Is their problem that it isn't subtle enough? I don't get it.

That's about it. We know that there's a puppeteer behind the scenes; we know that what you put into the story is a matter of conscious design on your part: but we don't want to see you up in the flies. Being "estranged" from the story went out sometime after the death of Bertoldt Brecht; your readers can be a consciously critical audience without someone reminding us "This is a story."