“you’re completely missing the point of [some piece of art]”

1. I don’t care
2. this attitude ruins art for people like me and it’s why I tend to have a knee-jerk contempt for highly-symbolic art
3. the vast majority of art is meant to be enjoyed, so if I’m enjoying it then I’m not missing the point because the greater point is for me to enjoy the art
4. generally speaking, I don’t enjoy engaging with art on a metaphorical or symbolic level, which is why I generally don’t do it
5. if I have engaged with it on a metaphorical or symbolic level and come to different conclusions than you, and you respond to that by telling me that I’m wrong, go fuck yourself

I think this is also why I have a knee-jerk anger towards ambiguous art. in theory I think ambiguous art is meant to do one of these two things:

1. force you to engage with the art on a symbolic level in order to understand it and gain closure (like the ending to Inception)
2. let you assign your own subjective meaning to the art

but the problem with each of these is:

1. most of the time I just don’t like doing this and I deeply resent being manipulated into it
2. there are always going to be assholes who go out of their way to prove that your interpretation is wrong, based on misinterpretations, or just otherwise make you feel like you came to the wrong conclusion for very uninformed reasons. and they can often back that up by pointing to tons of obscure evidence that you didn’t know about. so it ends up feeling like no one interpretation is objectively right, but anyone’s interpretation can be instantly shot down, which is the worst of both worlds

@kasdeya as an Enjoyer and Creator of highly ambiguous art (intentionally and unintentionally) and generally just speaking in an obtuse way, i think both of your points are spot on; especially when it comes to much art and literature analysis. going through my lit classes in college nearly killed my love for it. i remember submitting a very deeply researched paper about a story’s themes and symbolism; it was open for critique from the class and from the professor. for some reason, mine drew the attention of everyone who were very eager to tell me that i was wrong

in those circles, despite purportedly being about assigning your own meaning or drawing new insights based on your unique experiences, there are a lot of “right” and “wrong” answers. i suspect a few reasons why these types of interpretational arguments come with such zeal, but it’s definitely A Thing. the need to be The Best at an inherently personal and subjective experience is bizarre to me. i can kind of understand when there are actual correct answers – but art?

when i make art which is ambiguous, heavily themed, or symbolic, i don’t expect my or anyone’s interpretation to right or wrong. i bring my experiences and understanding to create the symbols, to create the ambiguity, etc. others come with experiences different from my own – about those symbols, themes, and so on – and draw entirely new meanings that i could have never known. i’m not the master of symbolism, not even of the symbols i construct.