YouTuber Jake Paul recently released his Netflix documentary ‘Untold’ which included some interesting revelations and points to discuss.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Jake Paul (or living under a rock), he is one of the world’s most popular YouTubers and social media personalities on the internet. Having launched his YouTube channel at a young age with his brother Logan Paul, both went through a journey of love and hate with major events happening in both of their lives including police investigations for various accusations.
Jake then found a new passion in boxing but struggled to convince the public he was a serious or professional fighter. Although Jake Paul may be hated by thousands if not millions of people, there is a reason why he created an image like that for himself and we explore why by analysing his documentary ‘Untold’.
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Brothers: The Dynamic Duo
In the documentary, the video splits between Jake and his brother Logan with accounts of Jake’s life through both their eyes. Logan portrays himself as a responsible older brother in many ways. Within the documentary, we also find out how much Jake Paul respects and has unconditional love for Logan.
The Untold story unfolds with a discussion of the Paul brother’s relationship with each other. Jake talks about both the brothers watching and loving YouTube videos at a young age. He told viewers that they loved watching videos so much that they soon got bored of the pranks, jokes, and comedy videos, and that inevitably inspired them to create their own.
At 10 years old they created a channel called Zoosh. “1,000 views was a lot for us,” says Logan as he replays earlier events in their lives. In the beginning, a few thousand views felt like millions to them. But as the viewers grew, the content was getting more extreme and competitive – not with other YouTubers but with each other.
Jake remembered getting a sponsored deal with a brand in which he charged $500. After the content did well, Jake said the brand asked how much he wanted for the second deal. In the documentary, Jake reportedly looked at his dad and said let’s just say something crazy like $5000 to which the brand agreed. Jake and his dad sat shocked, and Jake realised that if he had 1 million or 2 million followers, how much would be able to make from brand partnership deals?
It was then Jake told Netflix viewers that the term “influencer” was created because of them – they were the start of the “influencer” craze.
Logan Paul noted in the documentary that his brother was more of the emotional one between them both. After creating their channel, the brothers became competitive with one another leading them to create their own YouTube channels. It became Logan Paul vs Jake Paul to see who could get the most hits on their page.
“We hated each other at one point like really hated each other,” says Logan Paul. The brothers became so competitive that even their videos went from one extreme to another. Police had to intersect one video due to a fire breaking out after the creators decided to burn furniture in a skip outside a home and neighbours complained.
After the collaborations with brands and other creators as well as the family feud between the two brothers, they soon decided to patch things up and take a break for socials. Jake in particular said things got so bad on social media that he stopped uploading completely. People hated him that mentally he wasn’t able to cope and he escaped to Puerto Rico where things were quieter and still close to his brother.
“Dad didn’t know any better”
It seems as though brotherhood and brotherly love were at the core of this documentary and depicted throughout. Even when Logan Paul lost one of his fights, Jake was seen shedding tears for his brother which was a revelation to Logan of how much his brother loved him and wanted to see him achieve.
John Fury makes a feature in the Netflix doc and says he is in “awe” of the love the brothers have for one another. Greg Paul, however, makes a shorter appearance throughout Untold and we learn how much of an impact the Paul brother’s father had on their upbringing.
Greg is seen as very masculine in old traditional ways. Although Jake Paul said his dad abused him when he was younger and it was because his dad “didn’t know any better from what he was taught,” Greg said the opposite. Logan Paul commented on the relationship with their dad and said Jake Paul was still affected by the way their dad treated them when they were younger.
With a no-nonsense type of attitude and a “get up and get over it” demeanor, Greg is seen quite silent in the documentary when around the brothers. When Paul was defeated by Tommy Fury (who also makes an appearance in the documentary), everyone in the room comforts Paul apart from his dad.
Marketing Jake Paul
When Jake Paul entered the boxing ring with YouTuber Deji, he heard the chants against him. The documentary begins with these chants and is based on the fact that no one likes Jake Paul. He said once he got into the ring and received that first punch in the face from Deji, his body went into complete shutdown. It was only until the bell went, Paul said his “animal instincts” kicked in and he never felt more alive. In the end, he won the fight, but still left hate in the hearts of everyone in the arena.
“That’s where The Problem Child came from”, said Jake. Although the negativity affects Jake, he has built this persona to the audience for everyone to hate him. “There’s always a good guy and a bad guy” when it comes to boxing. “Everyone wants to see the bad guy lose” and that’s how you sell tickets.
When hearing Jake Paul explain this theory, it feels like we as the viewer have been pick-pocketed or tricked into watching his fights. Do we still hate him or do we now see him as a very clever marketer who knows what he is doing and putting the sport of boxing on the map again?
Boxing Hits New Heights
Jake says not only does he train for a fight, but he has a team of people that help with his mind and body. In an interview, Jake says he wakes up and meditates, making sure he doesn’t look at his phone for the first 30 minutes when waking up. He also had a sound healer, which he says allows “everyone’s good and positive energy to vibrate to him” before he steps in the ring.
Mike Tyson who also features in Untold says “Jake Paul put boxing on the map.” He said he has respect for Jake Paul and hopes he continues to box after Jake promoted one of his fights himself using his social media channels, making $75M from paper-view sales.
Is it time we respected Jake Paul as a boxer? Just like every other boxer, Jake Paul has a professional team behind him and he is putting in the work. Although he started off as a YouTuber, he found a passion and meaning in boxing. Not only has Jake found his strength in the sport, but he also has bought it back to life according to Mike Tyson, one of the greatest boxers in history. Jake also tried to gain the attention of Dana White about the pay for boxers being unjust and after being ignored, he made his own boxing events including giving a voice to female boxers who have struggled to be given a platform and showcase their skills.
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