If you have visited YouTube’s trending page over the last few weeks, you have likely come across multiple new Shane Dawson videos. If you are unfamiliar with Dawson or his content, know that he is a longtime YouTuber, going on 11 years of content creating. He has changed his content significantly over these past 11 years, and currently, his content is a mix between conspiracy theory videos and docuseries. His most recent docuseries is “The Mind of Jake Paul.”
This eight-part docuseries examines controversial YouTuber Jake Paul, founder of the Team 10 house and business. He has come under fire for his dangerous stunts, pranks that have seemingly harmed his housemates and abuse allegations from his ex-girlfriend, Alissa Violet. Dawson’s series aims to address Paul’s impulsive, dangerous and sometimes disturbing behavior.
Dawson begins the series with “The Mind of Jake Paul,” an introductory video. While this video serves its purpose as an introduction, it is occasionally slow, spending a significant amount of time on unnecessary humor toward the beginning. However, his interview with iNabber (whose real name is Fraser), a YouTuber who has analyzed Paul’s actions in the past, was the true kickstarter to the series. In this interview, Dawson and Fraser discuss a variety of topics, including Paul and Violet’s tumultuous breakup, Paul’s brushes with police officers due to his dangerous stunts and the possibility that Paul may be a sociopath. This discussion sets the stage for the next part of the series, “The Dark Side of Jake Paul,” which is perhaps the most controversial of Dawson’s series thus far.
Unfortunately, while “The Dark Side of Jake Paul” was promising at first, it ultimately was the weakest video of the series to date. In this video, Dawson introduces therapist Kati Morton, who speaks with Dawson about the nature of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and the speculation of Paul being a sociopath (which falls under the umbrella term of ASPD). While this video could have been an empathetic discussion about those with ASPD, the video ultimately was a narrow-minded attack on individuals with ASPD. Morton, who should have been an unbiased and objective source of information, explained that those with ASPD do not feel remorse or empathy, claiming that, “it’s really gross,” and, “it’s really creepy.” Not only is this unethical as a therapist, but it treats a mental health disorder as a frightening personality defect, implying that those with ASPD should be feared and avoided.
Thankfully, Dawson responds to the criticism of his depiction of ASPD in his next installment, “The Family of Jake Paul,” in which he apologizes for his horror movie-esque depiction of ASPD. On top of that, this installment introduces an unexpected element: speculation that perhaps Paul is primarily a product of his troubled family. Dawson examines both parents of Paul, as well as his controversial brother, Logan Paul (known for his Suicide Forest video), who are implied to be problematic influences on Jake Paul. The series begins to take a sympathetic tone toward Paul at this point, which turned many fans (such as myself) off from the series.
“The Enemies of Jake Paul” continued the sympathetic tone, despite its title indicating otherwise. The only “enemy” featured, Nick Crompton, says very little to indicate that Paul is an enemy of his. While Crompton is no longer part of Team 10, he seems to be the one who parted on the most amicable terms. The most disappointing part of this video, however, is Crompton’s tight-lipped approach to the interview, as he explains that he is uncomfortable discussing the personal lives of others when they are not present. However, he does drop a bomb, so to speak, when he reveals that all of Paul’s pranks are in fact fake.
This revelation turns the series on its head once again, as one of the most prevalent and pervasive accusations against Paul was his pranks. However, even though the pranks are fake, Paul’s core audience remains unaware. And, as his core audience is mainly comprised of children ages 15 and under, his audience is impressionable enough that they will accept his behavior, fake or not.
Unfortunately, these issues are not addressed, and the series marches on to “The World of Jake Paul.” This video seemingly serves as a breather episode, avoiding many of the difficult questions that Dawson promises will come. Instead, Dawson and Morton (who is present to “observe” Paul’s behavior, though both Dawson and Morton emphasize that she cannot diagnose him without a clinical interview) follow Paul around his L.A. mansion. Paul’s excessive wealth and thrill-seeking tendencies are the main portions of this video, once again putting him in the negative light that the series first placed him in. An interesting but untouched-upon moment in the video is Paul’s paranoia, as he claims that all ex-members of Team 10 “used [him].” Since there are still two parts to the series to be released, I’m hopeful that Dawson will address this paranoia.
The final part of the series to-date, “The Secrets of Jake Paul,” is inaccurately titled, as it reveals little to nothing not already known about Paul. The strongest feature in this video is Dawson’s interview with Paul’s girlfriend, Erika Costell, which is an obvious attempt at humanizing and gaining sympathy for Paul. Dawson and Costell briefly hint at familial trouble, with Dawson admitting that Paul spoke to him about much of it off-camera, though Dawson reveals that the series will likely not address these topics out of respect for the family’s privacy. While I am intrigued by the inner workings of the Paul family, I respect this decision, as some of the revelations could potentially harm the family. Finishing off this video is Dawson’s signature ‘To Be Continued’ portion of the video, where he reveals his interview with Violet, showing a preview of the pair discussing Violet’s relationship with Logan Paul.
“The Mind of Jake Paul” is a mixed bag for me. I was excited for the first three videos, with “The Family of Jake Paul” being the strongest and most well-crafted video of all of the videos to date. The past few videos (interestingly, the ones in which Paul himself appears) follow Dawson’s usual formula for his docuseries: humanize the subject, discuss their problems and cry at the end. I understand that this is Dawson’s empathetic nature at work, but I would like to point out that he promised at the beginning of the series that this would be different. Of course, there are two more parts to this series, so I’ll hold out hope that Dawson takes this series somewhere he’s never gone before.
Ashley Martindale is a third-year student majoring in psychology and minoring in Spanish. AM872892@wcupa.edu