With film news, casting calls and information coming to us frequently about the upcoming Ender's Game movie, I have, like many of you, been excitedly rereading all of my Enderverse books.
Something is troubling me.
According to io9's look at the casting calls for Ender's Game
"Ender's brother is fully a psychopath in this version of the screenplay"
I understand that in the Ender's Game book Peter (Ender's Brother) doesn't come across well. He is a bully, too violent for battle school and also a master manipulator. Going from this to a psychopath for the movie is great, it will add drama and tension and show Ender's altruistic side in sharp contrast to Peter. "Ender's brother is fully a psychopath in this version of the screenplay"
But I feel the need to be loyal to the Peter Wiggin of Orson Scott Card's mind and he is not a psychopath. My friend Peter Wiggin defeats the evil Achilles with the help of Bean and then he unites the world under a democratic alliance known as the Free People of Earth.
I want everyone to know this Peter, and as I can't fault the filmmakers for creating a psychopathic brother for our hero, I come to the following conclusion - Everyone NEEDS to read the Shadow series. Peter Wiggin is a major player in this and as you read hopefully you can come to know Peter as well as I do.
Let me know if you agree, or am I the psychopath?
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ReplyDeletePeter is one of the most noble characters in the series. As a child, he realizes that he is able to manipulate people, and therefore sets out to save humanity (spread us out over 1,000 worlds so that if anyone else tries to wipe us out, they will find the task impossible). He is a bully to Ender and Valentine, but that is out of resentment towards Ender for being a Third, a constant reminder that Peter was not good enough for Battle School.
ReplyDeleteI mean, the fact that Peter uses blogging and the internet to take over the world is one of my favorite parts of the plot. Keep in mind the novel was written in the 1970s.
Maybe the movie can focus on characters like Stilson, Bernard (although he ends up okay), and Bonzo for the role of the villain.
I say leave Peter alone. He is a true Hero; up there with Ender and Bean!
I agree, its the movie makers that think Peter should be a nut job
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you! It sounds like the movie makers are only focusing on one film, and not an Ender's series of films. Otherwise, they would really need to focus on character development, especially for Peter!
ReplyDeleteThe Peter of Ender's childhood is a psychopath. Since it sounds like a lot of the Locke/Demosthenes stuff is being cut from the movie, that doesn't leave much else for Peter to do, except play Buggers and Astronauts.
ReplyDelete(and torture squirrels in the woods)
ReplyDeleteruined my image of Dink
ReplyDeleteruined my image of Dink
ReplyDelete