Based off of the novel by Jay Asher, the show Thirteen Reasons Why has been continuously fluctuating throughout social media following its anticipated release. The show has gained popularity for its accurate and powerful portrayal of a heart-wrenching event that occurs in our society way too often than it should. I'm sure everyone has heard of this show, due to the many articles, videos, tweets, and posts that have gone viral over the past week. And I'm sure everyone, even the ones who haven't seen the show yet, has expressed in one way or another, the impact the show has had on them.
This show has gained so many different reactions and has sparked so much controversy, which I think was the main goal of the producers. The producers managed to get out such an important message to people by creating a brutally honest and heart-wrenching TV show. The impact of the show is so widespread and has brought about attention to the everyday events that occur in our society today, such as suicide, rape, sexual assault, and even just the life of a teenager in high school.
These are very important subjects and events that need to be addressed, and 13 Reasons Why addresses these subjects with a medium that has reached out to the ones that could relate most; teenagers. But with reaching out to that audience comes some responsibility. It's hard to guess what reactions teenagers might have when watching this show, but most have been insanely positive. This show has helped many teenagers and has impacted many people. But what I don't get is why we are turning this show into just another meme or joke on social media.
Ever since the show gained it's wide range of popularity on social media, I've been noticing that the tweets about 13 Reasons Why have turned from screenshots of scenes from the show to bring more attention to the importance of the show, to tweets that make fun of the show. Before you start attacking me, yes, I can take a joke. I get that memes are supposed to be funny and to entertain the people on social media. But this show isn't something to joke about.
The memes I see now on social media don't bring the right attention to the show and its messages. The memes now just use the show as a means of being funny. I get that a lot of us want to shine a good light on the show and bring it to a happier place, but that's the thing. This show isn't supposed to be brought into a better light. This show is sad, uncomfortable, and not fun to watch; and that's how its supposed to be.
13 Reasons Why needs to be understood by the viewers, not romanticized. I don't want memes. I want everyone in this world that's hurting to know that there is a way to feel better and to heal. I want people to realize that everyone's hurting in their own way. This show should bring attention to the dark and painful world we live in and it should help us to understand that this is real.
So, STOP turning this show into a joke. This is real. This is our world. It's sad that a show had to bring me and others to realize this.
