this post was submitted on 22 Mar 2026
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Why are you talking as if this argument doesn't generalize an interpretation by some section of the audience to general treatment of any and all such media wholesale? Did you miss the part where it says that the media in question romanticizes the depicted practices regardless of any intent of the author, or interpretation by the generally intelligent audience? You're saying that the stupidest possible understanding of the media is what all media should aim for, otherwise by that commenter's argument it shouldn't exist. I don't think you seriously realize how deranged this take is. It's straight up advocating for the 'Idiocracy' society.
Good art doesn't pander to the common denominator, it lifts the audience above it.
I genuinely have zero idea how you came to any of the conclusions you did based on what I said. Maybe there's more context to the comment you were originally talking about, but nowhere did I ever even imply that artists should "aim for" or pander to the common denominator. I'm saying that, no matter the artists intentions, no matter how obvious or on the nose the messaging is, there are going to be cops with Punisher tattoos, and teenagers with stolen cars and guns listening to Kendrick Lamar. If you make a movie about how the Nazis were psychopathic fascists who eventually get destroyed, there will be people who can't get over how cool their aesthetic was. None of this is to say that this art should not exist, I'm not detracting from the artists. I'm pointing out a flaw in society. Messaging in art, no matter how well crafted, will never say the same thing to everyone, for better or worse.