5 ms·

The article meanders quite a bit, and I feel lacks a proper critique of what's wrong with MrBeast. I have a strong disgust for most of the things he does, and

by mihaic 3y ago

The article meanders quite a bit, and I feel lacks a proper critique of what's wrong with MrBeast. I have a strong disgust for most of the things he does, and it's taken me a bit to put into words where that comes from. It's a multitude of factors, but it comes down to: - it's all about money. There's no moral or lesson in his videos, other than money is the most important thing in life. - it's almost always meaningless. His challenges don't give growth or fulfilment to those taking them, it's just monkeys dancing for money. - the style feels as obviously manipulative as can be, and the fact that people fall for it is more infuriating than the actual content.

noelwelsh 3y ago
A lot of Mr Beast's "philanthropy" is ineffective and therefore worthless. He's giving away fish, not teaching people how to fish. I.e., giving away money at random does not bring about systemic change.
- mihaic 3y ago
  But the execution matters. For some reason, the way he does it feels like old-time carnavals employing "freaks", so it's not just entertainment or philanthropy to me.
  - red-iron-pine 3y ago
    "but at least this gives freaks a way to make money!"
    - mihaic 3y ago
      "You don't know any better than the freak market!"
- glimshe 3y ago
  The hungry will be happy to eat the fish. I dislike Mr Beast, but it doesn't mean that giving things for those in need is bad, especially in the case of hunger.
- johnnyanmac 3y ago
  Here's the issue: His videos are obvious extremely carefully framed. He does not have any dead air in them. They are exactly how long they need to be to maximize the algorithm, and not a second more. Teaching is boring, a long process, and will lose eyeballs. He may very well be giving the people fishing rods behind the scenes after he's done shooting, or simply plain old money to the town for whatever they need. But that will never show up in the video. he getting the money shots as he throws fishes to the masses and seeing them tear up.
poszlem 3y ago
It's entertainment, it's no different than watching football.
- anon22981 3y ago
  Yeah, weird critique. I don’t go around critizing apples because they do not taste like oranges (and acting superior while at it).
  - mihaic 3y ago
    Weird critique of my critique. Almost all people have two lines: the first is "I don't like this, it's just not my thing." and the second is "This is bad and the world would be better without it". Your argument applies to the first line, not the second one. For instance, do you think it's ok to let entertainment programs advertise cigarettes to children? Or would you be ok with fights to the death, if it were legal? I'm not arguing to ban MrBeast, I just find it disgusting and wanted to share my opinion in the comment section, usually used for that.
- Euphorbium 3y ago
  Watching football is just as braindead.
  - johnnyanmac 3y ago
    I'm not a sports fan, but people who say sports are braindead don't understand why people watch sports. A hypercasual sportsgoer that only knows the most basic rules won't get anymore enjoyment out of a professional football game than a reader who opens up chapter 12 of a new book and starts reading. Context matters and is missing in both cases.
disqard 3y ago
I might have a similar perspective, and maybe these words (not mine) can help further articulate why he is an agent of a sinister force: --- i have seen many people spill their guts on-line, and i did so myself until, at last, i began to see that i had commodified myself. commodification means that you turn something into a product which has a money-value. in the nineteenth century, commodities were made in factories, which karl marx called “the means of production.” capitalists were people who owned the means of production, and the commodities were made by workers who were mostly exploited. i created my interior thoughts as a means of production for the corporation that owned the board i was posting to, and that commodity was being sold to other commodity/consumer entities as entertainment. that means that i sold my soul like a tennis shoe and i derived no profit from the sale of my soul. --- IMO, he is an excellent example of people knowingly leveraging that commodification to generate money, and that is why I personally don't like his content. Edit to add source of quote -- "Pandora's Vox" (worth reading in full): https://gist.github.com/kolber/2131643 https://gist.github.com/kolber/2131643
- mihaic 3y ago
  Thank you for that, very interesting read. I've become convinced that the thinkers of the 60s and 70s pretty much figured out how technology would corrupt society (see for instance Lewis Mumford, Marshal McLuhan), but there's no money in coordinating solutions.

by mihaic 3y ago

noelwelsh 3y ago

A lot of Mr Beast's "philanthropy" is ineffective and therefore worthless. He's giving away fish, not teaching people how to fish. I.e., giving away money at random does not bring about systemic change.

mihaic 3y ago
But the execution matters. For some reason, the way he does it feels like old-time carnavals employing "freaks", so it's not just entertainment or philanthropy to me.
- red-iron-pine 3y ago
  "but at least this gives freaks a way to make money!"
  - mihaic 3y ago
    "You don't know any better than the freak market!"
glimshe 3y ago
The hungry will be happy to eat the fish. I dislike Mr Beast, but it doesn't mean that giving things for those in need is bad, especially in the case of hunger.
johnnyanmac 3y ago
Here's the issue: His videos are obvious extremely carefully framed. He does not have any dead air in them. They are exactly how long they need to be to maximize the algorithm, and not a second more. Teaching is boring, a long process, and will lose eyeballs. He may very well be giving the people fishing rods behind the scenes after he's done shooting, or simply plain old money to the town for whatever they need. But that will never show up in the video. he getting the money shots as he throws fishes to the masses and seeing them tear up.

poszlem 3y ago

It's entertainment, it's no different than watching football.

anon22981 3y ago
Yeah, weird critique. I don’t go around critizing apples because they do not taste like oranges (and acting superior while at it).
- mihaic 3y ago
  Weird critique of my critique. Almost all people have two lines: the first is "I don't like this, it's just not my thing." and the second is "This is bad and the world would be better without it". Your argument applies to the first line, not the second one. For instance, do you think it's ok to let entertainment programs advertise cigarettes to children? Or would you be ok with fights to the death, if it were legal? I'm not arguing to ban MrBeast, I just find it disgusting and wanted to share my opinion in the comment section, usually used for that.
Euphorbium 3y ago
Watching football is just as braindead.
- johnnyanmac 3y ago
  I'm not a sports fan, but people who say sports are braindead don't understand why people watch sports. A hypercasual sportsgoer that only knows the most basic rules won't get anymore enjoyment out of a professional football game than a reader who opens up chapter 12 of a new book and starts reading. Context matters and is missing in both cases.

disqard 3y ago

I might have a similar perspective, and maybe these words (not mine) can help further articulate why he is an agent of a sinister force: --- i have seen many people spill their guts on-line, and i did so myself until, at last, i began to see that i had commodified myself. commodification means that you turn something into a product which has a money-value. in the nineteenth century, commodities were made in factories, which karl marx called “the means of production.” capitalists were people who owned the means of production, and the commodities were made by workers who were mostly exploited. i created my interior thoughts as a means of production for the corporation that owned the board i was posting to, and that commodity was being sold to other commodity/consumer entities as entertainment. that means that i sold my soul like a tennis shoe and i derived no profit from the sale of my soul. --- IMO, he is an excellent example of people knowingly leveraging that commodification to generate money, and that is why I personally don't like his content. Edit to add source of quote -- "Pandora's Vox" (worth reading in full): https://gist.github.com/kolber/2131643 https://gist.github.com/kolber/2131643

mihaic 3y ago
Thank you for that, very interesting read. I've become convinced that the thinkers of the 60s and 70s pretty much figured out how technology would corrupt society (see for instance Lewis Mumford, Marshal McLuhan), but there's no money in coordinating solutions.