There is a fine line between self-deprecating humor and constantly berating yourself to the point where you start whole-heartedly believing what it is you’re saying. That being said, this mentality of self-loathing that has been continually injected into pop culture has had a detrimental effect on its viewers, especially those who are adolescents. Not only is self-hatred glamorized, but this glamorization subsequently makes mental illness such as depression and anxiety appear ‘trendy’ or ‘cool’ as opposed to what it really is... ‘deviant’, ‘distressful’, and ‘dysfunctional’.
Let me clarify something… Depression is not wistfully crying along to Lana Del Rey while surrounding yourself with an abundance of dark roses. Depression is losing the motivation to do anything, even activities that were once an individuals’ evident passion. Depression sucks the color out of everything that once glowed, amalgamating everything into an enormous cloud of grayness. That being said, who would want to be depressed? Depression is terrible! So, why do we glamorize it? Why does our society exploit imperative topics in order to profit? Moreover, even though we cannot change the fact that people exploit mental illness, we do have the power to unveil the truth. Furthermore, we can rise up against these perceived corporal evils by either boycotting them or educating others by speaking out against their wrongdoings.
Below is an excerpt from an article I recently found entitled, "Social Media is Redefining 'Depression'":
“Online communities like those on Tumblr are perpetuating ideas of ‘beautiful suffering,’ confusing what it means to be clinically depressed.” These accounts essentially share “..black and white photographs of mystical emaciated women who stare off into the distance put psychological torment and beauty on the same page, and quotes like ‘So it’s okay for you to hurt me, but I can’t hurt myself?’ and ‘I want to die a lovely death,’ try to justify self-harm.” As Kutcher digresses, it is super imperative to remember this concluding statement, “People use the word ‘depression’ if they can’t find their keys, or if they've had a fight with their mother or father, or if they’ve had an argument with their boyfriend or girlfriend, if they didn’t make the school team or didn’t do well on an exam,” Kutcher says. “When we use the word ‘depression’ for every negative emotional state, the word loses its meaning.”
Clothing can also glorify mental illness, which also further perpetuates the myth that depression is 'beautiful suffering.' In turn, this attitude can alter people's perception of a disease and make it appear 'trendy.' Companies such as Urban Outfitters are notorious for profiting off mental illness. Remember their ‘Eat Less’ shirt? Or how about the one that simply sprawled the word ‘depression’ all over it? If one were to do a commutation test (which simply refers to replacing one paradigm with another) one would insert other illnesses into the phrases included on these shirt and realize how problematic they really are. For instance, what if the infamous ‘Depression’ Urban Outfitters shirt read, “Cancer.” Or what if the “Eat Less” shirt said “Don’t regulate glucose” (get it because they were making a dig at eating disorders so I’m showing how messed it would be to do the same to diabetes)? I know UO controversies are old news, but each one has certainly resonated with me given the detrimental message it promotes to the youth. Truthfully, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t shop there ever in my life. However, as I become more and more cognizant of their wrongdoings, it really calls into question their integrity as a company. Moreover, it makes me reconsider which companies I give my hard earned money to. I mean not only are they overpriced, but they market illness as a ‘trend.’
Lastly, I wanted to touch upon a more traditional form of media that overlaps with social media and online platforms such as Netflix. I want to briefly discuss the TV show, "13 Reasons Why," which has received a fair share of criticism as well as praise. Truthfully, I have not watched this show (nor do I care at this point), yet I have read an extensive amount of articles that break down the premises of the show as well as the problematic way in which they discuss the topic of suicide. To be quite frank, each article I have read or video I have watched has continually diverted my attention away from ever giving it a fair chance. However, I don’t have to watch it to understand what it everyone is saying (including mental health specialists and individuals who have actually felt suicidal at one point in their lives).
Briefly, I want to unearth several fallacies injected into the show. Firstly, if a person is suicidal, they most likely suffer from a mental illness. However, the show failed to even utter the words ‘mental illness’. Instead, they portrayed suicide as something to be done in order to avenge another person who was wronged you. Thus, my second point explaining why this aforementioned logic is reprehensible lies in basic fact that suicidal people can no longer bare to be in this world. The pain is far too great for them and they are truly in need of our love as well as our support. So, making suicide appear as an out for people to place blame upon others isn’t right and quite frankly isn’t even true.
People- especially adolescents - are extremely influenced by each form of media they take in. The demented notion of ‘popularity after death’ is a bit unnerving as well as disheartening. If anything, that sort of glorification will lead to copycats who genuinely believe they will be like Hannah Baker in the eyes of the public after their demise. Thus, the message to teens is practically ‘killing yourself’ is cool and people who didn’t respect you while you were alive will appreciate you more when you’re no longer there. The reason this mentality of normalizing revenge suicide is toxic is because aside from sharing its notion to neuro-typical people who simply believe they are following a ‘trend.’ It also reiterates this notion to people who are already undergoing depressive / suicidal thoughts, which is troublesome for obvious reasons. If someone was severely bullied the show's logic could further antagonize them to use suicide as permanent solution to their temporary problem. Each previous notion I referred to is just but a few 'reasons why' the show should have reconsidered its approach to a very touchy subject. On that note, why would I bother watching it? Why would I want to give them the views that consequently give them the money and power they so desperately want (and quite frankly, don't deserve)? To the fans of "13 Reasons Why," watch a movie like "Heathers" instead. Because the way they satirically depict people's reaction to suicide is the grave way in which "13 Reasons Why" essentially does.
Conclusively, I want to end this article by saying challenge what’s acceptable. Just because companies or TV shows make unjustifiable choices or claims doesn’t mean you to succumb to their influence. Instead, never stop fighting for what is right, and never stray from reading material that will help you grow, question, and come to your own valid conclusions.
