Lauren Larsen and Kate Casper
A decade on Youtube, more than 19 million subscribers, and a net worth of $5 million–Shane Dawson has accomplished a lot; but he isn’t done yet.
Dawson began filming his documentary series in September that provides an in-depth look into the lives of Youtubers such as Tana Mongeau and Jeffree Star. He won a Streamy Award for his docu-series on Tanacon, the disastrous convention that left thousands of fans dehydrated and sunburnt.
The Youtuber Dawson had yet to explore is the one and only, Jake Paul. Paul is a 21-year-old social media influencer who first grew his following on Vine, an app where people recorded funny six-second videos. When Vine ended, he started a Youtube channel and exploded in popularity.
On July 12, Dawson tweeted, saying he was interested in doing a documentary series on Jake Paul. That same day, Paul responded via Twitter, saying, “I’m down.”
From the start, this was a controversial series; Paul was becoming more unpopular because of his scandals and erratic behavior. One person tweeted, “Shane, I love you. But I get the serious vibe that Jake will use you in the end.” Another commented, “We’re done with hearing about him. I don’t want to see him or hear about him.” One user said, “We’ve come ALL this way for this…”
Despite the backlash he received for the idea, Dawson continued with the series.
“The Mind of Jake Paul” is a deep dive into the psychology behind Jake Paul and his actions. Paul’s videos are saturated with dangerous stunts, pranks, music videos, and plugs for his merchandise. The main focus of Dawson’s documentary series is to determine whether or not Paul is a sociopath.
TC senior Nathan Argust said, “[Jake Paul] seems like the type [to be a sociopath], there’s something off there; he’s got a huge ego. [Paul’s] opinion has a lot of affect on his viewers.”
Member’s of Paul’s social media company, Team 10, have claimed Jake Paul has emotionally and physically abused them, specifically Paul’s ex-girlfriend Alissa Violet. She alleges that Paul dragged her down the stairs. Sophomore Kamari Brown believes that these allegations are true; however, “the media and other people change things around just to get attention.”
TC junior Davy Washington said, “I think [Jake] is a mistake…I haven’t watched it, but I think it’s possible that he’s a sociopath.”
Junior Sarah Schie believes that Paul is “in [the Youtube game] for the money, and I think he’s a sociopath…He doesn’t have any sort of emotions.”
Despite the evidence that proves Paul is a sociopath, he has an emotional side that sociopaths do not have. Former Team 10 manager Nick Crompton said, “He shows too much emotion in everything he does to be a sociopath. I can see him trying to process what he is feeling, but he has a hard time doing it.”
Also, Paul’s upbringing was less than ideal. He and his brother have commented on their father, Greg Paul, and his harshness towards them. Violet has also claimed that Greg Paul verbally assaulted her in public.
Junior Xavier Castillo feels bad for Paul because “his family is messed up. The way [his older brother] Logan treats him and the way his dad treats him [is wrong].”
In Shane Dawson’s “The Mind of Jake Paul,” Dawson appeared to diagnose Jake Paul. Sophia Mughloo, a junior, said, “I think that other YouTubers diagnosing YouTubers when they don’t have degrees is a little sketch because they don’t really have the authority to.”
However, Castillo also said that “[Shane is] not diagnosing him. He’s trying to give Jake Paul a chance to defend himself. I do not believe he is a sociopath; although I do believe his brother Logan is a sociopath.”
It is important to remember Dawson is an entertainer and his videos are all in light-hearted fun. Long-term subscribers of Dawson’s YouTube channel know his editing style keeps the viewer engaged and interested, and is never intended to offend anyone.
Even though this docu-series revolves around Jake Paul, Logan Paul seemed to display more manipulative behavior over the years. He filmed a dead body in the Japanese Suicide Forest, jumped over cars coming toward him at high speeds, and almost burnt his friend’s face off.
Despite this behavior, much of his audience still finds him charming and charismatic.
Viewers picked up on Logan’s sociopathic signs, so he took to social media in the form of a response video saying, “Ninety-nine percent of the time, someone is not ‘a sociopath’ or ‘not a sociopath’. My opinion is that there is a sociopathic spectrum. Many Youtubers, including myself, have “sociopathic tendencies”. So a lot of us do some dumb sh** [to] get us views, which gets us subscribers. A sociopath, boiled down, is someone that’s just more savage than everyone else.”
Despite Dawson’s documentary revolving around the psyche of Jake Paul, Logan Paul displays these sociopathic traits more so than his brother. This series should have been “The Mind of Logan Paul.”
