Mainly his job history. Like the time they wanted him to do a five minute online quiz, and Phil told them to take a hike because it wasn’t “part of his job description”.
While I generally counsel workers to stay within the confines of their contracted duties, it is generally to avoid management from saddling them with other peoples' work for no additional pay. Conversely, Phil's reluctance to step outside his responsibilities was based primarily in slothfulness, and once Best Buy eliminated his department it didn't take them long to eliminate him as well. FFS, he got fired for saving less than $3 on three Playstations with his employee discount that he intended to use to run his own tournament.
Granted, we only have that story from DSP, and it’s possible his confrontation was more quiet seething, but he clearly has problems cooperating with people and always believes he’s the smartest guy in the room.
Phil isn't even the smartest guy in the room when he's in a room by himself.
@Old Tonto can’t quote you due to length, apologies.
It's easy enough. Just highlight whatever parts you want to quote and select 'quote'. The editor socks it away nice and tidy.
To add to your well-made point, Phil has never known hardship. He went from living with his parents working shit jobs he only needed for presumably spending money, to living in a condo within driving distance of his parents, who came over weekly to do his cleaning and laundry (of his own admission, so fuck knows what else they did for him), to making absurd money through Machinema, then streaming.
I agree that he has the devil's own luck, largely avoiding true repercussions to his... everything. However, luck eventually runs out. Us waiting to see it finally happen is comparable to fans continuing to buy Rolling Stones tickets; largely because when one of them finally
does eat it on stage it will make their ticket stubs into eBay bonanza. "I was
there when Mick Jagger stroked the fuck out! I even got some of his bile on me when he went down! What a
performance!"
Anyone who has struggled through shit hours at a terrible job, been forced to deal with debt collectors to keep from getting a lien placed, or negotiated with a loan company so their car wouldn’t get repossessed, will do anything to keep it from happening again, something I can say because all three of those things happened to me in my earlier life. It is a unique and nauseating and crushing sense of helplessness, and he has no concept of how lucky he is to have never been there.
That would require self-reflection, which he is either incapable of doing, or refuses to do it. Many who have endured difficult circumstances understand that 1) it can always be worse, and 2) are able to count their blessings/be thankful for the things they
do have. As I've stated, Phil does not do this because he is a ridiculous asshole and obviously believes despite everything he has gained, he has deserved far more. Facts to the contrary be damned.
True. Also, well written heels generally have a reason which drives them to behave maliciously. Phil's only stance when attempting this is blaming the trolls endlessly, and saying he's never hurt anyone except for this one time right now. He was also the same shitty annoying heel long before he became Youtube famous.
Indeed, and as @Penultimate Warrior pointed out earlier, irksome heels only work up to a point where the fans expect them to get the just desserts. Conversely, a heel who
never gets theirs is both irritating and dull (qv: HHH - Reign of Terror, Duane Johnson - Final Boss).
Remember those who unironically posted "wow, Phil is actually pretty entertaining and likable, wtf is up with the DSP subforum? This guy's an actual king! Suffah detractors" then slowly changed their tune to align with Triple P (I call this a dead joke) until it became "uhhh we were playing along with the snake plan retards". Holy fucking groupthink mongs who don't even have the balls to own up to their retardation.
Haters gonna hate, and faggots gonna suck. It is known.
Phil is a spoiled nepo-baby and that's been known since his early days in the FGC. This is the dude who would buy/could afford full-on Street Fighter 2 cabinets (for reference, buying a SF2 arcade machine today would cost well over $2200) and oodles of merch and bullshit even before his channel took off.
Arcade cabs were never particularly inexpensive, though I would venture that these 75%-size multi-game cabs from Arcade-1Up have made it much easier/economical to procure one. Then there's MAME and the constant flow of Capcom Collections to put that sort of thing at everyone's fingertips. This is something Phil has routinely complained about, as it removes shitheads like himself from their 'vaunted' positions as gatekeepers. As if these churls were Master Masons withholding greater knowledge from the unworthy acolytes. Though, tbf, Phil has also complained about the try-hards which know the games better than himself by virtue of "holing themselves up in their parents' basements". This puts Phil squarely between the two extremes of Scrub and Try-Hard, resulting in his being a Scrub-Hard, if you will.
He paid for big-name tournaments and had so much spending money that he money-matched people on a regular basis. He always came off as the kind of man child who was saved by mommy and daddy when shit got tough, so I doubt he ever had to endure any level of real financial hardship. Remember, he had his parents fly over to the other side of the country just to clean his house and have momma Burnell give him money to pay his debt.
I've known these types of people, generally referred to as 'PKs' (Preacher Kids/Police Kids). They were generally the biggest pieces of shit on two legs because, as you said, Mommy/Daddy could make the problems go away (qv: Alyssa Mercante, Hunter Biden, Ted Kennedy, George W. Bush,
et al), and generally did. It gives them a sense of invulnerability, which lasts right up until Mom/Dad are no longer able to cover for them. When that happens, it's a thing of fucking beauty to behold.
He maladjusted for a man in his mid 40s. When something happens that he can't control by running to his fans or his parents, I imagine that moment will completely destroy him. He lacks the necessary experience to operate without any kind of guidance, and it shows in how he carries himself.
The motherfucker can't play
videogames without having someone guide him by his little piggy hooves, as we've all seen. The day he finally finds out the well has run dry will result in the mother of all shitfits, and is essentially the day most of us tune in to witness.
