The way I read the audience post was less 'don't create without any intent to make something meaningful to people, only yourself', and more 'don't cut away or change things that matter to the piece just because it might make the audience larger/because some people might not like it- what moves you at the core of it is more likely to move others through that connected humanity'. It's better to have an audience of ten or a hundred that really get it and are moved by it in the same way you were creating it, than an audience of a thousand or ten thousand who see it as something mildly entertaining but has lost its passion through trying to chase the middle ground and it doesn't stick with them because of that. Creating through what matters to you will find its audience.
Oh, I am absolutely there for the small but dedicated audience. Most of the things I love would probably be considered cult classics. I think that most of the time, when creative works drift too far toward trying to please everyone, it's usually execs coming in and forcing changes based on focus groups or algorithms rather than the artists themselves making these decisions.
I think what got to me about that post was the remark that seemingly related thinking about the audience at all to "pushing a product" rather than "making art." I think you can absolutely make amazing art while keeping the audience in mind, just finding a balance for it- especially when dealing with sensitive material. (Of course, the origin of that quote was Pete Docter, who I had enormous respect for before he made some questionable comments about Pixar's future direction which... oof, talk about making art purely for the audience)
Something like the Star Wars prequels followed George Lucas' vision a bit too much and left audiences... unsatisfied. Meanwhile the sequels went too hard in the other direction and tried to cater too much to audiences (thanks, Disney). Or "The Boy and the Heron" from last year- from what I know it was a deeply personal movie for Miyazaki and it was gorgeous, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I think I could have because it was so surreal (I do need to give it another watch).
Anyway idk what my point is except that I think when creating art to share, thinking about the audience isn't necessarily a bad thing as long as you're not making changes to try to please others rather than for the sake of the art itself.
