Unless you live under a really large rock with no phone service and no human contact, you've probably heard of the new Netflix series "13 Reasons Why" and how it has taken the world by storm. No matter where you go, someone is talking about this show, whether it be at school, at work, on Twitter or anywhere else.
If you do in fact live under a really large rock with no phone service and no human contact, and have never heard of this show before, I'll explain it to you. It's a Netflix series with thirteen episodes, adapted from a book of the same name by Jay Asher. The basis of the book (and the series) is that a teenage girl has killed herself, and has left behind a set of thirteen tapes explaining the reasons why she has killed herself. Each reason is set for a specific person in her life, and those people are the only ones who have heard the tapes. The story is told from the point of view of a boy named Clay, who, despite being on the tapes, was in love with Hannah. As he puts together why Hannah did the unthinkable, he begins to unravel a whole set of secrets, mysteries, and lies about his classmates.
This show is important. Extremely important.
The series touches upon serious topics such as assault, self-harm, depression and suicide. These are issues that so many people go through, but are scared to talk about in fear of being judged or ridiculed. Yet it's not only the fact that these serious issues are depicted that is important, it's also the way they are shown.
As the show follows Hannah, it's obvious that she's not a person who seems visibly depressed. She doesn't mope around; she has friends; she goes to parties; she goes to school; she continues to be the same Hannah she's always been, despite the consistent negativity that has happened to her. No one suspects that Hannah might be depressed or might be contemplating suicide, not even her parents or Clay himself. This is important because when people think of depression they often think of the person who doesn't get out of bed, doesn't shower, and mopes around all day. And maybe that is one depiction of depression, but there are so many others. Anybody you talk to on a daily basis could be depressed and you would never suspect a thing, and hopefully, this show makes people realize that.
The show made it clear how small incidents in a person's life can snowball and become something bigger, something so big that the person is driven to suicide. In retrospect, it may seem like a lot of things that Hannah said drove her to kill herself were minuscule and irrelevant, but all of the events had a snowball effect; they piled on top of each other until they became too much for her to handle. So many people don't think their tiniest actions or words make a difference in anyone's life, but in actuality, it's the tiniest thing that can become something much bigger.
I'm glad a lot of people have seen this show, because I want it to change the way people think. If just one person along the way decided to be kind to Hannah instead of making her life hell, perhaps she would have never committed suicide. If that one event never started the snowball effect, maybe her whole life could have been different.
I want this show to not only change lives, but to save lives.
I want people to realize the implications of their actions. I want people to realize how their words can make a difference in someone's life. I want people to realize how their friendship could make a difference in someone's life. I want people to realize that life is short and people aren't always as strong as they seem to be, and that compassion and kindness can literally save someone's life.
"13 Reasons Why" showed us all that the littlest thing has such a large impact. No one should take this lesson for granted.
