its times like these that i wish we had a CDC movie club, so we could be far more specific. because i haven't seen TOL in a while, and i don't really know where you're coming from if you can be so critical of it (especially in regards to 'context') if you haven't even finished the movie(!). but anyway, totally fair enough. others obviously agree with you, but i do not, especially with TOL.
i don't believe it was obscurity for its own sake, don't believe it lacked artistic depth. i have no idea how those claims can even be made, tbh. i just think a lot of people didn't "get it" and didn't want to try to "get it" so they just tuned out, or weren't open to it. i have no idea if i enjoyed it, no idea if i understood it, but i thought it was an enjoyable effort anyway. it was thought provoking, even if it was annoying at times. to me, that is enjoyable. guiding my hand through 'why stars are neat' using child-friendly metaphors, a la Tyson, isn't. different strokes.