Certainly The Scream has joined The Mona Lisa as one of art history's most reproduced icons - but this neither minimizes the artpiece per se nor the message.
(At school, 40 years back, we talked about The Scream in Social Sciences, History [re. art in Emeror time Germany = The Scream was first exhibited in Berlin in 1893], art [same subject] ...]
The Sun and The Scream are examples of unbridled expressionism. I like Vivien's interpretation of the Screaming Environment. It could also be that the individual is screaming in response to the horror of his life surroundings. It could also be that Mabon52 is right that Munch is making a commentary on Modern Art, including Picasso's work. But I don't think that all of his work is such a commentary. It says so much more than that. It just goes to show that the intentions of an artistic work, and an artist's oeuvre can be multi-layered, including unconscious impulses and drives.
This is a subset of the general principle that most of our behavior is over-determined.
