On Tuesday, Sept. 25, YouTuber Shane Dawson uploaded the first part of his highly anticipated new documentary series, “The Mind of Jake Paul.” The series follows Disney Channel star turned Viner turned YouTube megastar, Jake Paul. Known for his high-energy vlogs, Jake Paul has become entrenched in controversy ever since members of his talent group, called Team 10, have spoken out about alleged abuses perpetrated by Paul. Paul has also gained national attention on traditional media outlets after word came out that he was being sued for trashing the $2.5 million Team 10 house.

The real spectacle began when he jumped on top of a news van during a live interview.

Needless to say, Jake Paul is a polarizing figure. When Shane Dawson, beloved fixture of the YouTube community for roughly a decade, began to hint in early September at the subject of his next docu-series, there were strong reactions. Several Shane Dawson fans published videos denouncing Dawson for giving Jake Paul a platform. However, cognizant of this reaction, Dawson vowed in the first video of the series to hold Paul accountable and find out his true motivations for acting so outlandishly.

Watch the teaser trailer for the new series below:

Within the first two minutes after uploading, “The Mind of Jake Paul” gained 200,000 views. After just 24 hours, the video had over 9 million. Attracting both his own and Jake Paul’s fan bases, Shane Dawson has crafted another smash hit.

And this first video is just the tip of the iceberg. Shane Dawson plans on releasing several more in this docu-series centered on the question of whether or not Jake Paul is actually a sociopath. In “The Mind of Jake Paul” video, Dawson foreshadows conversations with a psychologist as well as former Team 10 members to investigate whether or not the younger Paul brother has a personality disorder.

This first video, meant to set the scene for the future videos to unfold against, was 40 minutes and 33 seconds of continuous anticipation. From the ominous background music to the jarringly edited video clips, “The Mind of Jake Paul” feels less like Dawson’s previous docu-series on TanaCon or Jeffree Starr, and more like a conspiracy video. Shane seems to simultaneously seek to look deeper into what makes Jake Paul tick, while also analyzing the dynamics of being a YouTube celebrity in general. Dawson proposes the idea that there’s a “bigger picture” in the example of Jake Paul, in that there’s a disconnect between YouTubers and reality. He also suggests that this disconnect could be sociopathy and that Jake Paul isn’t the only sociopath thriving on YouTube right now, noting that these sociopathic tendencies may at times lead to immense success on the online platform.

What’s truly concerning about the Jake Paul phenomenon is the extremely young age of his fans, who are generally 8 to 14 years old. Not only have Paul’s past actions been harmful to Team 10 members and others directly around him, but he is also an idol for many of his young viewers. In a sense, Jake Paul has a status and platform powerful enough to partly influence this young generation that venerates him. While Dawson didn’t approach this question in the first video of the series, it is one that can’t be ignored going forward.

Watch the full episode here:

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