MrBeast, in his recent video, “Ages 1-100” manages to leave a really bad taste in many people’s mouths after a contestant’s game plan fueled outrage online . The game consists of a group of people, ranging from a toddler to a centenarian, fighting to win $250,000; however, there is a twist: the participants themselves must choose who is next to be eliminated.
The heart of the scandal is contestant #42. He has been criticized for his behavior during the game. He pressured another team’s member, player #43, into voting for players, including a guilty 11-year-old girl, claiming that doing so would increase the recipient’s chance of winning money . The girl begged to be left alone, but contestant #42 forced her to be eliminated, and she ended up crying.
The public reacted quickly and decisively. Not only was #42 deemed a “villain” and to some extent even a “super-villain” for his manipulative and scheming ways, but the audience was largely angered by his lack of sportsmanship or humanity . It is ironic that #42 spent most of his time trying to protect his money but was eventually voted out by #58 anyway.
He went to TikTok to vindicate himself, expressing his anger with #58 and explaining how desperate he was to win the money. But it was too little, and the audience did not change its disposition towards him.
In the end, contestant #47 won the $250,000 prize. Nevertheless, online discourse will be dominated by discussion of #42’s unscrupulous behavior. The video has gathered over 84 million views in four days. It means that people continue to indulge in the spectacle of this suffering and may have the chance to proceed to the future horrors of this kind.
This incident is likely to contribute a new paradigm to the framework of discussion around MrBeast’s challenge videos. However, on the other hand, it has pinned hard questions about the nature of morality testing when a mind is under the cover of a hefty prize.
