As 2017 came to an end, daily vlogger Logan Paul posted a YouTube video showing a dead body hanging from a tree in Japan's suicide forest. He walked right over to the hanging body and aimed the camera at it while laughing with his friends. An actual dead person. Hanging.
He recorded his video at the suicide forest, then edited and uploaded it. The video went viral soon after and was on the YouTube trending page in a few hours. The whole world was talking about it. News outlets covered the story and other YouTubers posted their reactions. Many people were angry, while others defended Logan. His loyal subscribers said he was just someone who had made an honest mistake.
There are so many things wrong with what Logan Paul did. I'm going to get into the reasons why I'm still bothered, even though the whole world has stopped talking about it. It's forgotten today because we have new issues. Every morning, there's a new story. Someone did something shocking, some celebrity got married, and we don't think about the Logan Paul incident anymore. We forget things that happened last week, and especially things that happened a few months ago.
After the world went nuts about what he posted, Logan apologized. His oh-so-sincere apology goes up on his Youtube channel and it seems like all is forgiven. A lot of people move on with their lives, kids keep watching his videos, and he still has millions of subscribers. His channel is not removed by YouTube. Then there are people like me, who can't even wrap their head around why a parent would continue to let their child watch this horrible guy. People make mistakes, but this was more than that. He filmed a video at a known suicide spot and was disrespectful toward a dead body. After filming, he goes home and edits the video. Then, he picks a thumbnail that shows the dead body to get more clicks on the video. This wasn't a mistake. He was fully aware that he was using a literal dead person to make money and to get more subscribers and more clicks. He is not a child, like many of his viewers. He is 23 years old and completely capable of knowing right from wrong.
So, why is this coming up now? I read an article recently about Logan Paul ending his daily vlogs. My first thought was: finally! He's not ending his channel completely (which I think would greatly benefit society), but at least he won't be uploading his ridiculous videos every single day. It's beyond upsetting that YouTube didn't delete this guy's account themselves when the suicide forest situation happened months ago. But it's not shocking that they didn't; he's their big money maker. He attracts millions of viewers and posts so much content. YouTube couldn't give up their golden boy after he made a huge "mistake" because of all the money he brought in.
The viewers who forgave him are to blame here, too. They continued supporting him after he disrespected someone who committed suicide. They backed him up whenever anyone said he was an immoral person. They said he made a "mistake" and that everyone makes mistakes.
I could go on forever, but I'll stop here. What Logan Paul did was horribly wrong, and no amount of ignorance constitutes for not being respectful of someone who is dead, much less someone who has committed suicide.
