Recently, YouTube star Logan Paul made national news when he traveled to Aokigahara Forest, located in Mount Fuji, Japan.
It is no hidden secret to Japan that visitors of this forest are often seeking to commit suicide, so much so, that it is popularly dubbed the “suicide forest.”
While there are signs and rangers pleading with visitors to remember their families, this does not stop the high rate of deaths within the forest.
With Japanese and American manga and film portrayals making the forest known for its bad history as well, there’s no undermining or downplaying to the reasoning of why people go there.
Paul, who had planned to camp overnight in the forest, was filming when he caught sight of a dead body.
The action that followed is what caused his downfall and national uproar, in which he laughed at the body and made other videos in Japan with racist and disrespectful content toward the people.
In today’s society, there truly is not a censorship to seeing a dead body on newscasts or films, but the difference is that no one laughs about these atrocities.
Plastered in the media are the colors of war, famine and a constant plague of information that is both detrimental and depressing, making death such a casual numbness to our everyday lives.
However, if one stops and thinks about it, what does it say about Americans when this sort of disrespect occurs? Yes, death is something we blissfully turn away to despite it being in our face every hour on the hour, but what do we do as people when one looks at death being caused by such severe depression and laughs?
Is depression laughable?
Is going to another country and disrespecting the culture and life of someone that is different than yours OK? Or, does one have to ask themselves if seeking fame in a social media world has become more important than common decency?
Wanting to know what you, my readers think, I reached out to students at UTRGV for their opinion.
Only three of 10 students I asked–computer science senior Ismael Melendez, marketing sophomore Andrew Nieto and general rehabilitation services junior Maria Gomez–knew of what happened and these were their thoughts.
What are your thoughts on the Logan Paul situation?
Melendez: “I think it was an incredible situation. It was a really bad thing that he did. He didn’t think of what he was doing. He went to that location knowing what it was, and the history behind it. He mentioned that throughout his video before he arrived at the location. I think that he pretty much knew there was a possibility of finding a body there. He didn’t take that into consideration, and he didn’t think of the people that were there and the emotions people go to get there.”
Nieto: “It’s really immature how he was acting. As an American, you want to set an example of the country you represent, but as a person in general, the videos are terrible. The way he was acting was very racist, very, it was just terrible, him and his brother both.”
Gomez: “I thought it was very inappropriate. The thing I found most inappropriate about the whole situation was the fact that everything was caught on camera and he still uploaded it to YouTube, in which he has many underage fans and many followers who shouldn’t be seeing this.”
What do you think should be done?
Melendez: “Action should be taken, especially by YouTube. It’s up to YouTube, really, because they’re the ones who give him the platform.”
Nieto: “I saw his video. I read the tweets and all that, and I agree with all the other YouTubers who openly admit that this isn’t how YouTubers, or content creators, should be taken. He’s using his power and he’s using his millions of subscribers as a way to, like, ‘Oh, one little apology, he’s stupid, he’s learning.’ You can’t take that into what he did.”
Gomez: “We’re all human. We all make mistakes, but I just think he should be suspended.”
What do you believe this action says about our country as a whole, in which this sort of stunt happens to begin with?
Melendez: “Social media is making us less human. People that are using it to promote themselves are doing a lot of things that they forgot about how it’s going to affect other people. It dehumanizes other people, too, because they’re doing jokes on, like, other cultures and they don’t think about how they’re making a joke out of a culture, and that’s not correct.”
Nieto: “For a country in general, it’s the population, it’s the viewers who are watching it. The ‘Jake Paulers’ and the ‘Logan Paulers,’ just to see that they agree with him, all because he made one apology video. That doesn’t cut it. What he is doing is terrible, especially in a time, well, we take for granted of the little things. Suicide is a big topic; he can’t just make one apology for that.”
Gomez: “I think it says that we are too numb to these sensitive things. We find humor in everything. I mean, it’s OK if you find humor in everything, but just, don’t show it. I mean, keep it to yourself. Keep it private.”
What power do you believe celebrities hold in our society?
Melendez: “In the age of social media, anyone can become a celebrity. That’s the case of Logan Paul. They do create and have an important role because they are able to affect people’s lives, and of the case of Logan Paul, he has a lot of young followers who are, like, teenagers. So, whatever he does, it’s something a lot them look up to. They look to him as a role model, because a lot of them want to be celebrities.”
Nieto: “More power than our congressmen, Senate, more power than the government, obviously. Followers and subscribers are taken into more account than voting itself. Just because they have power over social media, doesn’t mean they have power. What power do they have shouldn’t be used for publicity or money.”
Gomez: “I believe they hold a lot of power, mostly because they have a lot of followers, and a lot of them are trendy as well. If a celebrity shaves their head, I believe a lot of followers are going to do it as well just because their idols do it.”
So, I would like to ask you another question, one last one.
As Americans, what message are we sending to other countries about who we are?
If the tables were turned, and a Japanese, or anyone other than our own nationality, came into our country and disrespected our lands and people, we would protest, threaten, curse and subject the counter nation to our Facebook judgments and Twitter hashtags.
There would be no sleep in our fury’s fire.
Yet, we can do it to other countries?
We can visit other countries without knowing their language and expect them to speak English?
We can throw stuffed Pokémon balls at chefs and moving cars?
We can take down our pants in central plazas and show our underwear while there are children and people present?
It is interesting to objectively view how that works in America, land of the free, home of the ever so brave.
Editor’s note: As of Jan. 10, YouTube has cut a film that Logan Paul was to appear in, according to published reports. The company also announced that it removed him from the Google Preferred program, he will not appear in season four of “Foursome,” and his “Originals” is placed on hold.
