Any of us that grew up in the mid-to-late 2000s probably had YouTube as a source of entertainment in our lives. There was Smosh, Fred, the Annoying Orange, and of course, Shane Dawson. Dawson, whose personal channel now has more than 17 million subscribers, is originally known for his skits with original characters and comedic takes on current events.
Since then, Dawson has abandoned that venture and changed to a more personal tone, from coming out as bisexual in 2015 to reuniting with his estranged father in 2017. He has since released several series following several controversial figures in YouTube, including makeup artist Jeffree Star, failed convention organizer Tana Mongeau, and even Kathy Griffin, whose stand-up routines Dawson cites as helping him and his mother cope through financial troubles. Even Dawson's personal vlogs have a documentary feel to them as well.
Then comes Shane Dawson's newest installment: examining controversial Vine and YouTube star Jake Paul.
Part 1 having been released on September 25, 2018, Dawson focuses primarily on whether or not Paul is a sociopath and studying reports of abuse by those who have worked in his content house, Team 10. Dawson's revelation that his next series would focus on the notorious Internet celebrity, and in the process his entire family as well, of course attracted much controversy. Some have argued that a Jake Paul-centered series would give Paul unnecessary attention, whereas some have accused Dawson of making dangerous assumptions about sociopathy.
Yet, in spite of all of the discourse surrounding this series, what this particular series demonstrates is that YouTube now has an unprecedented amount of influence in pop culture.
While this series feels more like one of his conspiracy video series, Dawson has shown that YouTube can be used as a platform that people go to that can substitute their cable or even Netflix. Watching his videos gives you the sense that you're tuning into "Dateline" or "20/20", a feeling that many YouTubers try to live up to, but ultimately fail. Oftentimes, Dawson is overlooked because he wasn't able to get a cable TV series or a media empire, such as "The Annoying Orange" and Smosh, respectively. Perhaps these new and professional styles of content is Dawson's way of proving his critics wrong.
But what's more concerning is what Dawson unpacks in his documentary. He examines some of the concerning behaviors Paul, some of which are caught on video, from suffocating one girl to mimic an ambulance simulation to unreasonably scolding dogs by yelling and throwing plates at them. Moreover, he goes into how this relentlessness runs in the family, from brother Logan notoriously recording dead bodies in a Japanese "suicide forest" to his dad allegedly kissing a blindfolded 22-year-old girl.
This may sound like typical YouTuber behavior for views, but the fact of the matter is that Jake Paul's fan base is mainly composed of kids aged 8-14. Paul is in a position where he can potentially influence an entire generation to simulate his erratic behavior.
And thus, Shane Dawson and Jake Paul demonstrate YouTube's newfound role: as a platform that is not only like Netflix content-wise, but a shaper of personality like Disney Channel. I may sound like a concerned soccer mom, but the ongoing trend of such forms of content raises the question: is YouTube another platform where we embrace, or is it something that can lead to dire consequences if left unregulated? As of this article's publishing, Dawson's series has yet to answer this question, but the question still remains.
New episodes of Shane Dawson's "The Life of Jake Paul" premiere on Dawson's YouTube channel.
