I'm going to try to make kind of a nutshell post here on my thoughts & feeling on this.
I know the basics of the forest in Japan & how much respect & dignity is given to it as well as those who go there. There are so many people who volunteer to go there & encourage any thinking of ending their life to seek help. I have so much respect for those people & equal amounts empathy for those who are in such a dark place & sympathy for those who went through with something like that.
Now here's what I know. When visiting the forest there's a path that you can follow that pretty much guarantees you won't accidentally come across someone who's committed suicide. There are also several signs that encourage anyone going there to end their life to give them a reason to live & remember things that make them happy.
With that being said Logan Paul went into that forest & immediately headed off the path otherwise he wouldn't have found what he did. I don't believe for a second they were there "looking for ghosts". He knew what this forest was known for & what he wanted to get on camera. Unfortunately he found exactly what he was looking for.
If I had been in that forest, first of all I wouldn't have brought a camera & wouldn't have gone off the path. But if I had found a deceased individual I would've called the police without hesitation & at the very most checked to see if this person was still alive some how & kept others from stumbling across them.
However Logan & his group showed some of the most disrespectful & disgusting things I've ever seen in my life. And I'm not referring to the man who killed himself, I'm talking about how they reacted. They recorded the man, get up close to him while doing so, cracked distasteful jokes, practically danced around waving their arms while howling hysterically. Then had the absolute ignorance to edit the video, make a thumbnail featuring the deceased & post the video to Youtube.
I never had much hope with the Paul brothers to begin with(ever since Vine), but this just destroyed any positive emotions I could have toward them. But I have to say I'm even more disappointed & upset with Youtube itself. That video wasn't flagged, Logan didn't get a strike, they didn't take the video down(he did), they let him monetize it, THEY FEATURED IT which requires an actual person to review the video first & they've done nothing to uphold their own guidelines & rules. Meanwhile legitimately creative & inspiring Youtubers are struggling & getting demonetized for stupid reasons(which includes, but isn't limited to: being a member of the LGBTQ+ community).
I even watched a video from a channel that does body language reading. She watched Logan Paul's apology video & it was extremely clear that the only thing he's sorry about is the backlash he's getting from this. Not what he did to deserve it, just that people are upset with him.
