Show Themes

I am a bit befuddled about themes. Most juried art and photography shows have submission themes. Knowing that such themes are usually loosely interpreted, I nonetheless try to have my submissions demonstrate a clear relationship to the requested theme. While some shows seem to stick to the stated topic, there are still many where I am frequently surprised that, at least in my opinion, many of the accepted submissions don't seem even remotely associated with the submission theme, even with what I view as its loosest interpretation.

This leads to me wonder.... how important are statements of show themes? How important is trying to think of a construct wherein your submission would fit into the stated theme? Is it the artists or the judges job to understand how a submission fits into a stated theme?

No answers here. Just some rambling thoughts .......