No Stupid Questions

My personal take is that content creators and celebrities in general should never be judged as “people” in the sense that you might deem a teacher or a neighborhood kid as a “good” or “bad” influence. Rather, you should treat them as “media personalities”. Content creators are characters. They’re personas meant to drive engagement and clicks. Some achieve this by engaging in risky behavior or drama. Some just do wacky challenges. The motivation is the same in that the persona presented on the screen is a combo of the creator and the engagement from their community meant to drive up click rates and brand-building.

Mr Beast has kind of a “wacky semi-wholesome” image. Odd challenges and charities that hand out cash to random people for views. That’s a cynical take, but at the end of the day he’s a content creator, that’s it. If handing out free surgeries to correct childhood blindness didn’t drive engagement, he wouldn’t do it. If anything, the fact that his community is interested in seeing that project reflects more on them as people than on him.

So in my opinion the better questions for assessing his influence on your children are things like “why does his content appeal to you?” “What about his character do you find likable?” “What aspects would you want to emulate in your own life if you could?”

Again, just my personal view.

kinda cringy, but seems like a nice guy.

sure, he does his philanthropy "for views" but that's what allows him to continue doing it.

not a fan of his, but he's alright.

Ask yourself this: Does he offer the same "generosity" off camera ?

If not, then he's an actor who's only doing what he does to continue his acting career.

If your kids watch him because he's entertaining, then I wouldnt worry too much.

But if they are trying to emulate him (I.e. trying to garner internet clout by doing "good deeds", but only on camera), then that would worry me as a parent.

I would ask a different question - is Mr. Beast a good role model for the kids or not? Whether he's a "good person" or not is largely irrelevant, the fact is he is doing good.

Personally I'm a big fan of his philathropy, but I don't think he makes for a good role model. He's found a way to influence and doing good for the world, but I don't think it's easily replicable nor should kids try to emulate him - because to be Mr. Beast, you need to be in the influencer / clout-chasing game, which can have roads that lead to success but at the end of the day, it's an endless game of trying to get eyeballs and capture attention.

I would encourage the kids to forge their own path and not necessarily emulate Beast, but try to make the types of impact he makes in the world.

Since it's not a financially good idea to be seen as a douche, I think it's in his best interest to put videos on the internet that look good- but is he really? Nobody knows that but him.

I've never watched any of his content but I've been loosely following the discussion (so I'm clearly more than qualified to comment and have my opinion be taken entirely serious).

What he does is obviously fantastic for the individual people receiving help, whether he does it out of genuine concern or for the attention. There are however concerns that he's (involuntarily) distracting from efforts to actually fundamentally change stuff about how our society works. Nothing he does goes to the root of any issues, it's just treating symptoms.

And he literally recreated Squid Game. I don't know wtf to think about that.

There is at least one video (maybe an interview, not necessarily on his main channel) where he talks out of character about how he runs the channel etc.

His on screen persona is just that, a persona. This is something your kids should understand (and they can, if you find one of those out of character videos).

That said, I believe Jimmy Donaldson (the person behind the on-screen persona) does genuinely seem like a good guy, who is also smart and knows how to run a successful business while entertaining people. He also talks a bit about clickbait and how he tries to not make it too extreme but has to play the game.

Depending on how old your kids are, it may also be worth talking about the business aspect (sponsors, merch, the various brands he creates, how Beast Burgers actually works with ghost kitchens etc., Feastables) - no need to criticize or put it in a negative light, just explain that it's also a business.

Wikipedia has some notes about controversies and criticism.

Insane work ethic, for sure!