile Book Trailer. The author on Ender's post-military civilian leadership (at age 14):

 

 

Fan "movie credits" song. Good quality audio with selected frames from Ender's Game Marvel Comics:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQjWFo5alac

 

Ender's Game Chapter 1: Frame by frame video of the Marvel Comics graphic novel with soundtrack from the audio book. Includes the after-school fight with Stilson. Low quality YouTube stuff, but recommended if you are not familiar with how Ender's Game is rendered in these two (separate) media:

 

 

Marvel comics "Hotline" for Ender's Game: Battle School, narrated by Orson Scott Card:

 

 

 

[RickHedge]

Can't wait for this release it's been a long time comin'. The whole series was awesome, I hope they do the first one right and then follow up with the other novels becoming feature films.

[Tampa Turtle]

Oh that Ender! Like breaking that boy's neck. Such pranks.

[Kudu]

 

With the release of "Ender's Game" just under a year away, Summit Entertainment updated its website today with the first synopsis from the movie:

 

In the near future, a hostile alien race (called the Formics) have attacked Earth. If not for the legendary heroics of International Fleet Commander, Mazer Rackham (Ben Kingsley), all would have been lost. In preparation for the next attack, the highly esteemed Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford) and the International Military are training only the best young children to find the future Mazer. Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), a shy, but strategically brilliant boy is pulled out of his school to join the elite.

 

Arriving at Battle School, Ender quickly and easily masters increasingly difficult war games, distinguishing himself and winning respect amongst his peers. Ender is soon ordained by Graff as the militarys next great hope, resulting in his promotion to Command School. Once there, hes trained by Mazer Rackham, himself, to lead his fellow soldiers into an epic battle that will determine the future of Earth and save the human race.

 

http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/23509/synopsis-emerges-for-enders-game

 

 

Unprecedented winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Awards in the same year. Described by one librarian as the "most replaced middle-school library book ever."

 

National Public Radio censored Ender's Game from this year's "100 Best-Ever Teen Novels" young readers' poll, because it was too violent. The jury had no such problem with The Hunger Games series, which came in second.

 

Liberal bias much?

 

Yours at 300 feet,

 

Kudu

http://kudu.net

 

[Tampa Turtle]

Oh Boy!

 

Still cannot get my youngest (13) to read it. Drives me crazy.

[Kudu]

 

'Ender's Game' Harrison Ford stares down Asa Butterfield in first photo:

 

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/12/05/enders-game-exclusive-first-look/#disqus_thread

 

Rumor is that the "Ender's Game" DVD will replace the current "Grab All You Can" game in 2014 Wood Badge!

 

Yours at 300 feet,

 

Kudu

http://kudu.net

 

[CalicoPenn]

"National Public Radio censored Ender's Game from this year's "100 Best-Ever Teen Novels" young readers' poll, because it was too violent. The jury had no such problem with The Hunger Games series, which came in second.

 

Liberal bias much?"

 

Yeah, Kudo, it's really easy to just go ahead and claim NPR censored something and it's due to liberal bias when you don't do any investigation to see if you actually have a leg to stand on.

 

In this case, you don't.

 

NPR didn't choose the nominees for their list - they chose a panel of experts that chose the list. There were only four of them:

 

The Features Editor and Children's Book Editor for the New York Times Book Review

 

The Children's Book Editor for Publisher's Weekly

 

The Book Editor of the A.V. Club - the arts and entertainments section of The Onion - ironically, this is the non-humorous section of this paper.

 

A Middle School Teacher/Librarian who is chairman of this years committee to select the Young Adult Library Services Association list of Best Young Adult Fiction.

 

This panel of experts didn't nominate Ender's Game. Had they done so and NPR removed it from the list, that would have been censorship. Wisely, NPR didn't edit the nomination list either way - they let it stand just as their panel proposed it.

 

A lot of favorites of people were missing from that list. A different panel would likely have come up with a completely different list - and other people would then be disappointed. Expressing your disappointment and second guessing the panel is just fine. Indeed, I'd expect it if one is passionate about something. But to wave it off as "it must be liberal censorship by NPR" is just lazy and shallow.

(This message has been edited by calicopenn)

[CalicoPenn]

Double Post(This message has been edited by calicopenn)

[Kudu]

 

Ender Himself, Asa Butterfield, Talks Harrison Ford and Ender's Game as a Potential New Star Wars

 

"There will be no elements from Ender's Shadow."

 

"IGN: What are some of the specific core messages, or themes, that you think audiences will respond to in Ender's Game?

 

"Butterfield: Well there's loads of messages in this film. I think some of the key ones are about leadership, and when Ender first comes to Battle School his way of communicating is unlike anything anyone there has ever seen, which is why he shines and does so well..."

 

http://tinyurl.com/d7g8kpm