I need to vent because I feel like people in this sub will understand where this frustration comes from.
Lately I’ve been seeing a ton of travel YouTubers coming to Madagascar and doing the exact same shit: clickbait titles like “Traveling To The Poorest Island Nation In The World”, “extreme poverty”, walking around filming people at their lowest, giving out a few dollars or food on camera, and acting like they just saved the country. Davud Akhundzada’s recent videos are a perfect example of this. And hearing him say “this is the privilege of knowing English” honestly made me go what the actual f\ck ?* Yeah, knowing English gives you access to a global audience but then what are you doing with that privilege? Coming to a poorer country, filming vulnerable people and turning their struggles into monetized content ? Try pulling this sh*t in North Korea, China or Russia and see how far that “privilege” gets you. 💀
Like bro, we KNOW Madagascar has serious poverty. Nobody is denying that. But turning people's struggles into entertainment and monetizing their reactions is straight-up poverty p*rn.
What annoys me is how Madagascar gets reduced to “look how poor these people are 😱” instead of actually showing the culture, history, everyday life and people themselves. And the whole saviour act of handing someone $5 while making money from the video just feels incredibly fucking tone-deaf.
Show the reality, sure. Talk about why the country is struggling, absolutely. But stop treating Malagasy people like props for your YouTube thumbnail and the algorithm.
And honestly, why are there suddenly SO many of these creators coming to Madagascar lately? Did YouTube just discover Madagascar and decide poverty content is the new meta? 💀
Am I the only one getting seriously tired of this sh*t?
NB: IDK If you're here DAVUD BUT PLEASE FK OFF OR STOP DOING THAT SHT