I think part of the problem of modern storytelling is there has been a shift from character focus to message focus.
It's Doctor Who saying "look the evil alt right podcaster has trapped everyone in a weird heteronormative wish world that's baaaaaad uhb we don't know how to resolve it satisfyingly" vs "Rose dragged along a guy she thought cute and he turned out to be a jerk and used time travel to gain access to future secrets and we see her and the Doctor react to that in a way thar shows us more about their character." It's "the Beatles are here kind of as a backdrop to our drag queen villain isn't that fun woo musical number" vs "let's tell a touching story about Vincent van Gogh's depression and relate that to what our characters are currently going through."
And its not just Doctor Who--it's pervasive. It's "let's tell a character focused story of Anakin Skywalker's fall to the darkness and the love around him that wasn't enough" vs "Star Wars is GAY and look at her BLEED her LIGHTSABER." It's "Here's a 19 year old who lost her parents and has to raise her difficult sister, let's see her motivations and love for her sister" vs "Nani is doing the Right Thing for Herself because going to College is Girlboss!"
And this isn't the first time the focus of storytelling has shifted--before it was character focused, we had concept focus. Doctor Who exploring Roman times or a realm made of stories, where characters carry the plot, but aren't the focus of episodes. Episode IV of star wars was certainly a conceptual idea more than character focused, exploring the world and building it as you go. Old Disney like Snow White explored the concept of retelling a fairytale in animation.
I just think that unfortunately the focus of mainstream stories is not to explore a concept, or interesting characters, but to push a message.
#i get where this post is coming from kinds#but so many conservative dog whistles here
"I get where this post is coming from, but it's using real-world examples of media being obnoxiously pushy with messaging that make me think the author is one of those evil conservatives the media says are always wrong and you should always hate, and that's pretty problematic."
Congratulations, you don't get where this post is coming from.
When conservatives make stories stories like this, everyone rightfully calls out how cringe it is and how it hurts the story (there's a reason "Christian movies" and "Christian rock" have the reputation they do). When liberals do this to stories (in pretty much every major franchise, so there's a lot of examples), you're evil if you point it out... because the messages being shoved into the media tell you so.
Oooooh there's "dOg wHiStLeS"
Once again I remind everybody that "if you're the one hearing the dog whistles, then you're the dog."
