It seems like everyone and there mother binged watched the new Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. The series is based off of a book written by Jay Asher and directed by the famous actress, Selena Gomez. I stayed away from the series entirely for about a week before I caved and started listening to Tape 1, Side A. However, I didn't watch it all at once, in fact, if I watched two episodes a day that was a lot for me. Here's 13 reasons why it took me so long to finish 13 Reason's Why.
*Disclaimer* There are some spoiler alerts. Read at your own risk.
13.) I didn't want to follow the crowd.
EVERYONE was talking about this show. Good or bad, everyone had an opinion and I have always been one who doesn't buy in right away. Let me do things on my own time.
12.) Speaking of my own time, I had none of it.
13 Reason's Why debuted March 31st. Right before the craziest month of the year. April is chaos for most college students, and I wasn't an exception. I needed to focus, study, and attend regular meetings. I didn't have time to waste a day of Netflix no matter how much I wanted to.
11.) The idea of "the book is always better."
I read 13 Reasons Why a couple times growing up. I am the type of person where I believe the book is always somehow WAY better than the movie/show. I didn't want this series to ruin the book I loved so much.
10.) Thinking about who directed the show.
This is not meant to be diss on Selena Gomez but I was skeptical when I heard that she was directing the series. I had always known her to sing and act. I was worried she didn't know what she got herself into and her inexperience who would evident through the series.
9.) The actors.
From the snippets and trailers I had seen of the upcoming series, I didn't recognize ANY of the actors in the series at first. I still think putting at least one big name actor in the series would have made it better.
8.) The acting.
Once I finally gave in and started watching the first episode, I was truly not impressed by the acting. I understood the students were supposed to be awkward and scared by the circumstances that had arose but almost every character bugged the crap out of me, especially Clay Jensen.
7.) The characters themselves.
This has nothing to do with the actual actors. This has everything to do with character development. I know the show was meant to depict each person as "evil" in Hannah's world, but it failed to successfully the good side of each character. The series did a great job on showing the audience backstories to prove the point that you never know what anyone is going through, but it failed to show how the teenagers had positive attributes as well as their negative ones.
6.) The moms and dads in the series.
Suicide is a very real issue that is prevalent in today's society, especially among teenagers. I was appalled at how ALL the parents acted in the show. Whether it was Hannah's parents for acting crazy and scaring all the other kids (any myself at times), or Clay's parents for recognizing that their son's attitude and behavior had changed so drastically but refused to really do anything about it. Or even Zach's parents who couldn't grasp the idea that their kid ever would do anything wrong. All the parents practically ignored their children and never tried to help them while they were clearly hurting.
5.) The guidance counselor.
He always seemed to do a pretty crappy job of taking care of the kids and Hannah's parents. He did a poor job on trying to understand the issues when anyone personally came to him for help or when one, or multiple, of the teens were forced to go see him in his office.
4.) The way high school students are portrayed.
Now, I know I may be a little sheltered in this area. I graduated with a class of 52 (this was a big graduating class for our school) and we all got along fairly well. Now I know this isn't the norm at other schools, but the characters looked to be about 25 not juniors or seniors in high school. I also find it hard to believe that the kids would be able to get away with everything. Such as when Jessica kept missing cheer practice and games. Instead of getting kicked off the team she had to sit out the second half of the basketball game.
3.) The silence that ensued throughout the series.
This is one of my big ones. This is what really made the show so hard to watch. Throughout the whole time the kids are hurting, they don't say ANYTHING to ANYONE. Not to other friends, not to any parents, NO ONE. It's hard for me to believe that Clay was the first one to think of the idea to expose the tapes. Kids should NOT be afraid to reach out for help when its needed and I hated that the show emphasized on the idea that silence is the best option, because it NEVER is.
2.) No one paid attention to Alex.
Alex showed all the warning signs we are taught when it comes to suicide. Everyone is wrapped up in their own little world and worried about what Clay is going to do next. They're not caring or thinking about anyone else. This is also not okay. People should be taught to pay closer attention to others. They need to learn how love others the best they can. You will never know how far a small act of kindness will actually go.
1.) It hit a little too close to home.
From someone who had a rough couple of years a while back, and deeply dealt with the idea of suicide, this show really actually made me angry. I have also helped friends deal with depression, anxiety and other mental disorders and imagining them watching this show truly breaks my heart. Hannah took the easy way out. She left others to fend for themselves and she wanted to make them feel horrible and miserable just like she had felt. I believe that is a truly horrible thing to anyone.
All in all, the series was okay. The show itself as a whole really made me think just as it I did for the majority of the viewers. I definitely had to fast forward through difficult scenes. (Why they had to be as graphic as they did, I don't know.) I truly hope that people take away positive ideas from this show.
Please Remember:
You are not ever alone.
There is always someone willing to help. (Including me!!)
Things will always get better.
You are loved by so many even if some people are really bad at showing it.
God is with you always.
It always gets worse before it gets better. (But things WILL get better.)
The world would not be the same without you in it.
If you, or someone you know, has had thoughts about suicide please, please, please reach out. If you just need someone to talk you can call 1-800-273-8255 at anytime. Or you can chat online with someone at http://chat.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/GetHelp/LifelineChat.aspx
