I would like to preface this rant by saying that I in no way disagree with this articles stance on suicide, depression, or people with suicidal tendencies. I have been living with the diagnosis of manic depressive disorder with suicidal tendencies for a few years now and I know how difficult it can be to ask for help. The important thing to remember is that there are people out there who can help you. If you or someone you know is going through depression or self harm contact one of the hotlines or websites listed below:
http://suicidehotlines.com/national.html
There was recientley an article written on this platform titled "I Survived A Suicide Attempt And I Don't Think Logan Paul Deserves The Hate He's Getting". I have linked the article because I fully believe in seeing all sides of debates before forming a permanent opinion. I have read this article and I have to say I believe that the young lady who wrote it is not fully grasping what the issue is that people are having with the video released by YouTuber Logan Paul.
Before getting into all of that I might need to back up a little bit just in case some of you don't have the same unhealthy YouTube obsession as I do. Logan Paul is a successful content creator on the platform YouTube. He makes obviously staged vlogs as entertainment for his subscribers. The last time I checked he had either close to or a little more than fifteen million people subscribed to his channel. That's a lot of people watching your content, making it that much more important for you to screen the videos that you are releasing for anything that might be deemed as "inappropriate". Logan Paul did the exact opposite of that and decided that it was a good idea to visit the "Suicide Forest" in Japan and bring his cameras. As one would expect, he and his companions stumbled upon a dead body. A man who had supposedly hanged himself that day. The reaction was not the kind you would expect from someone who as come across something so tragic.
Rather than doing what would have been morally right and putting the cameras down to alert the authorities, the gang decided to get some footage not only of their reactions to the body, but of the body itself. You can still view his reaction to the body on other channels, but of course none show the actual body as Logans did. He has since taken down the video and replaced it with an apology video explaining that he understands his actions were wrong. He also claims he does not expect to be forgiven. I fully believe he never should be, and that he deserves every ounce of hate he gets for his actions.
Here is why I disagree with the article I mentioned before. While the young lady makes an amazing point about suicide prevention and expressing how people should seek help; she never touches upon what people are actually angry at Logan Paul for. His video had some mention of suicide prevention, but a great deal of the video was exploiting the body of a man who had committed suicide and hadn't even been found or identified yet. It is the fact that he showed footage of the body at all on the internet that made people so angry. Especially since in our current society, children have access to platforms such as YouTube wherever they go. I have former students who watch his videos and it pains me to think they may have seen this.
Words cannot express the disgust that I and many other people feel with Logan Paul because of this video. I don't think I can ever properly put into words how offensive that kind of content is to people. Not only to the people who watch his videos but to the victim and his family. I believe my feelings on the subject are properly vocalized by a YouTuber who goes by the name:The True Geordie. I believe he is from the UK and I have only seen a handful of his other videos but this one popped up on my recommended so of course I had to watch it. I will link it below and I encourage you to watch it so you can see how others who also create content on YouTube feel about their fellow creator and his choices.
There have been countless videos made reacting to this whole controversy but there was one I watch this evening that I fully did not expect to see. This was a video released by Christian Delgrosso, a former close friend of Logan Paul. Both Paul and Delgrosso started out on the same platform - Vine - and moved on to YouTube once Vine was no longer relevant. Apparently their friendship died almost as quickly as Vine did. His video is not only aimed at Logan but basically at any content creator on YouTube who has released controversial content simply for the sake of views and being relevant. Delgrosso wants YouTube to be a platform for creators and people who seek to give back to and and entertain their viewers, not people who are willing to do anything for attention. I advise you to watch his video as well because it was in a way, refreshing to see someone who knows Logan Paul on a personal level speak out about his actions.
Suicide is never something that should be taken lightly. Logan Pauls light-hearted and belittling attitude toward the victim earned him the backlash he is experiencing. He said so in his apology video that he does not want to be defended because he knows he doesn't deserve it. He flashed a brief warning at the beginning of the video that it contained graphic images, but he still should have known that the footage he got was not appropriate to put on YouTube for his young audience to see.
Like I said at the beginning of this article, I in no way disagree with the message about suicide prevention displayed by the other article, I simply think it didn't capture the gravity of what Logan Paul did.
As I have said before, if you are going through depression and suicidal tendencies please reach out to someone. There is always someone who can help you or find you the help that you need. I have dealt with suicidal thoughts and attempts in the past and I can tell you that it is not the answer. And if you know someone who is going through depression or self harm and you are concerned about their well-being, don't be afraid to seek help for them. Look into the numbers and links I have placed at the top of the article, people are here to listen t you and help you.
