Adding to the list of douchebags who made news headlines for their shitty behaviour, Logan Paul has become a newly acclaimed member of the “I fucked up big time” squad just in time to ring in the New Year.
Paul got his claim to fame through the once popular video sharing site Vine, something that many young twenty-somethings have seemingly gained recognition for, especially if they now have a sizeable social media following because of it.
He is certainly no exception, with two YouTube channels that have amassed over 15 million subscribers and a Twitter account that currently has 4.13 million followers.
His self-proclaimed “goofy” antics are what he showcases in his YouTube videos. He can be seen screwing around with his equally antagonistic friends, all for the sake of views and so-called entertainment.
Though he is not someone I would have ever pegged as a stand-up individual, or admirable role model for the throngs of preteens that watch his every move, he recently outdid himself by acting like the most insensitive tool imaginable.
Filming a dead body hanging from a tree in Japan’s Aokigahara forest and laughing about it like he stumbled upon something hilarious, Paul effectively defined himself as a piece of trash by posting it to his YouTube channel as though it were like any of his other jokey videos.
The backlash he’s received, regardless of his shoddily executed apologies, is justified for obvious reasons. What remains questionable, is the actual consequences he will face long-term.
Paul is a poster boy for entitlement and privilege, allowing his inflated ego to dictate how he behaves on camera, setting quite a shitty example for the kind of videos that garner the most views.
Even before he capped off his visit to Japan with a horrifically insensitive lapse of judgement, he paraded around with his lemming-like friends acting like obnoxious, embarrassing children.
At the end of the day, he’s another smarmy idiot who will walk away from this underhandedly calculated media stunt relatively unscathed. He’ll be able to continue wearing that stupid alien hat and loudly making it known that he is, indeed, a moron.
He’s a 22-year-old adult and his success is marked by his ability to behave like an overgrown man-child. Blatantly disrespecting a country’s culture and people for the sake of his own laughs and being able to yell “it’s just a prank bro” don’t really constitute someone who has talent.
Criticism will always exist for popular content creators in the YouTube community. It’s a simple inevitability that the time we live in attracts negativity from every corner of the social media universe, no matter what it is they’re finding fault with.
But when you have someone like Logan Paul — or his brother Jake, who is also a notable dickhead and high school bully turned shiny video star — taking over the attention of a vast majority of YouTube audiences, it seems like no matter what they do, they’ll be able to get away with it.
Although YouTube has released a second, slightly more harsh public statement than their first and have cut certain advertisement agreements with Paul, the fact remains that he will eventually be able to go back to doing what he did before as though it never happened.
If anything, all of this attention is exactly what Paul wanted, even if a large portion of it is negative. Any human being with a functioning brain would expect the kind of outcry he received for posting something so tactless and graphic.
For those who have risen to the defence of this blonde haired muppet — stating that he was in a state of “shock” when they just happened to stumble upon a suicide victim — remember that editing is something that exists. He wasn’t filming it live and he has no reason to showcase a deceased human being like they were a prop in a comedy sketch.
To add on to this, his apology video, of all things, was monetized. Doing so means that he tried to make money “apologizing” for the senseless actions he was so guiltily excusing and trying to earn forgiveness for.
At the end of the day, he’s another smarmy idiot who will walk away from this underhandedly calculated media stunt relatively unscathed. He’ll be able to continue wearing that stupid alien hat and loudly making it known that he is, indeed, a moron.
If he thinks he’s somehow on the same level as the guys from Jackass, then that’s where he’s sorely mistaken. At least they had the decency to call themselves what they really are.
