Why did the film change the name of the alien invaders for the movie Enders Game?
The launch of the movie version of Ender's Game was beset by controversy caused by the anti-homosexuality views of Osron Scott Card, the author of the original book. The book doesn't itself contain any obvious anti-gay message but activists really took against the author.
Having said this, the nickname for the insect-like aliens in the book is "Buggers" (presumably because they are bugs). But the movie uses a different nickname, "formics" (presumably because they resemble ants).
Was the name changed because of the controversy and sensitivity over the misapplication of the bugger name or was there a better reason to adopt a different nickname?
Best Answer
Reading into this on Wikipedia, it seems that Formics is the correct 'scientific' name of the species, and a term that is increasingly used as the book series progresses. Buggers as you say is a 'nickname', a pejorative term for the species.
As for the movie adaptation, I can imagine that they received advice that for British English (and perhaps other English language countries) that Bugger is both mildly offensive and a slightly comical and archaic term - likely to detract rather than enhance the experience. I'd like to find a specific reference for this, but it is certainly the case that the term is comically offensive at least, and seriously offensive to some.
Given the root of the term as a pejorative for male homosexuals and for certain sexual acts, and Mr Scott Card's well advertised opinions, it may be that the producers also wished to avoid the controversy, and may also not go on record as to why the term was not used.
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Ender's Game Official Trailer #1 (2013) - Harrison Ford Movie HD
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