The Conversation (0)
Liam O'Dell
May 07, 2023
Related video: Mr Beast reveals amount of time it takes to create his YouTube videos
Lex Fridman Podcast
Despite receiving significant criticism over a video in which he helped treat 1,000 people’s blindness, popular YouTuber Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson has doubled down on making videos about ‘helping’ disabled people with a new upload in which he helps 1,000 deaf people “hear for the first time”.
In a video shared to his 150 million subscriber strong YouTube channel on Saturday (6 May), Donaldson can be heard listing the names of individuals he bought hearing aids for, adding that he also helped “entire families hear their loved ones again”.
“But they are only a few of the 1,000 people that we’re going to help hear again today,” he said.
Alongside the hearing technology – which only simulates the sensation of hearing, and does not ‘fix’ or ‘cure’ deafness – Donaldson also handed out briefcases full of cash in true MrBeast fashion.
Though in one bizarre exchange, the content creator asks one individual: “Which is better, hearing or the 10 grand?”
We’re not sure you should be pitting something as important as hearing against something as life-changing as $10,000, Jimmy, but we move…
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Yet while fans of MrBeast have described the video – which the internet personality says required “almost 4,000 hours of editing” and is going to “change YouTube” – as “amazing” and “emotional”, actual Deaf people are far from convinced:
\u201c@missundaaztood one specific thing that was just the cherry on top for me, was the on/off switch animation that they edited onto the video when testing out the hearing devices for the first time.\n\nfurther perpetuates harmful stereotypes and ideas that deafness is all or nothing\u2014\u201con or off\u201d\u201d— fish is deaf as hell \ud83d\udc20 (@fish is deaf as hell \ud83d\udc20) 1683422472
\u201c@MrBeast Sad. Im not a hater\u2026. But I can call you an ableist. \ud83e\udd37\ud83c\udffd\u200d\u2640\ufe0f Here you go.\u201d— MrBeast (@MrBeast) 1683403514
\u201c@ladycassieblack @rapics721 @GaryLHenderson @MrBeast - Correct. This is ableism.\n- Hearing people get fixated on \u2018fixing\u2019 d/Deaf people.\n- Assistive devices do not fix deafness.\n- Or APD. Or a number of other deaf related physical / mental related issues. \n- Or the societal / access issues they face\n- Many will not adjust /\u2026\u201d— MrBeast (@MrBeast) 1683403514
\u201cLol not this again\u201d— fish is deaf as hell \ud83d\udc20 (@fish is deaf as hell \ud83d\udc20) 1683422472
\u201cBro wants a cookie for thinking he helped deaf people without understanding how hearing aids really work. Hearing aids are not like glasses. \n\nTired of white savior hearing bros.\u201d— Cryssie \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Cryssie \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1683420468
\u201cI wish the commenters are open-minded enough to view us as real people with real concerns rather than haters who ruins things.\u201d— Ahmed Khalifa \ud83d\udd09\ud83e\uddbb\ud83c\udffe (@Ahmed Khalifa \ud83d\udd09\ud83e\uddbb\ud83c\udffe) 1683441133
\u201cPeople don't realize how exhausting wearing hearing aids can be.\n\nPeople also misunderstand the reality of using them because they don't cure deafness. There's still a lot of struggles on top of feeling obliged to wear them because no one will accommodate you.\u201d— Ben Bayliss (@Ben Bayliss) 1683408172
\u201cPeople are so quick to defend @MrBeast when they are not reading what the Deaf community is writing. The Deaf community has LIVED hopes and the heartbreaks.\n\nWhat MrBeast did was to post inspo porn which is harmful. Forbes actually did an article on this: https://t.co/QkI2G5VZ0X\u201d— Sasiah (@Sasiah) 1683427763
\u201cI\u2019m not here to criticize the latest video about curing deafness, mostly bc I\u2019ve already discussed this many times before. But I ask that people raise their consciousness and consider biases when consuming this type of content. \n\nHere\u2019s an essay I wrote: https://t.co/s5Ng54f1dT\u201d— The Morgan Baker (@The Morgan Baker) 1683407086
\u201cHearing aids aren't an on/off switch. And hearing and listening are not the same thing. Listening takes a hell of a lot of mental effort when you have hearing loss with or without hearing aids.\u201d— Coty Craven (@Coty Craven) 1683408339
\u201cMy hearing aids only help me hear minor background sounds as a profoundly Deaf person. They are not a fix, they don\u2019t even allow me to hear speech. The assumption that they\u2019re a fix all is so thoughtless and uneducated\u201d— \ud83e\uddbb\ud83c\udffc\ud83e\udd1f\ud83c\udffdE (They/He)\ud83e\uddcf\ud83c\udffc\ud83c\udf08 (@\ud83e\uddbb\ud83c\udffc\ud83e\udd1f\ud83c\udffdE (They/He)\ud83e\uddcf\ud83c\udffc\ud83c\udf08) 1683408788
\u201cDonating hearing aids is great because costs are inaccessible. We\u2019ve been over this. Framing your video like they\u2019re an instant cure without showcasing what can occur after with the journey & letting people believe they\u2019re the end all be all & not addressing ableism is another.\u201d— Rikki Poynter (@Rikki Poynter) 1683430062
Some have even branded the video “inspiration porn” – a term coined by the late disability activist Stella Young during a TEDx talk in Sydney in 2014.
After listing a series of images and examples which fit this description, Young said: “I use the term ‘porn’ deliberately, because they objectify one group of people for the benefit of another group of people. So in this case, we’re objectifying disabled people for the benefit of non-disabled people.
“The purpose of these images is to inspire you, to motivate you, so that we can look at them and think, ‘Well, however bad my life is, it could be worse. I could be that person’.”
Since MrBeast’s video was released, other Twitter users have dismissed concerned individuals as “haters” and made deaf ‘jokes’ about the video – including that the news is something they “love to hear”.
Yes, really.
Although MrBeast is yet to respond to the latest backlash, he did issue a comment when similar concern was levied at his video about blind people.
He tweeted: “Twitter – Rich people should help others with their money.
“Me – Okay, I’ll use my money to help people and I promise to give away all my money before I die. Every single penny.
“Twitter – MrBeast bad.”
Good to know he takes reasonable feedback seriously…
indy100 has approached MrBeast for comment.
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