Greedy assholes who came to own Bob Ross’ name and likeness have long been slapping it on any old shit they can get away with squeezing a couple bucks out of. It’s so unlike how Ross himself lived and would have wanted to be remembered.
There was a documentary made about it which is worth a watch for anyone who liked Bob Ross.
Watching the documentary about this was really upsetting. It really saps the enjoyment of the show. Fuck those leeches
I can still enjoy the show because watching that, you’re seeing who Ross really was and the delightful gift he gave to the world with his work.
Screw buying any products with his name on it made after he died, though. Those vultures don’t get my money.
I won’t watch on any streaming services because they’d probably see some money from that, but maybe I’ll add the show to my server one day
That explains the Bob Ross toaster we got from the thrift store
I first thought that this was going to be a Rocksmith type game where people would be able to learn creating digital drawings / art through a video game. “You’ve got 20 minutes to recreate this Bob Ross painting by following these instructions in real time. GO!”
Then I kept reading and was made sad.
What’s so bad about this?
The current owners of the Bob Ross brand are greedy little pigs who are happier making money off of cheap bullshit than doing anything remotely positive (or at least not wholly negative) with his legacy. Anything Bob Ross branded that used to be good is cheap trash now, and they’ve added about 10,000,000 pieces of garbage on top of it.
Exactly my point. It is not Bob Ross “the person.”
You would not argue with me if Louis Vouitton would be the brand in question
Everything. Here’s the god-awful trailer.
It looks like painting in a game. And Epic is paying to use Bob Ross as a character. What about this is bad? Or is this some boomerism where you don’t like other people using your nostalgia?
I’m not after your chug jugs bro. I hope you enjoy it and spam all the taunts!
A collective opinion nobody cares about outside your bubble is not dystopian.
Dystopian is that people get so emotional and invested over this.
“Oh no, my video game run by soulless corps is exploiting a franchise that is owned by other soulless corps! Better get active."
For context, Bob Ross is a well-respected painter who passed away in 1995. His “The Joy of Painting” broadcast, originally made for the PBS channel, has been re-streamed on Twitch by the site, making him a notable figure online.
While nowhere near the ongoing existential polycrises we’re battling, there is something disturbing about a real person’s legacy being used to promote a cash-grab video game that squeezes money from kids. I’m certain Bob Ross would not want anything to do with Epic Games or Fortnite. To have one’s existence and fame used in this way is on-par with running crypto scams with deepfakes of a public figure.
That’s a good thought.
I think my point is more, that this is not “Bob Ross.” As in “a person.” It is a franchise that exploits his name.
The dystopian part already happened. The fact that a company like Epic happily joins that is not surprising, nor anything that is worse than any other capitalistic joint venture.
I think people would not perceive it as dystopian (or even “bad” tbh) if they made a joint venture with Louis Vouitton. However, this also was once a real person. One with integrity who made rock solid suitcases btw. 😄
At first I read
Calling AI Happy Little Painters
That was worse.
at least they haven’t crammed ai into it (so far, i guess)
There are purchasable environments, the trailer says you can “spam taunts,” etc. It’s disgusting to use Bob Ross’ legacy like this.
