Shane Dawson – The Mind of Jake Paul

Everybody is talking about the YouTube star Shane Dawson and his documentary on the extremely hated YouTuber, Jake Paul. Dawson announced that he would be doing a series into ‘The Mind of Jake Paul’ and received serious backlash straight off the bat. 

People were curious as to why Dawson would give Paul yet another platform and they were furious that Dawson would try to give him a redemption arc. However, with all eight episodes having a total of over 100 million views, it’s clear that the series was a complete success and demonstrates that, despite the initial hatred towards the documentary, people wanted to uncover the truth about this despised YouTuber.

Initially, the hatred towards the series arose due to the fact that people were sick of hearing about the nightmare that was Jake Paul. From apparently brainwashing children to lighting his backyard on fire, Paul has had every scandal in the book and this is only the tip of the iceberg. Everyone thought his career had ended and wanted to move on – but by bringing him back into the spotlight, Dawson was only adding to the drama and not helping extinguish it.

The series did, however, pose the question that maybe YouTube is becoming a platform where narcissists and sociopaths can become extremely popular and create an unsafe community.

However, as the documentary progressed people became more intrigued with seeing another side to Jake Paul that had never been seen by the public before. Paul always came across as a cocky, obnoxious trouble-maker but through this series, Dawson demonstrates another side to him: one that is rational and caring, even though he may be emotionally stunted in some areas.

One big controversy that arose was the idea of Jake Paul being a sociopath and many thought that this term was being used in an insensitive manner and only to gain more views. However, it is clear that after the first few episodes, the idea of him being a sociopath was just a theory and that the rest of the series does not focus on this topic much at all. In truth, the discussion about sociopaths in the first few episodes was handled very well and maturely and it simply informed people of their existence rather than placing hatred or blame on them.

More than anything, Dawson brings attention to the dangers of YouTube…

The series did, however, pose the question that maybe YouTube is becoming a platform where narcissists and sociopaths can become extremely popular and create an unsafe community. YouTube stars seem to always be in the public’s eye for saying or doing controversial things. Tanacon and the Logan Paul suicide forest video are just two of the biggest scandals this year but there are more coming out every day.

More than anything, Dawson brings attention to the dangers of YouTube and to the fact that anyone can become a YouTube star even if they are problematic. The series reminds the viewers to be careful about what they believe on the internet and that not everyone should be given a platform. Overall, it’s an incredible series that is witty, hilarious and heartbreaking and definitely worth watching.