History Creator / BobChipman

** [[invoked]] He [[https://www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/2019/02/07/dweeb-obscurities-pipe/ suspected]] that both sides of the battle between LetsPlay/PewDiePie and T-Series to become the most subscribed channel on Website/YouTube were in on it and using the battle to build their subscriber bases, with an outright comparison to the Wrestling/{{WWE}}. Furthermore, he also suspected that Website/YouTube itself was in on it -- and actually favoring [=PewDiePie=] (or at least a drawn-out battle), hoping that, by having such a [[OvershadowedByControversy magnet for controversy]] as the most famous figure on the website and a symbol of its independent creators, they'd be afforded a long leash to start sanitizing the site and turning it into exactly the sort of censored corporate pablum that [=PewDiePie=]'s subscribers feared.

** Bob mused that while he didn't agree with the {{Conspiracy Theorist}}s who thought Creator/JamesGunn's firing by Creator/{{Disney}} was a massive ruse as part of a GambitRoulette, he ''did'' believe they had agreed to rehire Gunn long before they announced it and everyone at Disney and Marvel simply kept hush about it to avoid complications with Disney's acquisition of Fox's film assets.

* MainstreamObscurity: Discussed in regards to ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' underperforming financially and the ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' franchise failing to gain mainstream recognition. Bob argued that while everyone have a passing familiarity with Godzilla, the only movies that most non-Japanese audiences, including those who became creators, saw were mostly cheap disposable B-movies that gave negative impressions of the franchise.

** From his 'Really That Good' episode on ''WesternAnimation/TransformersTheMovie'': 'Hot Rod Sucks'.

*** Bob argued that this is why ''Film/{{Solo}}'' bombed at the box office. The Han Solo movie was microtargeted at diehard ''Star Wars'' fans with its heavy emphasis on lore, showing how Han and Chewie met and recreating the Kessel Run that was briefly mentioned in ''Film/ANewHope''. However, while the movie did appeal to hardcore fans, it didn't win over mainstream audiences and casual fans who don't care about lore-centric story and only like watching Han Solo when he was played on-screen by Creator/HarrisonFord. Thus, by appealing to only a small subset of fans, the movie ignored the broader audience who would've helped cover the movie's inflated budget.
*** Bob would also revisit this trope after the Season 2 finale of ''Series/TheMandalorian''. While understanding why some of his fellow critics would disapprove of the [[spoiler:Luke Skywalker's gratuitous cameo]], Bob didn't mind it since not only did his appearance not recon his later appearances, but it fits the show's spirit which was already made to pander to fans with its titular character being an EscapistCharacter who exists to let fans go on adventures with a ersatz Boba Fett.

* UnfitForGreatness: This seems to be Bob's ultimate opinion about Creator/ZackSnyder's involvement in the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse, as discussed in Part III of his ''Really That Bad'' review of ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice''. He admires Snyder's work prior to it and considers him a legitimately great film director, but also noted that Snyder is a fanboy of UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks and his [[Film/{{Watchmen}} adaptation of]] ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' implied he had [[invoked]][[MisaimedFandom misplaced admiration]] for the work and missed the point of its underlying themes, on top of a seeming bent towards UsefulNotes/{{Objectivism}}; all of those things clash heavily with the traditional portrayal of Franchise/{{Superman}}, and combined with a self-admitted distaste for the more traditional superhero stories of the Silver and Bronze Ages, Bob all but directly concluded that Snyder was probably wrong for the material from the outset.

* {{Reconstruction}}: In the ''Big Picture'' episode [[https://www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/why-community-still-holds-up-the-big-picture/ "Six Seasons & Immortality",]] he describes ''Series/{{Community}}'' as a reconstruction of older sitcom tropes ({{catch phrase}}s, {{bottle episode}}s, [[AnAesop Aesops]]), accomplished through a rejection of the detached irony that had come to dominate American comedy since TheNineties. He called it a show built around the question "wasn't TV just a little bit better when it wasn't trying to be too good to be TV?"

* AnAesop: His "NOT OKAY" video has three messages. 1) It's [[TitleDrop not okay]] to throw sexual harassment, racial slurs or any other kind of verbal bigotry at others and pretend it's intrinsic to any kind of nerd or geek culture. 2) The First Amendment and the concept of Free Speech itself are not a carte blanche to say whatever you want without consequence or being disagreed with. 3) As uncomfortable as it may be that the media is hostile to gamers, the correct response to the criticisms they make is to purge the unpleasant assholes who make everyone else look bad from the community and make it clear that you don't tolerate any of the things touched on in the video.

* PanderingToTheBase: {{Invoked}}. When the JISM guard in the episode "Titanfoul" accuses him of doing this with his opening monologue about games being ever-lasting, he replies "that's not pandering, ''this'' is pandering" and cuts to Ivan singing [[WesternAnimation/Frozen2013 "Let It Go"]]. (With the caption "Here you go, Website/{{Tumblr}}.")

--->"You heard me, you half-cocked message board fuckheads, the Platform/{{Wii}} ''is'' part of ''this'' console generation… so can we ''please'' stop it with this tired shit about [[Platform/NintendoGameCube GameCubes]] and duct tape!"

** Bob hates the new ''Film/TransformersFilmSeries'', as well as the bulk of Creator/MichaelBay's output for that matter. Though he did enjoy ''Age of Extinction'', and even called out fellow critics for not hating the movie, but hating Bay himself. His review of ''Film/PainAndGain'' also praises Bay because he feels that Bay's typical directing style helps enhance the plot's already-cartoonishly-insane-as-it-is absurdism instead of clashing with it.

** Animal abuse is a good way to get especially harsh criticism from Bob. His Big Picture episode about [[AnimalWrongsGroup PETA]] mostly used its tangential relation to video games (PETA complaining about [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario's Tanooki Suit]]) as a way to discuss their habit of killing almost all of the animals they receive. On a later episode, when talking about Michael Vick being in the running to appear on the front cover of the (then) next ''VideoGame/MaddenNFL'', he stated that he considered his illegal dog fighting ring to be among the worst things a human could possibly do, short of [[YouClonedHitler cloning Adolf Hitler]] or [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking greenlighting another]] ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking movie]].

* ConservationOfNinjutsu: {{Discussed|Trope}} in his review of, appropriately enough, ''Film/NinjaAssassin''.
** Also invoked in Episode 56.

--> I'd love to tell you all the thoughts that went through my mind about Scarlett Johansson and her performance in this movie... but this is a family show, so I'll have to summarize. HOLY-- *end credits*

** He loathes Michael Bay's directorial style but in his review of ''Age of Extinction'' he rallies against "critics" who hate Bay himself. His review of ''Pain and Gain'' even praises Bay because his insane, overly-dramatic music-video-rythmn stylization helps augment the cartoonish absurdism of the so-crazy-the-NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer-appears-repeatedly plot instead of hindering it. He also sings Bay's praises for ''Film/{{Ambulance}}'', finishing with calling it not a good movie in terms of plot but still [[CultClassic a genuine "wings-and-beer party movie"]].

-->Now folks… I’ll admit I’m the easiest lay in the world for stuff like this. I’m “that guy” who never stopped being in love with outer space. I’m “that guy” who thinks we oughta be dumping as much funding as we ''possibly'' can into NASA come hell or high water because I do NOT want to die without at least seeing humanity be on it’s way to something like Starfleet in my lifetime – and I’m that guy who if you hear this and come at me with some short-sighted “but people are still… and we need money for… but it’s not as important as…” my response is always going to be '''''Spaceship. Fuck You!'''''

* ShoutOut: While revisiting ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'', he points out the first rule of internet gaming culture is to never disagree with the mass opinion. The second rule is to never do a [[WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic Let's Play of]] ''[[WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic Bart's Nightmare]]''. (With a little subtitle saying he thought it was funny.)
** In in episode 73, [[SdrawkcabName Ivan]] loves [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Navi]]. Very funny, Moviebob.

* SpoilerOpening: Episode 73 of The Game Overthinker introduced a new intro, the intro said "featuring" but included [[spoiler: several villains he already defeated]]. [[spoiler:Episode 78 saw the return of the Cyro and Pyrothinkers]], [[spoiler: Antithinker]] also returned an episode after the intro was introduced, but this had already been alluded to. The very same intro averted this by initially excluding [[spoiler: Omegathinker]].

* StoryArc: Episode 43 had Game Overthinker's EvilCounterpart, the Anti-Thinker, come in and [[HostileShowTakeover take over the show]], by teleporting Game Overthinker to Wario's Woods. Many have noticed the FollowTheLeader to the plotline based elements in Website/ChannelAwesome shows. Bob is revealed to have superpowers to a degree and kills the Anti-Thinker, who returns several times after.

* JustForFun/XMeetsY:[[invoked]] Shows up in reviews on occasion. Such as when he described Creator/AngelinaJolie as playing Film/{{Maleficent}} like “the offspring of Creator/MaeWest and [[Anime/DragonBallZ Vegeta]]”, or describing [[Film/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem Newt Scamander]] as “Series/DoctorWho, VideoGame/{{Pokemon}} Trainer”.

* VocalMinority: Discussed. Bob takes gamers at large to task for not being more adamant about getting the worst elements of gamer culture out of their fandom, since Bob argues it goes beyond StopHavingFunGuys and straight into hate groups like virulent racists and political extremists. In particular, Bob cites the fandom for heavy metal music rejecting neo-Nazi skinheads as an example of a fandom protecting itself correctly; metalheads kept making it very clear that the neo-Nazis were ''not'' welcome, and their removal would be enforced by any means necessary if they kept trying to butt in, which prevented metal from being infected by hate groups. Bob feels like the same thing needs to be done to gaming culture, as he argues that not doing so will make gamers and the discourse around video games themselves continue to grow more toxic.[[invoked]]

--->"You heard me, you half-cocked message board fuckheads, the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} ''is'' part of ''this'' console generation… so can we ''please'' stop it with this tired shit about [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCubes]] and duct tape!"

* FreudianExcuse: He admitted that he was bullied in high school, and his comments seem to give away that his resentment from that era is the main reason behind his criticism to certain things. Like the "douchebag" video game crowd that came with the [=PlayStation=] generation (especially UsefulNotes/XBox Live FPS users), his hatred towards the 90's (the decade in which he went to high school), and his fondness for ComicBook/{{Magneto}}-like villains. He's also specially done a ''Big Picture'' episode about nerd reactions to such actions and the mindset that if one was bullied, they can't in turn be a bully themselves. He admits that he's talking to himself as much as he is to the viewer.

* GenreKiller: [[invoked]] In his review of ''Film/{{Noah}}'', he stated that the rise of [[MoralGuardians the Religious Right]] as an organized force and the downfall of UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode both killed the Hollywood religious epic. The former, in his view, created a divide between secular and religious viewers, with the conflicting demands of the two groups being impossible for Hollywood to satisfy, while also creating the stereotype of religious films as being [[TheMoralSubstitute Sunday-school proselytizing]]. The latter, meanwhile, eliminated the main justification Hollywood filmmakers had for making religious films -- claiming that the material in one's film came from Literature/TheBible made it easier to get the censors to allow gratuitous sexuality and violence.

** He came down hard on Creator/FrancisFordCoppola for this in the ''Big Picture'' episode [[https://www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/martin-scorsese-versus-the-marvel-cinematic-universe-the-big-picture/ "Old Man Yells At Crowd".]] He felt that Coppola's statements dismissing the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse[[note]]Unlike those of Creator/MartinScorsese (whom Coppola was defending), which were more focused on the filmmaking process and which Bob felt were rooted more in Scorsese's background as a "traditional" filmmaker who distrusted the ModularFranchise model that the MCU popularized, even if he [[https://www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/real-cinema-martin-scorsese-marvel-the-big-picture/ also felt]] that Scorsese was being rather snobbish about it[[/note]] were deeply lacking in self-awareness, given that, in many ways, his position and that of many of his contemporaries in the UsefulNotes/NewHollywood era -- a bunch of film nerds taking disreputable genres like crime, horror, and sci-fi and elevating them with their artistry, and Coppola specifically adapting a pulpy AirportNovel into [[Film/TheGodfather a classic of American cinema]] -- wasn't so different from that of Marvel's filmmakers taking pulpy comic books and seeking to elevate them into blockbuster action movies.

* PoorMansPorn: Discussed with regards to the Biblical epics of [[UsefulNotes/FallOfTheStudioSystem the '50s and early '60s]], saying that they offered a way around UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode for Hollywood studios who could just tell off the MoralGuardians by saying that they were trying to censor Literature/TheBible, and arguing that the downfall of the Code in the late '60s heralded the genre's decline now that filmmakers no longer needed to use the figleaf of Biblical accuracy to get away with more sex and violence. He also thinks that this is why the ''WesternAnimation/HeavyMetal'' movie became a [[invoked]] CultClassic in TheEighties.

** He opened episode 87 of ''The Game Overthinker'', a TopTenList of the best games of the [[UsefulNotes/TheSeventhGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames Seventh Generation]], mocking how such lists were everywhere at the moment, used as meaningless filler, before concluding that he might as well make one of his own.

* WeCare: In the ''Big Picture'' episode [[https://www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/do-the-new-oscar-diversity-standards-actually-accomplish-anything-the-big-picture/ "Oscars So Transparent",]] he described the UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s' announcement of new rules on behind-the-scenes diversity and inclusion for awards eligibility as this. He felt that the changes came about due to ''Film/GreenBook''[='=]s Best Picture win in 2019 (especially [[invoked]] [[AwardSnub over]] ''Film/BlackPanther2018'') provoking considerable backlash, seen as it was as a WhiteMansBurden story that was out of step with public opinion, and that the Academy's move was mainly a response to that and other criticisms. He found it to be ironically engaging in the very sin that they were trying to deflect attention from, using tokenism and empty platitudes to distract attention from long-standing problems with representation in Hollywood, noting that virtually every movie Hollywood ever made met at least two of the four criteria that the new rules covered (between their VFX teams being heavily staffed by mostly Asian immigrants and their marketing departments being some of the strongest bastions of diversity in the film industry) and would therefore still be eligible for Best Picture. Not only would ''Green Book'' still quality for Best Picture under these rules, so would films like ''Film/GoneWithTheWind'', ''Film/SongOfTheSouth'', and even ''Film/TheBirthOfANation1915'' that are notorious today for their regressive racial politics.

* CreatorsApathy: [[invoked]] He believes that this is Creator/RolandEmmerich's AchillesHeel as a filmmaker. He says that, while it's usually obvious when Emmerich truly cares about the material he's working on, and turns in great popcorn entertainment like ''Film/IndependenceDay'', ''Film/TwoThousandTwelve'', and ''Film/{{Anonymous}}'' when he does, it's just as painfully obvious when he ''doesn't'', the results often being some of the most lifeless, dispassionate blockbusters of the modern era like ''Film/Godzilla1998'' and ''Film/IndependenceDayResurgence''.

** Feel free to talk to him about GameplayAndStorySegregation as much as you'd like. Just don't mention the words "ludonarrative dissonance."

* StopBeingStereotypical: The entire point of "Building a Better Gamer". While gamers aren't the violent psychopaths that politicians tend to portray them as, the VocalMinority of hardcore gamers are really not helping matters by being gross, rude, misogynistic, racist, homophobic, and generally acting like terrible people. Bob even invokes StrawmanHasAPoint by saying that he can kind of see why people are so averse to gamers, if this is how most hardcore gamers are going to act. The typical pro-gamer argument might be one Bob agrees with, but [[DontShootTheMEssage the delivery needs a lot of work, in Bob's eyes]].[[invoked]]

* StopBeingStereotypical: The entire point of #33, "Building a Better Gamer".

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Notes that one thing that ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii'' and ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare2'' had in common was a lack of female figures, though the former wins for having two notable female characters (Princess Peach and Wendy O. Koopa)

* RealWomenDontWearDresses: His Big Picture video "Pink is not the Problem" is a takedown of this trope. He says that it's rather silly to come out in favor of arbitrary gender coding for stuff (like how girls' toys always have to be pink). But at the same time, Bob argues that the stuff itself -- the things, objects, items, et cetera -- is neutral, and it's how it's used that's the problem here. In other words, the problem is rigidly-maintained gender roles that say boys or girls "have to" be certain things or act certain ways. The idea, Bob argues, is to say that traditionally "feminie" things are for everyone, not to say that traditionally feminie things are inherently bad.

--> While the promise remains, the internet has become a vast ocean of [[MemeticMutation memetic self reference]], funny cat videos, pop culture revivification, and droning videos where embittered 30-something men re-frame their own nostalgic detritus in quasi-scholarly verbiage in a desperate attempt to recast their youth as something other than misspent. *ahem*

* RealWomenDontWearDresses: His Big Picture video "Pink is not the Problem" is a takedown of this trope.

* ProudToBeAGeek

* EasyModeMockery[=/=]ItsEasySoItSucks: Strongly critical of these tropes, feeling them to be signs of an insularity in gamer culture that is locking non-hardcore gamers out of enjoying the medium. Bob's opinion is that, if there's also a "normal" mode, then people shouldn't be complaining. He feels that gamer culture's obsession with difficulty as a measure of a game's quality is a relic of the arcade era, when games were designed to be difficult so as to suck down quarters.[[invoked]]

* {{Epileptic Trees}}[[invoked]]: He's responsible for the WMG/SuperMarioBros "Rosalina is God" Guess.