Most works of fiction, whether they are intend to or not, wind up saying something profound or at least have some kind of message. The implications can be helpful, or morbidly unfortunate. But that's not important. When you are a perfectly normal Hugh Mann looking to learn everything about being Hugh Mann and aren't secretly an alien with no concept of Earthiness, you want to learn the basic building blocks of being a person and the best person to ask is Captain Obvious. The more he understates it, the better.
Just take the complex messages and central themes of a piece of media and strip it down until you can find the easiest, least intimidating lesson to be learn so that you can walk away, comfortable in the fact that you had just learned something you could have figured out on your own.
Contrast Sweeten That Aesop and Warp That Aesop.
