The video opens with a violent rush of water, “Wow! Water!” Nolan, a MrBeast minion screamed. Dreams do come true after all. The Africans could be seen arranged in a questionably perfect assemblage of kids. They had just gotten something they always wished they had but may have never had access to. Clean water. Very benevolent of this white, rich young man to provide them with this opportunity – the luxury of tasting clean water. He then turned to the camera saying, “You’re going to love this video,” with the creepiest smile I’ve ever seen in my 19 years of life. 

The obligation he felt to ‘civilize’ Africa by building wells and giving water is something that fascinates me greatly – the white man’s burden – the idea that it is the white man’s sole responsibility to uphold or bring rural regions to civilization. This should not be confused with philanthropism or humanitarianism; if he truly wanted to help, his camera would have had absolutely no business recording those folks in probably their highest state of vulnerability. Vulnerability is a very big thing that this video portrayed; we mostly see women and children. That was done intentionally to portray these people as innocent and harmless – in an attempt to justify the validity of white supremacy. 

MrBeast first shows us the really bad side of Kenya – which he generally refers to as Africa. He shows the bad roads, the unsafe drinking water, the underdeveloped buildings all in an attempt to exhibit the stereotypical Africa. As soon as his point was made, he then began to explain how African kids’ lives are so limited, how their lives and health are in danger, just so that we feel a meticulously crafted amount of sympathy coupled with a sense of superiority. 

MrBeast then continues the video by showing us how much progress his presence had brought to the “continent.” They showed water splashing in abundance (make it rain), women and children celebrating. They showed clean water and spigots – this was done deliberately to prove the “white man’s effect” on the continent, the idea that orderliness, cleanliness and civilization is affiliated with the white man. 

The video also reduces Africa, physically and socially. “We spent time building spigots, so that all the people of Africa can have water to drink,” MrBeast said. This was an attempt from MrBeast to reduce Africa into a much smaller population and continent. He only built spigots in Kenya – but he claimed that they would provide for all of Africa. He constantly repeats this behavior throughout the video, referring to individual countries as the African continent – this may not seem like a big deal, but this plays a huge role in stereotyping. Many people will now, because of this video, only see Africa as a continent filled with thirsty black women and children. This is a method of essentializing and reducing the African continent into a singularity. They only show highlights of countries in the continent and proceed to reduce Africa to that single, in most cases negative, light.  For a reason similar to this, Africa is always depicted as a smaller continent on world maps. Louis Fenech, a UNI professor said, “This reduction of the continent in maps is done purposefully to project Africa as a not-so-powerful, not so important piece of savage land that fails to meet world criteria.” 

The power of this racism and imperialism lies in its ability to hide itself in our everyday lives.

In Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness,” Marlow said, “We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness.” This was a sentence describes his journey further into the depths of Africa (AKA darkness). In this same likeness, MrBeast explains that as he moved deeper into Africa, things only got more difficult and dark. He shows kids walking miles to fetch water from a polluted stream, he explains how villagers walk long miles to school – still essentializing the continent into only vulnerable and needy people. MrBeast’s nonchalance during this video was also absolutely disgusting. He makes really unfunny and unhealthy jokes throughout the video. He even makes a joke about a “well” in his boots – to mock the “Africans” need for water. 

In summary, as long as this “benevolence” had to be recorded and shown to millions of people (mostly non- Africans), it’s quite obvious that this is not philanthropism or humanitarianism. 

It’s arguable that this was done for self-interest rather than to actually help the needy. This whole project of “rich white guys” going to Africa with their camera to save the “Africans” only gives hints of passive-aggressive supremacy and honors the acts of colonialism and imperialism.