Anvilicious/Quotes

If you want to send a message, use Western Union.

—attributed to Sam Goldwyn

(Behind the scenes after the story is over.)
Buster: Well, I hope the kids got the message.
Plucky: Yeah, drinkin's uncool.
(The three of them leave the studio.)
Buster: So, do we get to do a funny episode tomorrow?

Hamton: I hope so!

—One Beer, Tiny Toon Adventures

It's common for aliens in the Trek universe to be metaphors created to address contemporary political or cultural issues, but in the case of the Kohms and Yangs subtlety was set on fire, strapped to a dump truck full of dynamite and rolled off a cliff.

—Cracked.com

A story forced to carry a message will get heavy and die.

—Shannon Hale

This story, alas, seems to have a moral, and, in fact, ends by pounding that moral over the reader's head. That is bad. Straightforward preaching spoils the effectiveness of a story. If you can't resist the impulse to improve your fellow human beings, do it subtly.

—Isaac Asimov, about his own anvilicious short story, "Day of the Hunters"

"With great power Comes Great Responsibility"
That's the catch phrase of old Uncle Ben
If you missed it, don't worry, they'll say the line

Again and again and again

—Weird Al, "Ode to a Superhero"

"Okay guys, I get it. The hyperbole is a good way to get people's attention, but you don't think that just maybe referring to Africa as a famine-ravaged wasteland and consigning an entire continent to 'chimes of doom' might be a bit patronizing?"

—The Nostalgia Chick on "Do They Know It's Christmas Time?"

(zoom in on smiley face balloon as main characters' souls are taken)

Crow: "Oh sure, just shove the irony in our faces, why don't you!"

—Mystery Science Theater 3000, "Soultaker"

Yes. Topic of the Day X exists! You know what else exists? Child abuse. So I’d better make sure I put that in every book I write. Because readers love that. If I’m telling a story about rocket ships, readers love it when your characters pause to have a discussion about animal cruelty, pollution, the dangers of over prescribing psychotropic drugs, or how we need to be sensitive to people with peanut allergies too. Readers are totally into being preached at about author’s favorite causes.
Have you ever gone into Barnes and Noble, went to the clerk at the info desk, and said “Hey, I really want to purchase with my money a science fiction novel which will increase my AWARENESS of troubling social issues.”? No? This is my shocked face.

— Larry F. Correia, Ending Binary Gender in Fiction, or How to Murder Your Writing Career

My recommendations for the Hugo Awards last year were not precisely the same as Larry Correia's in Sad Puppies 2, nor are they identical to Brad Torgersen's recommendations in Sad Puppies 3. But they are similar because we value excellence in actual science fiction and fantasy, rather than excellence in intersectional equalitarianism, racial and gender inclusion, literary pyrotechnics, or professional rabbitology.

— Vox Day on "Rabid Puppies 2015" Hugo recommendations

In the end, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them suffers from a textbook case of trying to do too much. J.K. Rowling wanted to stuff political intrigue, the grittiness of the latter half of the Harry Potter franchise, and hamfisted critiques of American culture into her story about magical animals. It’s a poor combination, and severely damages the resulting film. The quality is there – it is just hidden underneath a load of garbage. For the sequels, let’s hope that the filmmakers choose to steer more towards the direction of light-hearted fun and exploration, and less towards child abuse and executions. Because we can’t possibly expect some mixture of these to work out.

—“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” – a Chimera of Whimsy and Doldrums on Plot and Theme

So what’s the difference between propaganda and theme?
Here Daniel again makes another distinction:

[In Pink Sci-Fi] the theme and plot don’t simply harmonize, nor do they echo one another. They are one and the same.

This is basically the definition of a fable or parable – stories whose plots are mirror reflections of a certain moral or teaching. Rachel Swirsky’s Hugo Nominated If You Were A Dinosaur, My Love even has an anthropomorphic animal.
Which is all well and good – Jesus spoke in parables and kids enjoy Aesop. But parables are supposed to be short. Most people don’t want to read a fifty-thousand word fable. Hence, the declining SF/F sales.

— Pink Shirt Propaganda vs. Blue SF/F Storytelling by Scooter