In a recent misguided video, popular YouTuber Logan Paul, who has over 15 million subscribers, decided to upload a video titled “We found a dead body in the Japanese Suicide Forest.” As expected, the move generated a massive amount of controversy as covered in this article.
The recent scandal caused by yet another Paul has influenced a torrent of videos where creators prod and analyse every little bit of the terrible situation. There are so many videos on the topic that it is safe to say that nearly everything has been covered. Points have been rehashed again and again, as there is very little more to say on the subject. However, many do not feel justified in halting the conversation due to the severity of the issue. Therefore the debate continues, and the points are reused.
A video that manages to fall slightly out of the norm is a recent video by a creator known as Jacksfilms. Instead of simply sitting down and talking to his audience, he takes on a Paul-like persona. Using overexaggerated, humorous examples, he points out how horrible the entire situation is and how change is not close on the horizon. Watch the video here.
The Paul brothers are YouTube’s golden boys. They bring in the big views and the big money. They star in YouTube red movies and are some of the fastest growing names on the platform. This is why, despite all of the controversy, the video was only removed when Logan’s team decided that they had messed up. YouTube was happy to rake in the views and even went as far as to approve it for the trending page.
Jack from Jacksfilms realizes this and pokes fun at the idea that nothing will really change. This was accurately conveyed by Philip DeFranco, who points out that there were over 600k likes on the video prior to the outrage. All were likely Logan Paul’s loyal fans, or as they like to call themselves, Logangs.
https://twitter.com/PhillyD/status/948022027956371456
His entire video is a satire that predicts all of the apology videos that the Pauls will be uploading in the subsequent future. Unfortunately, some of them hit a little too close to home.
“I’m sorry for going to a funeral and screaming ‘wakey wakey! eggs and bakey!’ at the casket.”
He also drops numerous “merch links in bio” statements between the apologies.
While this is all fun and games, Jack does point out a very real problem with the YouTube community and YouTube itself. There is now an obvious system of favouritism that raises the Paul brothers up and discriminates against the LGBTQ+ community.
“I’m sorry for shining a laser pointer at the eyes of a school bus driver.”
YouTube is dropping off hard, and it either needs to get itself together or face the realization that a social company cannot live off the backs off a couple. It needs a community. It needs people who are willing to invest time in that community.
Right now, YouTube is doing a pretty terrible job of keeping both their creators and their consumers happy. If you need a reminder to support your favorite creators in their endervours outside of YouTube, this would be it.
