The film, “Ender’s Game” (2013), based on the novel by the same name written by Orson Scott Card, is a discussion of racial and gender stereotypes within a power context, the concept of the enemy, and isolation in the human condition.
Throughout the film, there is a nod to the multiculturalism within humanity, with Admiral Chamrajnagar an Indian admiral, Ender’s Muslim friend Alai, the Latin Bonzo Madrid, Ender’s European father, the part-Maori Mazer Rackhamand, and Anderson and Dink who are of African descent and dark-skinned. One of the most ironic moments within the film occurs when Alai is saying good-bye to Ender and invokes the Islamic greeting of “salam alaikum”, meaning “May peace be with you”, in direct contrast to their situation and goals of violence, war and destruction at battle school. But despite this reference to the multiculturalism of the human race, the hero and his tutor (Colonel Graff) are both white males, in keeping with the traditional and sexist warrior trope. This, combined with the Ender’s final realization that he has been manipulated into committing genocide make the male authority figures’ actions morally questionable.
In addition, females are conspicuously absent from this futuristic warrior training ground. Petra, is the notable exception, and she comments that she is the only girl in the Salamander Army, “with more balls” than any of her teammates. The only other female at battle school seems to be Major Anderson, who is relegated to the nurturing role in direct conflict with the authority of Colonel Graff. She continually is focused on Ender’s emotional well-being to the point of resigning her post in protest in the way he is treated, which clears the path for the male authority figures (Admiral Chamrajnagar, Mazar Rackhamand and Colonel Graff) to manipulate Ender into fighting their battle for them.
The other female characters, (the queen of the Formics, Valentine and Ender’s mother) continue this emphasis on females as the nurturers of society. The queen specifically demonstrates her non-violence and emotional connection with Ender with her psychic entreating of him to save her people by giving him the last surviving egg. The emphasis on the queen and the visual depiction of the aliens, with big “puppy dog eyes” provides the implication that the aliens in general are feminine, nurturing and the victims of the “masculine” and vicious attack by the humans on their home planet. Valentine is also a figure of emotional comfort and nurturing. In the scene where she and Ender are sailing and discussing if he should return to battle school, she makes the point that he will regret not trying, ironically implying that she is more concerned with his emotional well-being that the actual future battle. This emphasis on the nurturing role of women makes them secondary in humanity’s goal and mission of violence and destruction in their fight against the Formics.
In order to maintain Ender’s view of himself as an outsider, he is continuously isolated from the other trainees, from his family and from his friends. Colonel Graff sincerely believes that maintaining that distance around Ender is vital to his ability to manipulate him into becoming the “savior” of the human race. He deals with this isolation in various ways, but at every instance where he begins to connect with those around him, his sister, his fellow launchies or Petra, Graff continually moves him to an even more isolated situation. This focus on isolation and Ender’s repeated attempts to overcome the isolation is a comment on the human need for social support and interaction. The pinnacle of isolation for Ender occurs when he is taken to “command school” (which is really the front lines of the battle) and placed in a room by himself before his first day of training. Alone on an alien planet, he is completely isolated from all his fellow humankind. The military uses this type of isolation to mold Ender into the perfect weapon, using his innocence and his belief in the moral humane cause of his people to completely destroy his “enemy”. Ironically, despite the human need for social interaction, isolation is also exactly what the humans are fighting for, the isolation of their home planet from alien invasion and colonization. Graff and the other military leaders are convinced that the Formic are a threat to the stability and isolation, the status quo of human existence, and determined to maintain that at whatever cost necessary.
The concept of the enemy is another important theme throughout this film. The Formics are constantly referred to as the enemy, despite the human’s lack of understanding of their motivations, and in fact their lack of any true knowledge about the Formics. They only have a fifty-year-old invasion and the experience of their great warrior Mazar Rackhamand in defining this alien as “the enemy”. Throughout the film, there are many individuals who become classed as Ender’s enemy: the bullies that attack him in the lab, his brother Peter, and Bonzo. But all of these enemies are seen as merely training for Ender’s battle against the socially sanctioned enemy, the Formic. After Ender destroys the planet, when he and Colonel Graff are arguing about the moral justification for this extermination, Colonel Graff explicitly states, “I am not your enemy”, implying that humanity must come together to fight against their common enemy the Formics. Ender’s response, “I’m not so sure about that anymore” shows how his concept of the enemy has collapsed in his experience of the alien’s passisificity. The earlier scene in which Ender is sailing with Valentine also reflects on his understanding of the “enemy”. He says” “In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him..” This conflict between love and hate of the enemy is the center of Ender’s inner emotional and philosophical conflict, the conflict between being the “savior” of the human race and the murderer of the race of Formics.
Questions-
What is the implication of the games that the trainees play in preparation for war? Think of the battle room’s controlled environment and the childlike glee that the kids first experience in exploring how the battle room works. Is this another way the authority figures are manipulating the children into becoming tools of destruction?
How does Ender’s “innocence” interact with the military’s manipulation of him, as well as the other trainees? Is innocence really a necessary quality for the leader they are looking for? Why couldn’t a leader such as Peter, with all his viciousness be the one to exterminate the Formics? What about the other leaders that are mentioned to have failed in their final test?
