'The Mind of Jake Paul' subpar at best
- blessing aghimien
- Jan 11, 2019
- 5 min read
From the failure known as TanaCon to scandal-ridden makeup guru Jeffree Star, Shane Dawson has made a name for himself with his YouTube creator-based documentaries. However, neither the world or his fanbase could have prepared for his latest docu-series subject — the “everyday bro with the Disney Channel flow,” better known as Jake Paul.
Headlined as “The Mind of Jake Paul,” the online docu-series was announced on Sept. 11 via Dawson’s Twitter with a minute-long trailer video. The first video of the eight-part series was posted on Dawson’s YouTube channel on Sept. 25 and the series concluded last Thursday.
In just a few years, Jake Paul has become one of the most notable faces of YouTube, with more than 17 million subscribers and counting. The 21-year-old YouTuber also is the founder of Team 10, a talent incubator group which went viral with its music video for the 2017 song “It’s Everyday Bro” and has brought many YouTubers to the limelight such as dancer Tessa Brooks, actor Alex Lange and more.
Jake has garnered much controversy for his neighborhood disturbances caught on the news circuit and sexually explicit video content featured on his YouTube account, where he has a preteen audience. The basis of his YouTube content is being the Gen Z-amateur version of Johnny Knoxville, for Jake often plays pranks on the Team 10 members, pokes fun at his roommates with “roast sessions” and performs dangerous vehicle stunts without so much as a helmet.
“The Mind of Jake Paul” has been an immense success in terms of trending status on social media, garnering more than 500,000 views in less than an hour on the series premiere and more than 134 million views on the series as a whole. However, only one week into the series’ debut, Dawson’s acclimating success was marred by controversy.
In the series’ second episode, “The Dark Side of Jake Paul,” Dawson meets with Kati Morton, a marriage and family counselor who makes YouTube content about human psychology. Dawson meets Morton with the intent of learning what a sociopath is and to ask if Jake could be identified as one.
Throughout the scene with Morton where she is describing the tendencies of a sociopath, mood music is playing in the background of the video to set an uneasy tone. Additionally, while discussing sociopathic tendencies, there is a montage of clips being played which feature other notable YouTubers and celebrities such as Cardi B, Laura Lee, Kris Jenner and David Dobrik.
The episode was instantly met with a flurry of backlash, as viewers criticized Dawson for attempting to diagnose someone who he has never met and for vilifying mental health issues by overly dramatizing the video with his editing style. In addition, Dawson addressed the controversy in the next video, "The Family of Jake Paul," explaining that his intentions were to never diagnose someone with sociopathy, and he apologized to anyone he may have been offended.
“I do actually want to apologize because there was some backlash from some people feeling offended that I was making a horror movie out of a mental illness and I 100 percent understand,” Dawson said.
Throughout the rest of the series, Dawson talks with former Team 10 members such as Nick Crompton and Jake’s ex-girlfriend Alissa Violet about their decisions to leave the group and the atmosphere of the Team 10 house, where all former members of the group lived. Controversies are addressed and rumors are confirmed, with the biggest one being how Violet and Jake’s brother Logan became romantically involved after the couple’s split in 2017.
The feature-length finale dove into the whirlwind of growing up on camera, clocking in at over one hour and 45 minutes. In it, Dawson invites Jake to his home to discuss Jake’s various controversies — from former Team 10 members’ accusations of bullying to allegations of Jake manipulating his younger audience for money with his merchandise advertising.
In addition to the views and trending status, Dawson’s docu-series earned him the 2018 Streamy Award for Creator of the Year. Granted, given Dawson’s prior filmography, the recognition is long overdue.
One of the first YouTubers to rise to fame on the platform, Dawson launched his YouTube channel in 2008 as a sketch comedian. Now a decade into his YouTube career, Dawson’s videos have evolved from humorous caricatures and satirical music videos to vlog-style filmography, which has given his subscribers an inside look into his family life and his history with mental health and body image issues.
Recently, Dawson’s content has brought a level of realness and genuity to YouTube’s platform, which is difficult to find these days amid the rise of clickbait and drama for viewership. With the help of his videographer and co-director, Andrew Siwicki, Dawson’s documentaries has honed on an editing-style which is uniquely and wonderfully made. However, all of Dawson’s past docu-series have had a redemption arc — which has been a major flaw of his as a documentarian.
When it comes to Jake on his controversies, Dawson has tended to ask lenient questions in the heat of a moment and when given the chance to press Jake about his problematic and disturbing behavior, Dawson tends to opt out — leaving the watcher feeling unfulfilled and left to wonder “What if?”
The same can be argued in the case of “The Mind of Jake Paul.” For instance, when Dawson brings up how former Team 10 members Ivan and Emilio Martinez alleged racist remarks and physical abuse against Jake, he denies the abuse and said the racist remarks were “mutual,” for the Martinez Twins would call Jake “cracker” and “stupid American.”
Jake also tries to justify the accusations by adding the Martinez Twins were given advance notice of the videotaped pranks, which only warrants nodding from Dawson. Dawson never asks Paul if he ever gave the Martinez Twins the option to say no or if they felt pressured to agree to whatever pranks Paul thought of, no matter how dangerous or demeaning the pranks may be.
As for the good of the series, Dawson does provide some insight into the reasoning behind Jake’s behavior in the third episode by discussing the long-time competitive nature between Jake and Logan, the overbearing nature of Jake’s father in his company and how his parents’ divorce impacted Jake at a young age. The element of his family life in the video was a good move on Dawson’s part and in a sense, it humanizes the person behind the persona.
Additionally, Dawson’s sense of humor brightens up some of the video’s somber subject matter. Dawson’s self-deprecating humor is the perfect balance when he enters the lavish homes of influencers such as Violet, Crompton and Jake, which makes the series even more honest in nature.
All in all, Dawson’s recent documentary looks somewhat juvenile when compared to “The Secret Life of Jeffree Star” and “The Truth about TanaCon.” If you need a little bit more “tea” in your life, this is surely worth a watch. However, if you’re in search for an insightful inside look into “The Mind of Jake Paul,” you may not reach a sense of fulfillment.
RATING — 3 out of 5 stars
Comments