UNCOVERED: Shane Dawson reveals to the world the mind of Jake Paul.
By Clare O’Brien, Staff Writer
On September 25, 2018, YouTube was once again turned on its head by the social influencer Shane Dawson, with the release of the first episode of his series, “The Mind of Jake Paul.” On YouTube, Dawson is respected by other influencers due to his growing support on social media platforms. He even won three Streamy awards for his editing, documentary, and being regarded as creator of the year. Dawson’s newest series features none other than Jake Paul, a social influencer on YouTube, who seems to attract controversy like a moth to a flame. Jake Paul is predominantly disliked across the YouTube platform and is often accused of being a sociopath. Some of Paul’s past controversies include kicking out his ex-girlfriend Alissa Violet, accusing FaZe Banks of physically abusing Paul’s assistant, and jumping onto a news van. Dawson began this series with the intention of determining if Jake Paul is a sociopath, but as the series unfolded, it became a platform for Paul to come clean about his past with “no limits.”
The first episode allows for the audience to follow Paul’s past with Dawson as he interviews “iNebber,” a drama channel on YouTube. They discuss Team 10, a company with Jake Paul as its face. Every member that is currently in Team 10 lives under the same roof, and constantly is surrounded by drama and controversy. There are rumors debating whether people pay to be a part of Team 10, or if the group is cast. The second episode features Kati Morton, a therapist, who describes to Dawson sociopathic tendencies and what it truly means to be a sociopath. This episode was highly edited by Dawson and his editor/cameraman Andrew Siwicki as a “horror movie,” with the use of eerie music and a slew of B-roll footage. Dawson understands that a part of uncovering “the mind of Jake Paul” is obtaining insight into Paul’s parents and childhood. Paul’s childhood consisted of constant competition with his brother Logan Paul and a struggle growing up in a split household. In the next episode, Dawson decided to interview Nick Crompton, former Team 10 CEO and Paul’s former best friend. Crompton and Dawson discussed the pranks on Paul’s channel, Team 10, and several of Paul’s past relationships. In the sixth episode of the series, Jake Paul finally makes an appearance, and it is confirmed that Paul is not a sociopath. His warm nature, kindness, and nervousness allow both Dawson and the audience to feel comfortable with Paul. The seventh episode is an interview with Alissa Violet, Paul’s ex-girlfriend, where she confirms that although Paul was mentally and emotionally abusive, he was never physically abusive. She did also admit to having had sexual relations with Logan Paul. The series closed with an interview with Jake Paul where the two reviewed Paul’s past and Dawson pointed out many of Paul’s past errors.
The series was almost eight hours of content and resulted in immense backlash for Dawson, striking a conversation between influencers on YouTube that never truly occurred before. The backlash was generally for giving a racist a platform to speak (“The Dark Side of Jake Paul”), and making people with mental disorders, specifically Antisocial Personality Disorder, seem to be monsters (“Inside the Mind of Jake Paul”). Dawson even acknowledged these comments personally as he got in a fight with a fan on Twitter, the two going back and forth over the issues. However, this series widely changed the YouTube community, as influencers across the platform discussed his series and promoted it. Dawson has the ability to break negative stigmas and uncover who people truly are, and illustrates how influencers should be supporting one another, not competing for views and likes. For many people “The Mind of Jake Paul” documentary series displayed that there are multiple sides to every story and no one should be judged on what the individual person decides to see. “I trust you, Shane … I have to trust you, you know” Jake Paul confessed and the trust in Dawson and viewers for him to change this platform is immense. Time and time again Dawson has other influencers put complete trust into him, submitting their careers to him. The YouTube community waits in anticipation for Dawson’s next series.