means to me that you did not pay attention to the film

Riggs (Keaton) wants validation as an artist on Broadway, and not just some entertainer hack fallen out with the Hollywood system.

he gets that through his play, Carver's short story. the play Keaton, Watts, and Ed Norton are performing within the movie.

He gets that.

If it's real and he's dead, his spirit is free and his daughter understands that. All the psychological torment he went through in the movie, talking to the Birdman, trashing his room, on the verge of being broke, coming to terms with his failed relationship with his former wife. No Mas

if it's symbolic, metaphorical, and he truly is flying within the movie, the surreality has been established

but the movie is beyond that, it's about what artist endure and sacrifice to make art with the capital A, and how and when they compromise to appease the system

again, it wasn't a cop out, probably a bad choice, but cop out def not