• POLITICS
  • SCIENCE
    • Astronomy
    • Physics
    • Biology
    • Geology
    • Environment
    • Medicine and Health
    • Sociology
    • Psychology
  • MOVIES & TV SHOWS
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Virtual Reality
    • Bionics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Engineering
    • Robotics
    • Space Exploration
    • Transport
    • Industry and Service
  • GADGETS
    • Mobile Devices
    • Wearables
    • Consoles
    • Hi-Tech
  • GEEK CULTURE
    • Gaming
    • Comics
    • Thingamajigs
  • MUSIC
  • SOFTWARE
    • APPS
      • Android
      • iOS
      • Windows
  • HARDWARE
  • CARS
  • REVIEWS
  • Advertise
  • Geek Reply Jobs
  • Contact Us
Geek Reply
  • HOME
  • Editorials
  • Geek Squad
  • GeekReply Jobs
  • Contact Us
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Google+

  • LinkedIn

  • RSS

Geek Culture

Logan Paul’s Suicide Forest Video Paints American Tourists as Jackasses

Logan Paul’s Suicide Forest Video Paints American Tourists as Jackasses
Aaron Greenbaum
Aaron Greenbaum
January 2, 2018

The famous YouTube vlogger Logan Paul (I honestly never heard of him before now) recently made headlines for posting a video where he reacts to finding a dead body in the Aokigahara forest, a forest at the base of Mount Fuji that has earned the nickname “the suicide forest.” Paul’s actions may have tarnished Japanese/American relations.

For a bit of context, Logan Paul visited (and as far as I can tell, is still visiting) Japan shortly before the end of 2017 and created a series of vlogs doing whatever the heck he wants. Play fighting with a friend in the middle of a busy street? Yep. Dressing up in a kimono and bamboo hat while dancing and acting like a racist caricature? Yep again. Hitching rides (without permission) on trucks and making a fool of himself at Shinto shrines? Yep. Basically, Paul does everything in his power to come across as a clown and, for lack of a better term, a jerk. But, then he decided to record his jaunt into Aokigahara forest, at which point he found a dead body and recorded his reactions. There’s being culturally tone deaf, and then there’s being cruel and insensitive. Paul’s video is both.

While Paul’s original video has been taken down, JhbTeam was kind enough to post a recap of the video, which is full of Paul smiling and treating the whole situation as a joke.

Logan Paul and his friends laughing and smiling after discovering a dead body pic.twitter.com/azY7EAiuC4

— JhbTeam (@JhbTeam) January 2, 2018

Paul’s reactions are reminiscent of PewDiePie, except instead of intentionally overreacting to a video game where everything is fake and nobody can get hurt, Paul laughs at a real hanging corpse. As you might imagine, the Internet’s reaction was swift and unsympathetic. Many called him out on his insensitive behavior, including famed YouTuber Michael Sundman, aka. Gaijin Goombah.

For those of you who don’t know, Michael Sundman has spent the past several years as a member of the YouTube channel The Game Theorists alongside channel founder Matthew Patrick/MatPat. Sundman specializes in breaking down allusions and references to various cultures in video games, especially Japanese culture, not because he is a “weeaboo,” but because he spent several years as an English teacher in Japan. During his time there, Sundman learned about and gained a lot of respect for Japanese culture, especially cultural norms, one of which is privacy. The Japanese take privacy far more seriously than even American citizens. In his video, Sundman mentions anecdotal experiences where he wasn’t allowed to record himself playing Japanese arcade games due to Japanese privacy laws and how a friend who took a picture of the famous Shibuya Crossing that just so happened to include a man cheating on his wife was sued. And lost. If a photograph that is innocuous to Americans elicits the desire to pursue legal action, it doesn’t take much to imagine how poorly the Japanese public will react to a video of people essentially laughing at someone who committed suicide.

While Logan Paul has released an apology for his actions, the damage has already been done. Apparently he was treading on thin ice before the Aokigahara forest video, but his actions in the forest are beyond disrespectful in any culture. The six-million plus views only make the situation worse, as they will no doubt color how the Japanese view Americans. Sundman postfaces his video with a statement that Logan stands a good chance of being banned from Japan, which seems like a very likely possibility.

W3Schools
Related ItemsfeaturedJapanTwitterVloggerYoutube
Geek Culture
January 2, 2018
Aaron Greenbaum
Aaron Greenbaum

All you have to do to get my attention is talk about video games, technology, anime, and/or Dungeons & Dragons - also people in spandex fighting rubber suited monsters.

Related ItemsfeaturedJapanTwitterVloggerYoutube

More in Geek Culture

gaming equipment

Maintaining Your Mental and Physical Health While Gaming

Frankie WallaceDecember 16, 2020
Read More

How Futuristic Movies Compare to Reality

Frankie WallaceOctober 27, 2020
Read More

Microsoft Adds to Its Cloud Gaming Lineup with Bethesda

Matt DavisOctober 2, 2020
Read More

The Real McCoy: How Augmented Reality Benefits Businesses and Engages Customers

Frankie WallaceSeptember 10, 2020
Read More
PS5 Xbox Series X

PS5 & Xbox Series X Release Dates – When Will The Next-Gen Consoles Launch?

Mike GuarinoAugust 28, 2020
Read More
TikTok Microsoft Deal

Microsoft Confirms Plans To Acquire TikTok

John CusackAugust 3, 2020
Read More
Xbox Game Showcase

Xbox Series X Exclusives To Be Revealed On July 23rd

John CusackJuly 7, 2020
Read More
Apple Arcade Free

Ever Been An Apple Arcade Subscriber? You May Be Getting Another Month Free

John CusackJune 24, 2020
Read More

Careers in the World of Gaming

Frankie WallaceJune 17, 2020
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Game Deals

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • Comments

  • gaming equipment
    Maintaining Your Mental and Physical Health While Gaming
    GamingDecember 16, 2020
  • Esports is now an Official Medal Event at 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games
    Opinion PiecesDecember 30, 2020
  • Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac
    Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac- It can surely save the day
    ReviewsSeptember 26, 2019
  • Esports is now an Official Medal Event at 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games
    Opinion PiecesDecember 30, 2020
  • gaming equipment
    Maintaining Your Mental and Physical Health While Gaming
    GamingDecember 16, 2020
  • How Futuristic Movies Compare to Reality
    Geek CultureOctober 27, 2020
  • The end of geo-blocking within the EU
    Opinion PiecesOctober 19, 2020
  • Just 10% Of iPhone X Users Want Apple To Remove The Notch, Survey Says – My WordPress Website says:

    […] There are lots of requests that Apple users are…

  • The 9 most plausible rumors in regards to the new iPhones – Mark Swarrts says:

    […] Just 10% Of iPhone X Users Want Apple To…

  • Onimusha: Warlords HD PS4/Xbox One Box Art Revealed - GameSinners says:

    […] mean for the series, as its success could result…

  • 5 Essential Tips to Setup a Web Hosting Business | Your Own Website says:

    […] Source link […]

Geek Reply

Greetings techies! We are Geek Reply, a website whose main goal is to bring you all the latest news and updates from within the industry and beyond. What can you expect to find here?

Professional journalism coupled with expository writing for the most part, but we also give our honest opinion or throw in a pinch of humor for good measure when we deem it necessary. Our team is comprised of enthusiasts from across a wide variety of fields ranging from smartphone junkies to camera nerds, and everything in between. But perhaps you were looking for your daily dose of science news or hoping to read about the latest apps. If that’s the case, don’t worry, you came to the right place.

GeekReply Secured with GeekReply Scured
Nintendo Switch GeekReply

Copyright © 2020 GeekReply - Webdesign & Marketing - iPublicitate

Amazon Leaks 18 Possible Nintendo Switch Games
Nexon Blames PUBG for the Failure of LawBreakers, Which Makes No Sense