I've said this before, but there really is something tragic about Dobson. As in a Greek tragedy. He's trapped by his own failings and thus, the harder he tries, the more he is undone. With all those opportunities pretty much handed to him, he could have been so much, only to wind up being so little. A bitter, surly blue bear. I don't think he was always like that, though. I think his truly assholic tendencies only cropped up later, probably sometime in college or shortly afterwards. Judging by Formera, something you can tell he actually had fun making, it must've gone downhill for him about then, when it wasn't a big hit. Plus his dream job at Disney evaporated in the cold, harsh light of reality. It was probably then when he realized he wasn't in demand and wouldn't get anywhere despite his best efforts. Plus, that's when he had to face rejection and criticism, things he thought he was free of when he got his diploma from MCAD. So he got bitter, and his latent assholery came into its full flower. Now he lives in a social media bubble and only sees the real world as "the outside," a thing to be avoided. Inside is safe, he's in control. Outside, someone may call him a name, laugh at him, or mock him for his failings both physical and mental. And so he just devolves, intellectually and creatively. And he's brought it all down on himself. He can blame his art professors, relatives, trolls, That One Guy, 4Chan, Trump, but in the end he's the one responsible for the pile of maggot-ridden dogshit his life has become. He himself is to blame for it. And he's desperate not to admit that. Especially not to himself.
