"Don't be too clever for an audience. Make it obvious. Make the subtleties obvious also"

Billy Wilder's advice to "not be too clever for an audience; make it obvious; make the subtleties obvious also" addresses the delicate art of communication in storytelling, especially in film and literature. At its core, Wilder is advocating for clarity: every narrative, joke, twist, or emotional beat needs to land with the audience, not just with the creator. When a storyteller gets too enamored with their own cleverness, they risk constructing layers so dense or esoteric that the meaning gets muddled, alienating the audience instead of engaging them.

The desire to be clever is often rooted in an artist’s ambition to innovate or impress, but communication is ultimately about connection. Wilder's instruction is a reminder that what might seem perfectly clear from the creator’s vantage point can easily be lost on someone encountering it for the first time. Film, especially, is a collaborative, public art, its messages and moments should not be puzzles too obtuse for the audience to solve.

Yet, Wilder doesn’t argue against subtlety; he encourages it. The key is not to forgo nuance, but to ensure it is presented so that the audience can appreciate it. Subtlety should not be synonymous with opacity. Instead, even the smallest cues, character motivations, or thematic undercurrents benefit from thoughtful shaping so observant viewers can grasp them. There’s an artistry in balancing the obvious and the nuanced, in structuring a work so every viewer, regardless of background or attention-span, can access its layers.

In practice, this means writers and filmmakers must empathize with their audience, anticipate where attention may drift or confusion might arise, and sculpt their work so that every moment serves both those seeking surface-level enjoyment and those searching for deeper meaning. Making everything “obvious” isn’t about patronizing the audience, it’s about ensuring the story’s intentions are truly shared.