This is for those who know what “death of the author” means or who is willing to look it up, but in short, it can summed up to mean “whatever a work of fiction means is up to the people to decide on”.
Question inspired by an incident the other day where I saw someone one day cite “death of the author” when asked why he went into the womens’ bathroom, saying “you keep saying the symbol on the door is a stick figure in a dress, but I look at it and see a stick figure in a cape, and so I entered because I’m super.”
There’s also the financial aspect; Does supporting the art also support an artist you don’t agree with? JK Rowling is a good example; She’s a horrible bigot, who penned the single most wildly popular book series in living memory. She made over a billion dollars on Harry Potter, all while being a bigot. So it’s worth asking whether supporting the art is a moral choice, even if we’re using Death of the Artist.