In a video, the most followed youtuber in the world finances the operation of a thousand people with blindness. A way of putting philanthropy on stage which raises questions.
by Constance Vilanova
There is Charlie, a 50 -year -old whose sight has dropped so much that he had to leave his job as a cashier. There is also Jeremiah, a high school student with blindness to the right eye since birth, or Satchel, not yet twenty, who has not seen anything since a Kart accident. These three Americans had the chance to cross the road of mastodonte de Youtube, mrbeast .
In his video published on January 31, he challenged himself to finance the eye operation of 1,000 people with visual blindness. An eight -minute pastille carried out in partnership with See International, an organization which offers eye care around the world. In the absence of a common health insurance system, in the United States, the most precarious do not have access to it: cataract operation costs between 3,500 and 7,000 dollars (from 3,300 to 6,600 euros) per eye.
On melo music, the very rich YouTubeur stages himself in front of the camera before and after the operation alongside patients moved to tears. In addition to funding this medical intervention, MrBeast offers $ 10,000 to one, 50,000 to another, and a brand new Tesla to a third. He also donates $ 100,000 to See SEE International. The video concludes on the images of other people treated thanks to him in developing countries.
Smiles screwed on his lips, all launched a “Thank you Mister Beast!” Result: 106 million views and a good dose of controversy on social networks and in the media. Some denounce ” Washing “ from a multimillionaire videographer who continues Polluting content advocating overconsumption, but seems to buy a driving with this kind of concept. Others judge that it is “charity porn “ – Understand the fact of surfing a good action in order to attract views and, therefore, money.
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“I couldn’t go to the end of the video. She gave me the nausea,” said Professor Serge Resnikoff, president of The organization for prevention of blindness , NGO which fights for the right to the view of populations in Africa. “The Youtubeur gives an almost biblical vision due to finding the sight, with blind patients who” become normal again “. But this is not the case. They were normal even without seeing. It is an infantilizing and validist discourse. It’s show “, analyzes this ophthalmology expert. “This does not solve anything, has no impact in terms of public health. We must democratize and train professionals on site in developing countries, and not to land in Savior or Messiah.”
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