Those are all perfectly valid ways of enjoying media, but wires can get crossed when people have different expectations about what talking about a show will look like, and when they think their expectations are universal or the default.



Definitely part of the problem. Now that I think about it, I once had the opposite problem, where I was the only one in a community who wanted deeper conversations, and I definitely thought my stance was the default. I hate to admit it, but I was actually a bit of a brat, because I was like "what do you mean you all want to discuss the actors, and not the deeper motivations of each character?" So, it makes sense that some people may not even be trying to be rude or miss the point, their "point" is just different. You say tomato, I say tomato.

where someone rejects the idea that conscious choices were made by multiple people in the writing, directing, acting, and editing of a show, and the idea that different choices could have been made.

Yes! This has occurred to me as well. Okay, I get that they're fictional characters, but people actively sat down and wrote those characters. Then, yes, someone directed them. Sometimes actors are part of the writing and/or production team, too.