This past weekend, Netflix released season two of their Netflix original, "Thirteen Reasons Why". The show is based on Jay Asher's book, "Thirteen Reasons Why". It reflects a young girl's, Hannah Baker, struggle with school bullying, sexual assault and suicide. Each episode is based on one out of 13 recordings Hannah left for the people who had hurt her during her life. Season two, we are faced with the court trial between Hannah's mother and Liberty High, the school she attended.
Due to season two of the series being released an image has been floating around social media explaining why we should not be watching "Thirteen Reasons Why".
I am here to tell you this is bullshit.
"Thirteen Reasons Why" does not glorify suicide. It shows what depression as a teenager in high school feels like. It depicts the seriousness of bullies and the seriousness of teachers/families not taking their children's mental states seriously. For Hannah Baker to be considered a victim with a princess complex just shows the lack of empathy in today's society. It shows why a privileged white male can get away with raping a young girl.
As for "Thirteen Reasons Why" displaying a rape and suicide on screen, it needs to be seen and it should not be "boycotted" or ridiculed for doing what many other shows have done before. "Game of Thrones" has displayed several rape scenes on their program. "One Tree Hill" did a scene of a young girl cutting her wrists in a bathtub just as Hannah Baker did in "Thirteen Reasons Why".
Yes, I will agree that "Thirteen Reasons Why" is a hard show to watch. It takes someone with a strong mindset and multiple breaks in between episodes in order to mentally get through the series. But, they are doing exactly what they had hoped when creating the series. They are getting people to talk about depression, bullying, suicide, rape and even substance abuse.
Think about it. Before "Thirteen Reasons Why" when did you openly discuss suicide with people? When did you openly speak about depression without feeling scared or nervous about what someone else would say?
"Thirteen Reasons Why" is not doing anything wrong. Society needs to stop being oversensitive contentious children and see the big picture. This show has started conversations and is going to save lives rather than end them. It's not creating multiple copycat suicides. There was a single copycat suicide and the only thing he copied was the recording of tapes . He did not take his life the way Hannah Baker had. It's showing the gruesome honest truth about what goes on in teenager's minds and behind closed doors.
Teenagers have secrets. Teenagers who seem innocent at home can be the meanest bully to ever walk the halls of a high school. Teenagers who seem happy and carefree can be overcome with depression and fear.
"Thirteen Reasons Why" is showing us the truth we constantly want to ignore. Get off of your high horse and open your eyes to the truth.
