It’s not that they don’t understand, a lot of them understand exactly what the intended meaning is. But a lot of that media portrays fascists as powerful, with aesthetics that they like, and often they are winning too, so they pretend that the message is pro-fascist. If you call them out for “missing the point” or being media illiterate, you’re the one who’s missing the point, because now you’re the one saying that the things that are cool, good looking, and winning, are actually bad. In their words, “When the media literacy kicks in and the giant man eating bugs are the good guys” i.e. the ‘correct’ interpretation of the media is aesthetically inferior to the fascist one, which is straightforward and self-evident.
A lot of fascists like doing X ≠ People who do X are fascist.
hmm thanks for the write up, you are correct - my words were poorly put together