Agreed. As Whedon once stated -- art and stories aren't pets, they are children, they grow up, move away, and talk back to.

This is true. The fun of creating is to see how the world handles the creation, what it does with it. It's why I like fanfic and fanart, because people are playing with the art. And meta and critique -- it explores the art in new and different ways.

I think an argument can be made that if the art isn't worth critiquing or voicing any opinion on -- then it's not art.