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sabotabbyPart of my job is to correct children who use terms like, "that's so gay," when they really mean, "I dislike this particular thing." You won't often hear me using that particular combination of words.
But really: This is so gay. And I don't mean that I dislike this particular thing, although I dislike this particular thing. I mean it is actually more homosexual than George Takei dancing to Donna Summer in a feather boa and tiara, except that that would be awesome, and the horror that awaits you should you click that link up there is not in any way awesome.
You see, Orson Scott Card has decided that what Hamlet is lacking is a) moral certainty, and b) rampant homophobia. So he's rewritten it. The title itself, Hamlet's Father, is problematic in itself as Hamlet's father was also Hamlet, but that's nothing compared to the, uh, liberties Card has apparently taken with the source material.
From the review:
The thing is that, while I'm sure that the devoutly Mormon Card intended his masterpiece as some sort of cautionary tale about the evils of homosexuality (for those who lost track of him after Ender's Game, that's seriously the only sort of story he writes now), it comes off as, well. Either he's a fangirl with slash goggles welded to his face, or he doth protest too much. And I really think it's the latter. I'm pretty sure that there are gay porn stars who think less about buttsex than Orson Scott Card does, and it's their job to do it.
Apparently this is a real thing in the world, and neither an epic troll by Rain Taxi Review nor by Subterranean Press. Which means someone—a famous author, no less!—thought that it would be good to write this kind of drivel (and probably typed it with one hand), and then a publisher—which has put out some great books over the years—read it and decided that it would make money if published. Along the way one or more editors may have had to read it, and no one, no one, cried out, "wait maybe it's not the best ever idea to write a version of Hamlet where the old King is a serial rapist with a magic cock that turns everyone gay and where Hamlet is completely convinced that there's an afterlife." (I leave it to your interpretation, Gentle Reader, as to whether![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sabotabby is more disturbed by the homophobia or by a depiction of Hamlet where the prince is entirely convinced as to the existence of God.)
I am confused as to how one person, let alone multiple, none of whom are 4chan, decided that this book was a good idea.
For some reason, Subterranean Press has decided on a limited run of 1000, so get it while it's ho—no, wait, that's the opposite of hot.
Hat-tip:zingerella, who finds the most WTF things on the internet.
But really: This is so gay. And I don't mean that I dislike this particular thing, although I dislike this particular thing. I mean it is actually more homosexual than George Takei dancing to Donna Summer in a feather boa and tiara, except that that would be awesome, and the horror that awaits you should you click that link up there is not in any way awesome.
You see, Orson Scott Card has decided that what Hamlet is lacking is a) moral certainty, and b) rampant homophobia. So he's rewritten it. The title itself, Hamlet's Father, is problematic in itself as Hamlet's father was also Hamlet, but that's nothing compared to the, uh, liberties Card has apparently taken with the source material.
From the review:
Here's the punch line: Old King Hamlet was an inadequate king because he was gay, an evil person because he was gay, and, ultimately, a demonic and ghostly father of lies who convinces young Hamlet to exact imaginary revenge on innocent people. The old king was actually murdered by Horatio, in revenge for molesting him as a young boy—along with Laertes, and Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern, thereby turning all of them gay. We learn that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are now "as fusty and peculiar as an old married couple. I pity the woman who tries to wed her way into that house."
The thing is that, while I'm sure that the devoutly Mormon Card intended his masterpiece as some sort of cautionary tale about the evils of homosexuality (for those who lost track of him after Ender's Game, that's seriously the only sort of story he writes now), it comes off as, well. Either he's a fangirl with slash goggles welded to his face, or he doth protest too much. And I really think it's the latter. I'm pretty sure that there are gay porn stars who think less about buttsex than Orson Scott Card does, and it's their job to do it.
Apparently this is a real thing in the world, and neither an epic troll by Rain Taxi Review nor by Subterranean Press. Which means someone—a famous author, no less!—thought that it would be good to write this kind of drivel (and probably typed it with one hand), and then a publisher—which has put out some great books over the years—read it and decided that it would make money if published. Along the way one or more editors may have had to read it, and no one, no one, cried out, "wait maybe it's not the best ever idea to write a version of Hamlet where the old King is a serial rapist with a magic cock that turns everyone gay and where Hamlet is completely convinced that there's an afterlife." (I leave it to your interpretation, Gentle Reader, as to whether
sabotabby is more disturbed by the homophobia or by a depiction of Hamlet where the prince is entirely convinced as to the existence of God.)I am confused as to how one person, let alone multiple, none of whom are 4chan, decided that this book was a good idea.
For some reason, Subterranean Press has decided on a limited run of 1000, so get it while it's ho—no, wait, that's the opposite of hot.
Hat-tip:
zingerella, who finds the most WTF things on the internet.
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Date: 2011-09-07 01:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-07 01:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-07 07:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-07 01:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-07 01:19 am (UTC)CAN YOU FIX COMPUTERS WITH YOUR MIND, TOO?
BEST SUPERPOWER
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Date: 2011-09-07 02:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-07 01:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-07 01:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-07 01:38 am (UTC)I'm pretty sure that there are gay porn stars who think less about buttsex than Orson Scott Card does, and it's their job to do it.
This too.
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Date: 2011-09-07 02:47 am (UTC)I don't know if I'm more disturbed by the homophobia or the fact that Horatio is the killer when the text is like CLAUDIUS DID IT, SERIOUSLY HE REALLY DID HE SAYS IT AT QUITE A FEW POINTS. So I can relate.
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Date: 2011-09-07 02:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-07 02:59 am (UTC)Why Gay King Hamlet would want to kill Claudius, though, I'm not really sure. Guess he's just kind of a dick.
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Date: 2011-09-07 03:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-07 03:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-07 10:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-07 04:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-07 02:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-07 02:58 am (UTC)And it's a small thing, considering, but somehow that "the play will be more fun now that you know what was REALLY going on!" back cover blurb takes it to a very special level of obnoxiousness.
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Date: 2011-09-07 04:12 am (UTC)Me too. He used to be one of those authors it seemed like everyone but me had read, and I kept meaning to eventually start reading his books, but then I found out about his massive homophobia, and I'm kind of glad I never did read any of them. That way I don't have to worry about the cognitive dissonance of "But... He wrote $book and I liked it!" to worry about.
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Date: 2011-09-07 04:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-07 04:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-07 04:09 pm (UTC)I don't think it's showing his own preferences, though, any more than I think that's the case with Fred Phelps. Nowadays it can be tough to find people one can openly hate, and unfortunately religion can support some kinds of intolerance I find very un-Christian. (I also can give a pocket critique of the Biblical evidence for an anti-homosexual stance, although I don't know the Mormon evidence well enough to do so.)
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Date: 2011-09-07 04:45 pm (UTC)Yeah, like he isn't just playing with an extreme reading of the play, but actively trying to make sure it lodges itself in your subconscious as the one true reading. Although in fairness, that was probably actually the publisher, and probably someone who wasn't being paid to read the book too closely.
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Date: 2011-09-07 04:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-07 04:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-07 04:49 am (UTC)Orson Scott Card is a bigot who had one thing going for him, he could write. I'd never bought his books, only borrowed them, which pleases me historically speaking, but they were good books. Now? He's just a loud mouthed bigot and I just can't find myself caring.
Amazing how that is when you realise a person is just small minded, doesn't actually have that much influence (despite being a member of OMNOMNOMNOMNOM)became, as you say, all he writes about is homophobic vitriol, and why would I want to be exposed to that more than I really have to.
Also, speaking of George Takei, this is OT, but he fanboys the show that I love!
That's all.
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Date: 2011-09-07 09:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-07 10:46 am (UTC)i'm reading the ender's game series (on 'children of the mind' now) and one thing that really bothers me s that in his future there seem to be no jews! there's catholics, and all sorts of other cultures, but no jews... seems unlikely.
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Date: 2011-09-07 02:12 pm (UTC)(Got link from
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Date: 2011-09-07 02:29 pm (UTC)The only appropriate response is to re-write Ender's Game as gay porn.
I vote for the title "Back-enders' Game"
"Stuck in a satellite, away from adult supervision, locked in hot sweaty battle with other young boys all day and night, Ender knew his only hope was to learn how to penetrate his enemies' gates before they penetrated his, and he knew the only way to the gate was by going down....
Meanwhile, back on Earth, Valentine and Peter were learning to be grownups with the only people they could trust : each other! Would their secret be revealed before their plancould reach completion, or would it be interrupted?"
"
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Date: 2011-09-07 09:21 pm (UTC)I love the internet.
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Date: 2011-09-07 02:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-07 07:11 pm (UTC)Me: Did he give it a happy ending? That's a Bowdler reference.
Supergee: He actually defends Bowdler in the preface.
Me: Nooooo! I want to throw up. Well, not really, I mean, throw up intellectually.
Since it actually isn't a new version intended to be read instead of the old, but a retake more like The Wide Sargasso Sea, Wicked, or John Gardner's Grendel, I'm only shocked and disapproving instead of also appalled and dismayed.