The Media Literacy Epidemic

Something I've noticed in the last 5 or 6 years is the increase of a lack of media literacy. I first noticed it a few years ago when American Psycho got really popular again, but instead of just enjoying the movie as a whole, people were idolizing Patrick Bateman. Although it is based on a novel, you don't even need to read it to understand Patrick is not someone to look up to at all. In fact, there are several details that point to everything being in Patrick's head. In the infamous business card scene, everyone has the same phone number and position as vice president. Another scene has Patrick shooting at a car, and looking at the gun in disbelief when the car explodes. A large portion of the book is just Patrick talking about the designers he or someone else is wearing, the luxury items he has in his apartment and how much effort Patrick puts into his outward appearance. He even says it himself, there is nothing besides the image he puts on for others. Another major point is that not only does Patrick know that his fiance Evelyn is cheating, but he himself is also cheating on her. Paul Allen (Paul Owen in the book) never remembers Patrick's name either, always confusing him with Marcus Halberstram. Patrick doesn't even bother correcting him on it either. It's not like an entire thesis is needed to understand the message, but how can so many people not see it?
Missing the big picture isn't exclusive to the viewers either, as shown in Netflix's Spirit show. The entire point of the original movie is that Spirit is a mustang, a wild horse that cannot be tamed or controlled. He rebels, fights against anyone who wants to tie him down, both literally and figuratively. But somehow, some way, Spirit is tamed so this girl can ride him in the show. Why would he abandon what he fought so hard for? Why would he risk his life trying to get back home to his herd to be fine being ridden by a kid somewhere in a town? At what point is he not Spirit anymore? Other than having the same name and appearance, these versions of Spirit are fundamentally opposites. When a character is only what you show to the audience, they're no longer the same character when you change what the audience sees. Spirit is an example of the character of thesus, and how companies will absolutely butcher good media to make more money. Why bother making a whole new cast and world when we can recycle what we already have the rights to?
Even when it seems it couldn't be any more obvious, people still don't understand one piece is inherently political. what part about the world government isn't political? What part about the celestial dragons and their power isn't political? Imu's devil fruit power is that he can control anyone and everyone who's in their home country, it's why Gol D. Roger sent out pirates to find the one piece in the first place. I will admit, I am still finishing east blue but I still know the messaging. There's a reason why the straw hat flag is being flown in many protests and revolutions around the world.
Another example of how political messaging is missed entirely would be the star wars franchise. It would seem fairly easy to distinguish between good and bad, but not everyone has figured it out. On star wars day 2025, the white house twitter posted an ai image of trump holding a lightsaber. A red one. Surely, if at least one person who works in the social media division has seen star wars they would've noticed and pointed out how only the sith have red lightsabers. And another example of companies not understanding the franchise they're working with would be Disney's The Acolyte, one character's lightsaber just turns red on its own. Bleeding a kyber crystal is a very long and difficult process, and doesn't happen involuntarily. If kyber crystals could bleed on their own, Anakin's would've been red when he killed the younglings, but since he hadn't bled his kyber crystal yet, it would mean he was justified in killing the younglings. It's like the writers never saw the original trilogy or the prequels.
I worry that if we don't understand the messages creators put in media, what is the point of watching or paying attention? Is their hard work for nothing? Their message deemed unimportant by the world? I worry that if we can't correct this in adults, what about our children? As much as some will disagree, I personally believe No Child Left Behind had a part in this. If there is no threat of being held back, kids will continue to not listen or care about what they're being taught. There needs to be some sort of consequence for not putting in effort at school, and not necessarily just kids with bad grades. Those who still struggle with learning but are still putting in effort should have access to extra resources, but those who just do not want to put in effort need to understand how necessary school is, and how what you learn will be incredibly important for the future. Especially with social media and short form content, media literacy needs to be taught and reinforced like never before.