If you’ve logged onto any form of social media in the last week, you would know that the new Netflix original series 13 Reasons Why, based off of the Jay Asher novel, just came out on March 31, 2017 with a whopping amount of viewers. Only one week into its release, many critics and lovers of the series are expressing their opinions/concerns. 13 Reasons Why, if you haven’t already binge watched all thirteen episodes, is a compelling teen drama about the alleged protagonist, Hannah Baker, and her suicide. Now, I won’t spoil anything for those who just haven’t gotten around to see the series yet, but it has caused an uproar of comments, mostly to do with trigger warnings.
The Netflix original series, with the help of Jay Asher and Selena Gomez, conveyed a very serious topic in the most lighthearted way possible. As do many young adults know, anxiety and depression are not easy to cope with, especially after trauma. Society has this “toughen up” stigma that suggests Millennials are too sensitive in the jagged world we all live in, but that’s not the issue. With the rapidly growing technological advances in the United States, we have become boundary-less and invasive for lack of a better word, and have left teenagers at the grasp of a powerful weapon: bullying.
There are a plethora of graphic scenes to which I will contest, are quite graphic indeed. Coming from someone who has been down these paths, it was very hard and unnerving to watch, but it was something I needed to see. There are warnings preceding each episode that specifically say not to watch the episode if you can’t handle it. Nobody has forced viewers to see the show, and typically people google shows before they even watch them to see if it’s worth their time. Critics are often saying that these types of instances shouldn’t be televised, but that’s because society has made these acts unspeakable and uncomfortable.
So really, you kind of know what you’re getting into before you get into it. Did I expect to see some of the things I did? Of course not. But was I warned? Of course I was. The point of the show isn’t to trigger people or to make society tougher, it’s to spread awareness about an important topic that everyone is too afraid to talk about.
Yes, the high school scene was a little far fetched at some points, but Hannah Baker brought them all together...for 13 reasons. The events and topics that were risen from the show were brought up to make kids shimmy in their seats and to make them think “wow, I was a Zach Dempsey today and that’s not okay”. Because the truth is, it’s not okay. It wasn’t okay to bully people in the 1960s (even though your parents say it was), and it’s certainly not okay now.
The show makes a fantastic argument about reacting when it’s too late, which is all too true. Nobody ever thinks to do anything until a drastic measure has to be taken to open up everyone’s eyes. Yes, Hannah Baker was incredibly overdramatic at times, but when you are affected by depression and anxiety, small occurrences can often lead to over-reacting towards the smallest situations. And keep in mind, this.is.a.drama. So before you click the next episode, remind yourself that there are scenes too graphic for some people to watch, and worst case, you can google the episode summary later.
