VIDEO: Harrison Ford Talks Ender’s Game with Graham Norton

Comments

5 responses to “VIDEO: Harrison Ford Talks Ender’s Game with Graham Norton”

1. 

   October 13, 2013

   Wendy Clare

   It’s NOT “Drone” warfare!! I wish he would stop saying that…”drones” are UNMANNED vehicles. Grrf. Otherwise, this is hilarious and I love it! 😀 <

   Reply
2. 

   October 13, 2013

   Ludwig Scroggins IV

   I keep hearing the drone warfare angle. Did they remove actual crew members from the ships in the movie? Can anyone confirm? I would be disappointed if they did, simply because it’s minimizes their sacrifice.

   Reply
3. 

   October 15, 2013

   MajorAnderson

   To answer both Ludwig And Wendy: I don’t think they removed the crews from the ships. I think what Harrison is getting on about is the fact that this war is fought remotely, as in the commanders don’t know the actual people doing the fighting and don’t see them as individuals. Ender, not knowing that there are even actual people involved, treats his troups as concepts, not people, and his superiors are totally good with that. They are the ones not caring about the human element of warfare. And they cheer about genocide because they didn’t experience the war immediately. Apart from Mazer, who doesn’t agree with Graff entirely, they have never seen blood, never been hurt, never hurt anyone directly in war, so they lack the capacity to understand what war really means. They can commit genocide because they can do it remotely and have it remain conceptual in their minds. Drone warfare bears the danger to do the same thing. If you can destroy entire cities and never set a foot in them, you’ll not see the suffering, you’ll only have numbers, and your victory will not be spoiled by feelings of guilt. So you can just go and do it again …
   For further reference, see “A Taste of Armageddon” (Star Trek: TOS).

   Reply
   1. 

      October 15, 2013

      Wendy Clare

      I already replied to this on Facebook, so I won’t repeat what I said there. But in reading the prequels, it looks like Mazer at least /has/ seen personal combat. We don’t know Graff’s backstory (i don’t think, anyway…I’ve not read every single thing in the Ender verse, and I believe there’ll be more about him in the Earth Afire trilogy), so I can’t say as much about him. But I honestly don’t think they’re as impersonal as all that, though, or as uncaring. No true soldier takes what they do lightly. In Ender’s Game, the Buggers aren’t “people” to the IF (or to the people on Earth), they’re monsters who have ravaged our home planet without provocation, so there is an undertone of great fear of OUR genocide if we don’t figure out a decisive way to victory. No wonder the observers cheer and cry and fall to their knees when Ender achieves that…I would, too. The tragedy isn’t in the victory so much as in the fact that the ENTIRE situation was caused by two species completely misunderstanding each other…us for assuming they were malicious, and them for assuming we weren’t sentient beings because they couldn’t communicate with us.

      Having said all that, I do understand your basic point that “distance” warfare, via drones, airplanes or missiles, etc., is by nature going to be less “personal” than hand to hand combat on the ground. I wouldn’t necessarily equate that, however, with coldhearted complacency or malicious delight in the destruction of the enemy.

      Reply
4. 

   October 17, 2013

   Sandra Ramge

   I enjoy how Harrison take time out of his life to talk with the media and paparazzi… He is too kind… EVERYONE: Let’s just appreciate his talking with the media, press, and paparazzi because it really truly is a gift that he is doing this for us, the LOYAL FANS!!!!!!!!!!!!

   Reply