My free trial of Apple TV ended. Just like that, I was nine out of ten episodes into finding out who really killed John Paul on Bad Sisters, and I refused to pay £8.99 for that sleazy secret.
I push the bowl of my food away from the edge of the table and sink into the sofa, scrolling through Amazon Prime (4 days left on my free trial) to find entertainment that will distract my thoughts whilst I process my sustenance. In a sea of unfamiliar options, flashed the face of Mr Beast.
Good old Jimmy, carrier of pandemic entertainment, I have had mixed views about his rise to fame. His exaggerated concept videos garnered high engagement but were always laced with concept acts of philanthropy. This was criticized due to the unethical way of giving away money (farming views through click bait videos, or sometimes mindless fun), but I did not mind, after all, there were greater evils that did not contribute to improving people's lives.
Jimmy was "making a difference" through this audacity. From tipping a pizza delivery driver keys to his brand new house after receiving $50 worth of pizza to adopting all the dogs in a shelter to send to loving homes, Mr Beast was redefining the content landscape on the Internet.
His most popular video on YouTube came shortly after "Squid Games", the Korean thriller series centered on an eerily discomforting genre that Hunger Games once established. Inspired and right up his content alley, Mr Beast conducted a version of his own (minus the killing).
Offering a life changing cash prize of $456,000, the final winner was selected through a childhood favourite game of musical chairs, with Karl Jacob (former cameraman, one of Beast's front men) pausing the music to decide the fate of one of two hopeful individuals.
It came as no surprise that Jimmy then signed a hefty check with Amazon Prime to take it one step further and run a "world record holding" reality TV of the same nature. Forty minutes into Episode 1, I had counted 4x mentions of world record defining moments, from a whooping thousand participant recruits to the largest amount of cash given out in the pilot of a TV series, $5M. Once you exhaust the need for more money and fame, I suppose documented recognition is the only goal left to run after (also see: Trumps' bid to be nominated for the Noble Peace Prize).
in progress lol