Logan Paul is—or should I say was—a popular YouTube content creator with 15 million subscribers. His content is primarily him vlogging and doing random things. On January 2nd, 2018 he posted a vlog featuring a dead body hanging from a tree in the well known Japanese suicide forest Aokigahara. Paul continued to show the body on camera, acted as if he was shocked at the discovery, and mocked the death of the man.
A lot of his viewers are outraged at his choice to post this video, with the exception of a small group of his followers. Most of those who are defending his actions are younger viewers in between the ages of twelve and sixteen.
Suicide is a delicate topic.
This is probably the most covered issue with this story because it holds true. Depression and other mental illnesses are very difficult to live with and understand. When someone chooses to take their own life, it is because that is the only way they think that they can escape their issues. What Paul did was disrespect that person by videotaping the body, making jokes, editing the video, and posting it onto his channel. The reason as to why people are so offended by this video is because doing this is not how you respect someone’s death.
Paul knew exactly what he was doing.
Aokigahara is not a mystery and because the forest is glorified on the internet, I would say it is a fair argument that Paul had intentions of finding what he did in that forest. It also takes a fair amount of consideration when planning, editing, and posting a video to YouTube. Paul had plenty of opportunities to consider his actions because it is not a split second decision to post a video. Just editing a video alone can take up to several hours, but even then, it should be common sense not to film a dead body in the first place.
This is not how you bring awareness to suicide.
Whether you are trying to bring attention to suicide or mental health awareness, this is not how it should be done. Better ways to bring awareness might include creating supportive environments, sharing personal stories, and creating more conversations about the subject. However Paul took an issue and showed the worst outcome. He showed impressionable, young viewers that suicide is okay.
YouTube is a business.
In any business there are contracts, and if there is a violation, you are punished. Another reason why many people are outraged is because it seems as if Paul isn’t getting any legal repercussions for posting the video. In YouTube’s policy, it states that there isn’t any disturbing images or videos allowed. Content creators sign a contract when they make YouTube videos for money, and Paul broke that contract. If he broke the rules, there should have been immediate consequences.
Paul’s apology was an attempt to save his job.
After Paul realized that he made a terrible choice, he then made an apology to try and save his channel. His intentions were only to save his channel because including himself and “#Logang4life” in the apology is not proving that he knows he is wrong. Also he monetized his apology video, which shows he only did to make money when he should be feeling sorry for his actions.
Paul did not make a mistake because he was fully aware of his actions and still chose to upload it to his channel. Since his apology video, he has stated in a tweet that he will be taking a break from YouTube to “reflect” on his actions.
If you or someone you know is suffering from a mental illness, please seek help. There are plenty of resources out there, and your life is worth living. Below is a list of hotlines that are available.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline:
1-800-273-8255
Website for suicide hotlines by state: