Review: Shane Dawson’s The Mind of Jake Paul docu-series

**Shane Dawson’s series seeks to discover if Jake Paul is a sociopath.**
Photo posted by @shanedawson on Twitter

YouTuber delves into psyche of fellow creator

YouTuber Shane Dawson has recently begun making documentaries about internet celebrities like Jeffree Star and Tana Mongeau. Dawson’s latest venture is The Mind of Jake Paul. This series consists of eight parts that focus on determining whether or not Jake Paul is a sociopath.

When Dawson talks about the potential of Paul being a sociopath, he talks about some of the signs sociopathy while also showing clips that could indicate that Paul is one. The episodes span from around 30 minutes to an hour. In order to include each side of the story, Dawson interviews YouTubers iNabber and Keemstar, who follow and report on any controversies that take place in the YouTube space; Kati Morton, a therapist; Nick Crompton, Jake’s former business partner; Alissa Violet, Jake’s ex-girlfriend; and Erika Costell, Jake’s current girlfriend. Each of the interviews shed light on some of Paul’s past behaviors as well as give the viewer more insight into Paul’s personal life.

Before the series aired, Dawson tweeted: “Everyone involved in the series has been through a lot (some of it their fault and some of it not) but I don’t want this to be a step backward for anyone emotionally.” He then went on to say that “This month I’ve learned there’s way more than two sides to every story. In this case, there was 100.”

The first episode, called “The Mind of Jake Paul,” starts out with Dawson sharing that he got three messages on his phone from Jake Paul, one of which was a voice memo. In the voice memo, Jake talks about how he would love to do the series with Dawson but doesn’t want to if it would put him in a bad position. After the voice memo, the episode walks through how each of the episodes will discuss Jake Paul’s life.

Dawson discusses and shows clips of Paul laughing at other people’s pain and putting them in dangerous situations. Another example of such sociopathic behavior that is widely talked about in the series is when Paul accused his ex-girlfriend Alissa Violet’s boyfriend of assaulting Paul’s assistant.

When the audience finally meets Jake Paul in the fifth part, “The World of Jake Paul,” the viewer is introduced into his current life, which includes him taking a month off from vlogging to enjoy life. This part of the series becomes very lighthearted as we see Dawson and Paul bond over going to Walmart, riding in a four-wheeler, and meeting other members of Paul’s business, Team 10. This whole episode seems like viewers are seeing a more realistic side of who Paul is, who he is when he’s taking time away from entertaining.

In the last part of the series, Dawson sits down with Paul for a raw and emotional interview. Dawson and Paul talk about how Alissa Violet cheated on Paul with his brother, Logan Paul, and how from that experience he has developed trust issues. In the interview, Paul even shares, “I have a lot of trust issues from it. I don’t trust like anybody. Erika [Costell, Jake’s current girlfriend] had to… teach me how to… love and trust again because I just didn’t want to.”

After Paul shares this, Dawson responds, saying, “I told you…earlier I have [a] soft spot for you. We’ve talked about it. Even in… the past couple of hours, I’ve noticed it’s hard for you to feel things and express what you’re feeling and I don’t want, even though he’s your brother and you love him and stuff, I don’t want this to be something that you push down, because you need to feel this.”

The Mind of Jake Paul brings a strong production value that Dawson has shown in his other documentaries. Each part of the series has ammassed between 14 million and 22 million views. The platform Dawson has created draws viewers in, because in each of the series, Dawson is truthful and honest and asks for the same 100 percent he gives, which in turn creates series that don’t hold back on finding out the truth. Dawson also shows the caring side to himself and his subjects in his series. There is something raw and emotional about each of his series that gets viewers’ attention and doesn’t let go.