The Ender’s Game movie that will be released November 1 is already under boycott.

The reason is that Orson Scott Card, author of the Ender’s Game series, has been vocal about his opposition to gay marriage. While the script has been reviewed by Glaad and found to contain nothing offensive, the petition to boycott the movie has suddenly gained a lot of attention and supporters.

Card himself has issued pleas for potential audience members to overlook or tolerate his views. No matter where people fall in the range of science-fiction fandom, the fact is that every piece of literature is best read with an understanding of the era and society in which it was created.

Fanny Fern’s Ruth Hall, for example, was written when women’s rights were being fought for and won. John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath appeared during a time of great difficulty for the nation. And recent works like Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray Love reflect the surging movement among women to regain and redefine their needs, goals and desires.

Before, what an author believed personally meant little. Card finds himself in a society that disagrees with his personal views more so than not. Should this alone be enough to support a boycott, or should Card have been more discrete about his personal views while using his platform as an author?