It's no question that Netflix's new series, 13 Reasons Why, is full of powerful messages. Messages of anti-bullying, messages of understanding one another, and messages of suicide prevention. Whether or not you've seen the new series yet, or even if you don't plan to see it at all, there are a few powerful quotes from the series that leave us all thinking. Maybe it's important we pay attention to these quotes and remember what this series is all about.
1. "Why, cause people are listening? Well, it's too bad that no one paid attention before."
When Alex is asked to quite down when discussing the tapes in public, this is his powerful response. His point is that maybe if someone had paid attention to Hannah, or listened to her subtle pleas, they would not be in this situation. And this is important for all of us to understand. Paying attention to the words of those around us is so important. Most of us never come out and say "I'm hurting." So as friends, and as human beings, it's important that we listen to each other, and pay attention to the little words that could really mean so much more.
2. "I know what you're thinking. Hannah Baker is a slut. I've heard so many stories I don't know which one is most popular. But I do know which is the least popular; the truth."
Hannah makes a good point here. In high school, not a lot of people do care about the truth. A good, juicy rumor is more fun to some people than the bland and ordinary truth. And really, how terrible is that? The entertainment of most is more important than the life of one. If we disregard the nasty rumors that spread merely for entertainment, maybe life wouldn't be as hard as it is for some people.
3. "I think I'm losing my shit"
"Shit's over-rated... loose it."
And it's true, isn't it? We don't have to be perfectly okay all of the time, we just need to able to share those feelings with someone. Don't worry too much about maintaining that perfect composure, you are okay just how you are.
4. "No one knows what's really going on in another person's life, and you never know how what you do will affect someone else."
This is so important. We know ourselves pretty well, and we know how we react to things. But what's funny to us, may be just the opposite to someone else. Something that may seem so little, could be the breaking point of another person. Here's an easy solution; don't say or do hurtful things to others. That way, we don't have to wonder if what we said or did was their breaking point.
5. "Dream big of all the things you can be. Don't settle."
Hannah's mom tells her this when Hannah shares her newfound love for poetry. And as you know if you watched the series, poetry was a huge outlet for Hannah, until it was taken away. But the point here is, poetry made Hannah happy. And we should all do what makes us happy. Even if it's not what others want, it's what you want and that's all that really matters. Don't settle for anything less than what you want and deserve in life.
6. "You can't stop the future. You can't rewind the past. The only way to learn the secret is to press play."
Though this may have just been Hannah using a play on words for her tapes, it is a pretty powerful thought.
7. "Sometimes the future doesn't unfold the way you think it will. Shit happens and people suck."
Well, Hannah has a point here. Things do happen that you have no control over, and people really can suck sometimes. But just because the future isn't happening exactly how you planned, doesn't mean it won't work out in the end. Life is long so that we have time to remedy all that has gone wrong, and make it into something better. Keep pushing through those hard times, because the good times will make them even better.
8. "I was going to work harder. Be smarter. And be stronger. Because you can't change other people, but you can change yourself."
It's true. No matter how hard you try to influence others to be better, at the end of the day, you're really only in control of yourself. The best thing you can do is to be proud of who you are so that other people's irrelevant opinions don't matter as much to you.
9. "Sometimes things just happen to you. They just happen. You can't help it. But it's what you do next that counts. Not what happens, but what you decide to do about it."
Hannah reminds us once again that life happens. Things happen. We don't have control of life, but we can control how we react to it.
10. "Some of you cared. But none of you cared enough."
The thing is, a lot of people in Hannah's life cared enough. They just didn't show it enough, so that she couldn't see it enough. Show the people that you care about how much you actually care.
11. "You let her walk away. We all let her walk away."
This is a pivotal line by Clay as he stands in the office of the guidance counselor. All of the people on the tapes knew Hannah was hurting in some way but did nothing to make it better for her. They let her leave every day feeling the same way that she has. We can't let people walk away when we know they're hurting. We should be doing anything we can to relieve that hurt, even if it's just a few kind words. Because you never know if the time that person walks away will be their very last.
12. "It has to get better. The way we treat each other and look out for each other. It has to get better somehow."
Preach Clay, preach. It does have to get better. And the only way it can get better is to make it better ourselves. Don't be a Courtney, who cuts off your friends because of your own insecurities. Don't be a And don't be a Bryce. Just don't ever be a Bryce. Look out for one another, and make those efforts to be better to one another.
13. "Are you okay?"
"No. Is that alright?"
"Yeah."
it's okay to not be okay. We see this scene in the end when Clay and .. decide to hangout and do something. Obviously, Clay is feeling a lot of pain since Hannah's death and everything that has come from them. It's okay for him to feel hurt, and not okay. and this line is probably one of the most important to end this series with. Because it shows us that it's important to share how we're feeling with others. People who care about you will be perfectly okay with hearing how you're truely feeling. That's really all any of us want, is to be hones about what we're feeling. There's no need for any of us to be afraid of doing this because people will be there to help.
