suicide

Logan Paul

I am having a really hard time digesting this one.  Call me soft if you want, but what Logan Paul did was horribly inappropriate and insensitive.  Those are probably not strong enough words so I will leave it at that, and you can decide it for yourself.  What am I talking about exactly?  Paul posted a video on his YouTube channel of a body in the Aokigahara forest, which is a notorious suicide spot at the base of Mount Fuji.  Paul and his friends were filming at various locations in Japan and reportedly came across the body.  Their video shows the body of a man from several angles but blurs his face.

Words were exchanged in the video, which also included some laughter.  I can’t decide what is the worst part about this, but he posted the video on his YouTube channel.  His YouTube channel has over 15 million subscribers so that is a ton of people who could have seen the video before it was taken down.  Of course, this video prompted a wave of criticism online.  Some of which might be harsher than mine.  (But that’s because I’m holding back a bit) . And you can’t blame the internet for having these kinds of feelings.  Especially in today’s climate where there seems to be a clear division of what is right and wrong.

logan paul

I know I said I couldn’t decide, but the title of the video might be the worst part of this whole thing.  It states “We found a dead body in the Japanese Suicide Forest”.  So he knew what he was doing when he posted the video.  Breaking Bad star, Aaron Paul tweeted, “You disgust me. I can’t believe that so many young people look up to you. So sad. Hopefully, this latest video woke them up … Suicide is not a joke. Go rot in hell.”  Suicide isn’t a joke. In fact, it’s a hugely serious issue, and for Logan Paul (not to be confused with Aaron Paul) to post the video certainly minimizes suicide.

YouTube star Kandee Johnson had this to say about the post: “Dear @youtube, after the Logan Paul video where he shows a dead body of a suicide victim, uses that for the title, makes heartless jokes next to the body, there needs to b age restrictions for certain creators. How is this allowed on YT? His followers are children! Horrifying.”

logan paul

Logan Paul did issue an apology since posting the video.  But is an apology enough?  “They” say that actions speak louder than words.  I know that we all make mistakes and we’ve all said and done things that we don’t mean, but is this kind of action worthy of our forgiveness based on an apology alone?  The Bible and other religious texts would say that we should forgive him.  And while I am not religious, I do agree with that.  Don’t hold a grudge, but at the same time, we should use this as a lesson to understand what is ok and what isn’t.  I mean, this isn’t the first time something inappropriate has landed on the internet that an apology is required as a result of.

My PSA to all of you is this.  If you think that it might be offensive, in the least, don’t post it.  Or if you do, be prepared for the backlash.  Not everyone is going to agree with what you have to say.  But being an adult is understanding the difference between having an opinion and saying something for shock value.  Being an adult also means that you are willing to hear out what someone else has to say, even if you don’t agree with them.  This speaks to what we see on the internet as a whole. For better or worse. Please note that I am not perfect as I write these words.  Everyone makes mistakes.  We should forgive Logan Paul but hope that he learns from this mistake and uses it to do something good in the world.

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