Well well well…I haven’t done an opinion piece in a while, but I promised I would use this platform to share my opinions, stand up for what’s right and inform people so here I am again 😳
As some people may know, Jake Paul is a problematic YouTuber who has his own collective called Team 10 where they all live in the same house and create content via tormenting one another and having fake relationships; his brother Logan Paul is also a YouTuber who was at the heart of drama this year after posting a video at a location where people go to commit suicide. He also showed a hanging body in the video and laughed about it. I’ve never been interested in Jake or his team 10 until one of my favourite LA dancers, Tessa Brookes joined. I didn’t end up watching it as I just thought it was a pointless collective and I detest Jake. I’m very glad Tessa came to her senses and left.
I hadn’t even heard of Shane Dawson until this whole Tanacon scandal was plastered all over the news. I watched his episodes where he tried to find out what went wrong with tanacon which I thought was interesting. I also had a chuckle one night watching him swap lives with Trisha Paytas which was hysterical so I subscribed. I noticed he had a trailer that included Jake so clicked on it out of curiosity. It’s basically a docuseries on Jake and whether or not he (and other YouTubers) could be sociopaths. Shane has done series with other problematic YouTubers like Jeffree Star and Tana Mongeau, so I definitely was going to tune in.
Two episodes have been released so far and the uproar has been insane! Before any episodes were released, Shane’s fans were already irritated by the fact he was even giving Jake a platform to “redeem himself” and show the “real” him. However, now the second episode has been released, it’s upset a lot of people, particularly anyone who has a personality disorder. Episode two featured therapist Kati Morton who was brought on to speak about anti social personality disorder (ASPD) which is the disorder a sociopath or psychopath has. From what I understand, from a bit of research, is that it’s a personality disorder where the person doesn’t feel emotions or isn’t capable of producing real emotions and spends their lives pretending/mimicking emotions they see other people have. For this reason they can be seen as manipulative and can on occasion be dangerous. They will often be very confident, smart and go through many friendships or relationships in life. They will also put themselves or other people in danger and can’t empathise. Sociopaths come under this disorder but theirs develops from some sort of trauma. Psychopaths on the other hand have not experienced trauma but come under this disorder (I’m not a psychologist so this is just my own basic understanding of what it is). The general consensus is that Kati was not only rude about the disorder, but has gone and added to the stigma.
My opinion? I wouldn’t say I was offended but I definitely am not impressed by the episode. I personally have been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder but fluid within the cluster b spectrum of personality disorders; these include borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, histrionic personality disorder and ASPD. These disorder are seen as “problematic” and “unstable” by many people and would be what someone may describe as the “worst” personality disorders out of the ten. The problem with the therapist was that she made the disorder out to be extremely negative and her reactions to even describing it was way too over the top. Anyone sitting at home who may have the disorder would probably not bother going to get help due to hers and other therapists disgusting manner. Kati described people with personality disorders as “creepy” and “gross.” Anyone who has a personality disorder knows the stigma we face on a daily basis and hearing therapists like that further add to the stigma.
Shane is also to blame here. I understand it’s a YouTube video that’s here for entertainment but his reactions and heavy edits didn’t help the situation either. In my opinion, he could have chosen a different therapist to help him with his series. I’ve seen a few on YouTube that are open minded and explain personality disorders without judgement. The fact he edited the video and still thought it was okay to put on YouTube does make me question him tbh.
Will I continue to watch the series? I probably will unless something really upsets me. It’s just the type of person I am, the curiosity rules me. Do I think Jake Paul is a sociopath? I have no idea! We don’t get to see him when the camera isn’t rolling so he could be putting on an act or he could really have ASPD. I think to be a YouTuber you do have to be narcissistic to a certain extent, same with influencers and bloggers. However, there’s a big difference between that and having a personality disorder!
Anyways, if anyone wants an update on how I feel about the docuseries when they’ve all been released, let me know 💕