Fans loved the Netflix original show "13 Reasons Why," which is about high-schooler Hannah Baker, who commits suicide and releases tapes detailing the reasons why she did it and sends them to the people who she claims contributed to her decision, including Clay, the boy who was in love with her.
As someone who has read the book, I was curious. So, I watched the whole first season and was horrified. Here's why they shouldn't be making any more episodes of this show.
Warning: This article will spoil the first season of "13 Reasons Why" and discusses some sensitive topics.
1. It implies that a suicide victims' loved ones are to blame.
One part of the show that made my blood boil was when Clay asked Tony if he was the one that ultimately caused Hannah to commit suicide and Tony said yes. For the rest of the show, Clay broods about how he killed Hannah because he didn't love her enough.
What kind of a message is that sending to family and friends of people who have committed suicide in real life? People who might have blamed themselves for something they couldn't have seen coming? This only reaffirms that self-loathing and regret.
Could Hannah's suicide have been prevented? Maybe. But it was not up to any one person to save her from herself, especially since they didn't know that she needed saving.
2. It glorifies/sensationalizes suicide.
Suicide is a deeply upsetting topic and something to be taken seriously. In this show, it is used for shock value.
If you don't believe me, ask yourself this: In the book, Hannah kills herself by swallowing a handful of pills. In the show, she slits her wrists in the bathtub. Why would they make this change?
What possible reason could there be, besides the shocking visuals? They wanted audiences to be horrified and to marvel at how edgy they were in showing an entire suicide scene. They wanted some gore to spice up this scene. And it's disgusting.
And yes, they showed the whole thing, despite the psychologists that the show's writers consulted with telling them not to show her committing suicide because it would be incredibly upsetting for suicidal people to watch.
3. It's deeply triggering.
The word "triggering" has become sort of taboo recently, since it's associated with people that are easily offended by everything. But, we forget that triggers are a real thing.
I have two friends that used to have suicidal thoughts that have told me (on different occasions) that if they had been watching this show when they were still in that headspace, it would have probably made them feel worse.
Now, I don't want to imply that this show would drive someone to commit suicide, but just the idea that someone seeing how destroyed Hannah's bullies were after her suicide could plant an idea in someone's head is truly terrifying to me.
4. There is no discussion of mental health.
For a show that's all about messed up teenagers and suicide, there is not a single mention of mental health problems Hannah could have had or how to treat said mental health problems.
Even a small mention of how she should have gone to a professional to deal with these problems would have made a huge difference.
5. The book ended in season one.
The plot of the entire book plays out in season one, so for season two, it looks like they'll be going past the end of the book. This is terrible because the book actually ends in a more hopeful place. Even though Clay had to deal with his grief and the tapes, at the end of the book, he seems to have found some inner peace and takes some steps towards moving on.
Going off-book means that they're going to add more and more problems to make Clay miserable, beating the dead horse that this story is by drawing it out more than it should have been.
6. Its fan base is terrible.
From one fan making tapes for 13 reasons why a girl should go to prom with him to one fan literally killing herself after watching the show, it's apparent that the fan base seems either just clueless about the weight of the issues being presented or were too swept up in the show's glamorization of suicide.
(Note: It's not proven that the girl took her own life because of the show, but her family certainly thinks so.)
7. All the "lessons" it teaches are tackled better in other pieces of entertainment.
There are tons of different stories out there that tackle the issue of suicide with more respect. For example, there's the musical "Dear Evan Hansen" and the movie "Dead Poets Society."
Though both of these stories have a suicide as a central plot point of the story, neither show a suicide and neither need to in order to create an impact.
8. It's about suicide and only suicide.
Staying on the topic of "Dear Evan Hansen" and "Dead Poets Society," both stories are ultimately uplifting. Though there are suicides, the characters that are alive make realizations about the deceased person and about themselves. Though it's an awful situation, there's a story there that's about more than just suicide and how sad it is.
"Dear Evan Hansen" tackles the issues of social anxiety, loneliness, and parent/child issues while the school is also recovering from a student's suicide and though a great deal of the musical is sad, it is ultimately hopeful.
"13 Reasons Why" is about suicide and how people drove this girl to commit suicide. And that's it. There is no true plot other than Clay hearing the tapes and the other students feeling guilty about how awful they were.
There is nothing hopeful or constructive in the way it deals with the topic. It's just about despair all of the time.
9. It's depressing and upsetting.
Speaking of despair, this show is genuinely depressing. As someone who sometimes gets depressive episodes, this show was incredibly detrimental to my mental health. Watching episodes would put me in a depressive fog. I would try to take walks outside to get over them, but they only made me more depressed.
But I couldn't stop watching, because I needed to know what would happen next.
10. Some of the messages it promotes are downright awful.
An example of one of these messages enraged me. There is one part of the show where Hannah started kissing Clay, but then she pulled away and started screaming at him for him to get away from her and leave her alone. He listened to her and left her alone.
In one of the tapes, she reveals that she actually wanted him to stay and was sad that he left.
Then Clay gets so upset about this, blaming himself and beating himself up over how he should have stayed with her.
But in any other situation, if a girl is screaming at a boy to get off of her and to leave her alone and the guy refuses and demands to stay with her, that is completely not okay! The fact that this show implies that you're to blame because you're not a mind reader is absolutely ridiculous! It's also a horrible message to send to people.
11. It hits every high school stereotype out there.
Underage drinking? Check. Closeted gay teens? Check. Parents who just don't understand? Star basketball player with the rough home life? All check! Give me a break.
12. I hate every single character.
Maybe Tony and Jeff are somewhat likable, but most of these characters are absolutely horrible people. This includes Hannah herself. It's hard to enjoy a show if you hate every single character.
13. It's implied that they will be handling even more triggering topics next season.
Next season, it appears that they'll be dealing with school shootings and the aftermath of rape. Considering how they handled suicide, I'm pretty sure they won't do a better job with these topics.
I won't be watching next season, but I hope, for the fans' sake, that they'll learn to handle these situations with more sensitivity rather than exploit them for the cheap melodrama.
