I know I wrote about this before in a meta but I can't recall which one! The phrase is one which has always bothered fans I think, and to me is more a sign of anti-intellectualism and dismissiveness of pop culture than anything else.

There's nothing wrong with not wanting to examine or discuss in depth a particular text. Given how many we're exposed to I think it would be exhausting to do so for all of them! And I think that looking "behind the curtain" can lessen the enjoyment for some fans even as it increases it for others.

At the same time, there are always people who want everyone else to enjoy (or dislike!) a thing exactly the way they do, which leads to the whole "you're doing fandom wrong" pathway. There are also people who believe any sign of criticism for a thing tarnishes it and insinuates that they are bad or wrong somehow for liking that thing.

So to me, this comes down to people's individual differences more than anything else. But the phrase bothers me for one big reason -- it suggests that there are texts that don't say or mean anything vs those which do. (Or for some people, even the extreme that no TV show or movie could ever say anything meaningful). And I vehemently disagree with that. To me all texts say something about the culture they were created in, not least the pathway in which they got commercially released in the form they did. It may not be anything novel or unexpected, but the idea that things people create are somehow neutral because of intention or disposability does not change the influences of what led to its creation.