History YMMV / Dragonbored

* UnfortunateImplications:
** Carl's ending "punishment" was him getting feminized. [[http://wearethegeek.libsyn.com/89-rob-walker Confirmed]] by Rob, who said Doug wrote that bit by himself because he thinks "guys dressing up in drag is so funny and humiliating" [[note]][[{{hypocrite}} Excepting]] the first DVD menu, WebVideo/SuburbanKnights and Tacoma in WebVideo/DemoReel where it was all lampshaded {{fanservice}}.[[/note]] and that Rob wanted to slap him for that.
** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC6rWOv0XMo bloopers]] have Rob complaining at Doug “I write one sexist line and you go too far” when Rachel rolls her eyes at “women be crazy” improvising.

* MisaimedFandom: Carl was a deadbeat manchild who dodged responsibility by gaming, and victim-blamed his girlfriend for his friends getting her drunk and vulnerable. Most people got this and hated accordingly, but some members of the fandom seem to feel sorry for him. Rob, Film Brain, Y Ruler Of Time and [=ChaosD1=] have all expressed "[[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement reactions]]" to this. Doug as Critic also mocked them in his review, saying if you're an obsessed gamer you'll see Karl as a martyr.

* JustForFun/XMeetsY: In their Anime Midwest interview, Rachel and Malcolm said Doug's short was "''Skyrim'' meets ''Film/OfficeSpace''" and not connected to the site at all.

* UnfortunateImplications: Carl's ending "punishment" was him getting feminized. [[http://wearethegeek.libsyn.com/89-rob-walker Confirmed]] by Rob, who said Doug wrote that bit by himself because he thinks "guys dressing up in drag is so funny and humiliating" [[note]][[{{hypocrite}} Excepting]] the first DVD menu, WebVideo/SuburbanKnights and Tacoma in WebVideo/DemoReel where it was all lampshaded {{fanservice}}.[[/note]] and that Rob wanted to slap him for that.
** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC6rWOv0XMo bloopers]] also have Rob complaining at Doug “I write one sexist line and you go too far” when Rachel rolls her eyes at “women be crazy” improvising.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:

* {{Squick}}: From the bloopers, Karl talks to Doug about all the crap he's found in Rob's controller. And it really does look like crap, as he says “a crack addict wouldn't snort this”.

* DesignatedHero: Jimbroth is said to have "lived" Carl's life, even though Carl's girlfriend seemingly fell for him less than a minute after he introduced him to her, and received his job by physically attacking Carl's boss, who then hired him on the spot (Jimbroth wasn't even seeking a job at this point, and did not intend for this to happen). His "inspirational speech" was nothing more than the writing on the back of the game box. Basically, he got everything Carl had within a few minutes with no effort or even intention whatsoever. [[spoiler: His refusal to help Carl at the end didn't seem very heroic either; in fact, he may have did it (along with "lending" the game to Taylin) purposely because 1. he felt Carl deserved his fate, and 2. he decided if Carl came back, it would jeopardize Jimbroth's new life.]]

-->'''Critic''': So you see kids, Karl ends up not getting what he wants because he was a jerk to everybody. Oh, I'm sorry, I just thought I'd point that out in case you didn't catch the subtle message they were trying to put in there was. That Karl didn't get what he wanted because he was a jerk to everybody. Did you get that? Did you get the message that Karl didn't get what he wanted because he was a jerk to everybody? Good, because it was a quiet, not so in your face message that I'm afraid some of you might have missed, that Karl didn't get what he wanted because he was a jerk to everybody.

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC6rWOv0XMo bloopers]] also have Rob complaining at Doug “I write one sexist line and you go too far” when Rachel rolls her eyes at “women be crazy” improvising.

* MisaimedFandom: Carl was a deadbeat manchild who dodged responsibility by gaming, and victim-blamed his girlfriend for his friends getting her drunk and vulnerable. Most people got this and hated accordingly, but some members of the fandom seem to feel sorry for him. Rob, Film Brain, Y Ruler Of Time and [=ChaosD1=] have all expressed "[[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement reactions]]" to this..

* ClicheStorm: Dragonbored is not the most subversive thing ever. Rachel plays a nagging girlfriend who reads self-help books, wants her boyfriend to propose and swoons over the ValuesDissonance guy, Malcolm is the uptight but dorky black best friend, Carl's the deadbeat manchild you see in so many Hollywood summer movies while Doug plays the FishOutOfWater who takes over the StraightMan's life and is far better at it, and so on and so on.

* MisaimedFandom: Carl was a deadbeat manchild who dodged responsibility by gaming, and victim-blamed his girlfriend for his friends getting her drunk and vulnerable. Most people got this and hated accordingly, but some members of the fandom seem to feel sorry for him. Rob, Film Brain, Y Ruler Of Time and [=ChaosD1=] have all expressed "[[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement reactions]]" to this.
** Partly because it was Doug showing off his ridiculously blue eyes and they got distracted, a lot of (otherwise feminist) women went gooey for Jimbroth, ignoring the DeliberateValuesDissonance of his sexism and homophobia. It was [[Series/LifeOnMars Gene Hunt Syndrome]] all over again.

* UnfortunateImplications: While Carl is a thoroughly unlikable character, many of the things Jimbroth focuses on are common introvert traits like a dislike of drunken parties.
** At said drunken party, Jessica is drunk, half-naked, all the men leer at her and for some reason this is seen as her fault. She breaks up with Carl for the video game caricature, not his blaming her for it.
** What's the tipping point for Jessica finally leaving Carl? Carl creating a new RPG character who, this time, is a female sex object with her face, implying some commentary on masturbation.
** Carl's ending "punishment" was him getting feminized. Confirmed by Rob, who said Doug wrote that bit by himself because he thinks "guys dressing up in drag is so funny and humiliating". [[note]][[{{hypocrite}} Excepting]] the first DVD menu, WebVideo/SuburbanKnights and Tacoma in WebVideo/DemoReel where it was all lampshaded {{fanservice}}.[[/note]]

** While Carl is a bit of a {{Jerkass}}, considering that none of his "friends" seem to actually care that much about him and [=LeBron=] in particular seems to outright ''loathe'' him, is it any wonder that he turned to ''Skyguard'' to feel [[EscapistCharacter like a hero]] at the end of the day? Furthermore, how well would ''anyone'' really handle a MartyStu showing up to be adored by everyone and throwing all their [[{{Foil}} bad traits]] into sharp relief?
** Carl's friends ''do'' try to help him. Thaylin is constantly trying to get him to put the game down out of fear that Carl will be fired for not finishing the report on time, but he can't be expected to come to Carl's apartment and force him to do his job. Jessica is constantly trying to get their relationship back on track, but he refuses to give her even the common courtesy of pausing the game to look at her when she is trying to talk about the troubles they are having. [=LeBron=] has perfect grounds for hating Carl if the botched merger report has become the rule rather than the exception.

** Given how important the merger is, and the fact that [=LeBron=] is acting friendly towards Jimbroth as the episode fades to black, odds are that Jimbroth is busy trying to repair the damage that Carl did by focusing more on his game than on his job. [=LeBron=] "riding his ass" is likely the result of having to hurry and get everything straightened out so that the merger can go forward. The fact that Jimbroth can handle this stress at work while still making time to spend with his girlfriend at an event that is important to her (that he obviously has no interest in attending) means that he has found the proper balance between his responsibilites to his work and his responsibilities to the people in his life.

*** Given the amount of time that Carl puts into his game compared to the time he puts into his relationship, him creating a character based on (his idealized image of) his girlfriend could be seen as a sign that he has completely given up trying to work things out with her, as his gaming addiction means that his attention will be wholly given over to the avatar of his girlfriend. It's the realization that he has completely replaced her with "pixelated pussy"[[note]]Excuse me, ''cell shaded''[[/note]] that finally pushes her over the edge into leaving him.

** While Carl is a bit of a {{Jerkass}}, considering that none of his "friends" seem to actually care that much about him and [=LeBron=] in particular seems to outright ''loathe'' him, is it any wonder that he turned to ''Skyguard'' to feel [[EscapistCharacter like a hero]] at the end of the day? Furthermore, how well would anyone ''really'' handle a MartyStu showing up to be adored by everyone and throwing all their [[{{Foil}} bad traits]] into sharp relief?