Yes, but the reason he's giving away money is for views . It's why charity for views is in my opinion kind of degenerate - arguably using poor people to make money but saving face because giving away money.
I think a more positive way to think about MrBeast's behavior of giving away money isn't that he's doing it for views, but that he's doing it for fun.
There is a documentary about how actor Bill Murray will occasionally spend a bunch of money on a random stranger that he meets in public.
I see this trend of rich YTers giving away free money as evidence that the creator economy has lowered the barrier to entry to philanthropy, in the same way that the assembly line lowered the barrier to entry to car ownership.
No longer do you have to be a cutthroat oil baron to have enough disposable to make it rain on a stranger every now and then. You can just get YT rich and famous.
Now, I say this having only viewed one of his free money videos. But from what I saw the participants were well treated and appeared to be having fun.
I would argue that he is strictly the better guy than a chocolate factory owner who is otherwise indistinguishable from Willy Wonka but who just pockets all the cash instead.
That's an interesting question. Here is my amateur psychoanalyst take on Wonka. This is based on the Gene Wilder version of Wonka. It is the one with which I am most familiar.
Wonka was a shut in with sociopath tendencies. He hates other people because they're infinitely less intelligent than him. They see him as magical because of the things he creates, but to him the inventions are obvious. Other fictional characters with this trait: Rick Sanchez, Elwood Ralson.
He is a creative who wants to quit his job (maybe he got bored, or just got more interested in his Great Glass Elevator). But he doesn't want to close his business, because if he does that then the chocolate world will be taken over by the uncreative people that he hates. He doesn't care about his customers, he just cares about the creative process of chocolate-craft. Also, he loves his employees because they share his love of hard work, and he probably feels like a parent to them since he saved them from the horrors of their homeland.
He wants to find someone to take over his business. Someone who he knows will be capable of the creativity that he is. He hates children a little bit less than adults, so he concocts an elaborate factory tour/job interview because it was the only possible way for him to interview children.
So my answer the question, is Wonka the good guy, is yes. Because he worked hard to ensure that his creative process for chocolate-craft would continue to exist in the world after he was gone. He is an inventor that loved his invention.
Plus any harm that could have possibly be done to his factory guests, could easily be undone by his "magic". Just like Rick Sanchez.
How is he using "poor people"? Everyday people are "poor people"? I think that says more about you than him.
Yes, the views fund what he gives away. But until you or I start dedicating our lives to making money to give away, I don't think either of us has a leg to stand on and criticize him [for this specifically].
If you watch the larger section of the video, you can see there's a whole section labeled as his 'Evil Mr. Beast' persona. Literally at the end of the teaser section he says "I could keep going, but they might believe it" https://youtu.be/YhRRny_sHYw?t=92.
They also hit on subjects such as people claiming Mr Beast ruins people's lives by giving them gifts for which they can't afford to pay the associated taxes. And he makes it clear how he will buy back items so the person just ends up with cash, to pay the taxes and keep. Or they can keep it or sell it themselves.
You can certainly argue his satire was in bad taste. I'm not trying to gas up Mr Beast or claim that he doesn't engage in attention-seeking behavior. Such as this, look at how we're over here talking about him, spreading his brand.
But, as long as he's using that brand to drive views, to have fun making videos and engage in some sort of neo-grassroots philanthropy I don't see how he's the plague of video content.
To be honest, Oprah's content in my opinion was miles better than Mr. Beast's. She was at least conducting interviews, having conversations etc.
At least her videos weren't, "look at minecraft funny game - my friend made a poop sound hehe" or "omg look at kiddy pool filled with ORBEEZ FUN TIME"
Candidly, with a hilariously not successful youtube but a solid career - I find it funny to imagine Mr. Beast "spending hours" coming up with "next level content" which in reality you'd be better off just paying a 7 year old with jolly ranchers to do.
Even if he was only giving away money for views (something I disagree with along the same lines as others) - why is that a bad thing exactly? How is it malicious to actually help people?
There is a documentary about how actor Bill Murray will occasionally spend a bunch of money on a random stranger that he meets in public.
I see this trend of rich YTers giving away free money as evidence that the creator economy has lowered the barrier to entry to philanthropy, in the same way that the assembly line lowered the barrier to entry to car ownership.
No longer do you have to be a cutthroat oil baron to have enough disposable to make it rain on a stranger every now and then. You can just get YT rich and famous.
Now, I say this having only viewed one of his free money videos. But from what I saw the participants were well treated and appeared to be having fun.