I'm trying to find an essay, research, or any deeper analysis about why some people, most often conservatives, don't understand film. One of my FB friends posted [this meme](https://preview.redd.it/c45r7lv1yt741.jpg?auto=webp&s=000b5d74dfcb0b4464072f66b6ebb61e9fc4b7f9) and it got me thinking about this phenomena. Some people watch a film* and take the characters and the story completely at face value. They don't see any deeper message from the director. They don't understand that *Goodfellas* for example, is not a film about a couple of cool guys. Scorsese is not endorsing their behavior or their values. Any help diving deeper into this topic is appreciated. *By the way, you could say the same for literature, but since most people don't read past high school. I wanted to focus my question on film. ETA: Thanks everyone for engaging with me. I've been a lurker and commenter since the early Reddit days, this was my first post.