--SPOILERS AHEAD--
Before we begin, a few disclosures
Yes, I’ve read the book. I’ve been working on this list for a while now, but due to school and finals and life, I’m only now getting around to publishing it. As soon as I started the series, I noticed issues. My friends (@Bri @Tara @Mark @Irene) had to listen to me rant as I watched through the show, in the hopes my opinion would change. It got to the point where I felt the need to share my issues with the show with others. Some of my reasons you might have seen before; these issues have already been addressed by people online: experts, advocates, and concerned individuals. Some of my reasons you may not have seen yet. Some of them overlap to some extent so I apologize for being redundant. Some of these reasons might seem irrelevant or trivial or even silly, but they all add up to my disappointment with the show. One of my friends from high school, Morgan Hartman, has been posting on Facebook about her concern with the show. Throughout these reasons, she will be quoted. Thank you, Morgan for taking the time to do this. My point in publishing this isn’t to hate on the people who love the show. It’s not to bash the producers or more likely, their intentions. I actually believe the show had the best of intentions and honestly tried to do good. It’s to start a conversation. It’s to get people looking at the things they might have missed. It’s to encourage awareness.
Update
Since the show's release, there have been spikes in online searches for certain terms related to suicide. "Some of that spike came from people seeking help—searches for “suicide hotlines” and “suicide prevention” increased by 12 percent and 23 percent, respectively. But there was also a disturbing increase in searches for the phrases “how to kill yourself” (up 9 percent), “commit suicide” (18 percent), and “how to commit suicide” (26 percent)." [9]
Similarly, "suicides in teen girls hit 40-year high." One of the theorized reasons, being "glamorize suicide." [10]
1. Triggers
2. Sexual Assault
Don’t get upset and say, “Hey! Rape and sexual assault are real!” Because that is exactly what I’m talking about. Hear me out. In episode 6, around 32:30 into the episode, Jessica essentially sexually assaults Justin. For those who don’t know what I’m talking about here’s the gist: Jessica attempts to give her boyfriend, Justin, oral sex. He doesn’t want it, but she persists until he has to shove her off of him to get her to stop. If the genders were swapped, this scene would have a very different connotation. How come we're not talking about this? 1 in 6 men are sexually abused before the age of 18. And these are reported instances [1]. And men are significantly less likely to report abuse than females. Why is this scene never brought up or mentioned in the show? Or even outside of the show? This kind of scene adds to the stigma that follows rape culture in our society today; we’re not willing to admit and say what sexual assault is. No matter the gender.
3. The Acting
4. Drugs
Why didn’t Clay just offer to take a drug test when they found the weed in his bag? Why didn’t the school make him take a drug test? Sometimes even, if a student is found in possession of drugs, the school asks them to participate in a drug test. [2]
5. Hannah's Reasons
One of the reasons Justin appeared twice on the tapes is because he didn’t do anything to stop Bryce raping Jessica. Neither did Hannah. Justin tried to get back into the room to stop it, and was pushed away. He was drunk and appeared scared to some extent. Hannah was in the room when it happened, drunk and scared, and did nothing either. She did nothing at the time and never spoke of it again until the tapes.
Zach’s tape. Recap: Zach asked Hannah out. Hannah says no. Zach gets upset and retaliates. Hannah even says it was a small thing he should have let it go, but didn’t. Isn’t the whole point of the story that small things sometimes can’t be let go? And that they mean something bigger at times? I don’t care if you’re a popular jock, or a nerd, or a theater kid, or a gamer. Rejection hurts.
Hannah essentially tortures Clay, the boy she liked, by making him sift through all the tapes until he got to the one saying he didn’t belong on them (in the series his tape is #11). This just isn’t cool. Everyone talks about him as if he did do something, but when time comes, he really didn’t.
6. The Suicide
Why did the producers show the suicide so explicitly and graphically? Experts have come out saying that showing this explicit scene is very dangerous. Instead of being an uncomfortable piece of cinema, it’s unfortunately become a “how-to” guide for kids already with suicidal thoughts. In a piece for the New Statesman, author Neha Shah says, “The realism of the scene feels uncomfortably close to a how-to guide to suicide… The show is right to be trying to provide teenagers with a lesson in compassion and sensitivity, but watching Hannah Baker cut her wrists in High Definition isn’t doing anything for youth suicide prevention.” The fear of copy-cat suicides [3] has been heard and experts are trying to speak out before anything too drastic happens.
For those who haven’t read the book, Hannah’s method of suicide if different. Clay mentions in the "Cassette 1: Side A" chapter that Hannah "swallowed a handful of pills." Later, in "Cassette 6: Side B," rumors went around school that Hannah passed out in bathtub water and drowned. Others claimed to hear that her parents found the tub overflowing, but that Hannah was found on her bed. Jay Asher, the author of the original book, came out in an interview with Entertainment Weekly saying that the method of suicide in the book is pills [4]. The original ending had Hannah’s stomach being pumped and her parents saving her. However, it shouldn’t matter how she died. The point of the story is not to glorify her death. How she killed herself and how her parents found her isn't the point
The producers of the show consulted experts in the field of suicide prevention in the process of making this show [5] and sadly, experts have since come out saying the show messed up and did the opposite of what they had advised. In regards to the intention for the show, and the mindset of the producers, Hartman says, “But if they truly cared about viewers and the messages they would receive, they wouldn’t have stomped all over these subjects and ignore research that says the exact opposite of what they produced.”
7. Mental Illness
I could be wrong (because I haven’t gone back and re-watched the whole show to double check) but as much as I can remember, the word “depression” isn’t mentioned once. The issue of mental illness isn’t addressed. This show had the perfect opportunity to start that conversation and get rid of the taboo around mental illnesses, and missed the mark. 90% of suicides are a result of mental illness [6], and if this show really wanted to appear as real as possible, why isn’t this a thing?
8. Asking for Help & Mind Reading
Clay’s tape mentions how when Hannah said to leave and go away, he did, but he should have known to stay and ask what’s wrong. How is he suppose to know this? He can’t read minds.
Similarly, when Hannah talks to the counselor, she doesn’t say she needs help. Yes, she hints at her struggles and beats around the bush with what’s going on, but is never explicitly clear with what’s going on in her head.
It’s okay to ask for help. It’s encouraged to ask for help. Once again, this show had the opportunity to crush the taboo of asking for help when needed, and ignored it.
People aren’t mind readers. Clay isn’t, Mr. Porter isn’t. I’m not.
Hartman responds to this issue as well, adding “...the message sent is that reaching out to get help is the responsibility of those around us without us telling them.”
9. Truth
Hannah lied about Zach throwing away the note, what else did she lie about? What else did she get wrong? Yes, it’s Hannah’s truth, but still. Just a thought. What are the other character’s truths?
10. Self Harm
11. Intention
One of Hannah’s 13 reasons, isn’t exactly a reason (Clay). She uses Clay’s tape to explain how he just needed to hear and know what happened. This reason is similar to that. It’s not a real reason I didn’t like the show, it’s a chance to reflect on the other sides of things. This show, I believe, had the best of intentions. The subject of bullying in schools and amongst teens in very real, and I commend the producers for even attempting to create a show that would reach a pop culture mass, and send a message. If this show does help some people see the harms that words and rumors can do, that’s great. I know many people who after watching this show, said they actually will think about things differently, which is an amazing thing. However, I worry that this show, once it got down to it, became more concerned with a captivating plot and marketing strategies, rather than remembering the true message behind what I think they were trying to say. This show had the perfect opportunities to crush taboos around mental illness, asking for help, sexual assault, depression, and so many other issues, but sadly missed the mark. I fear, as do many experts [7] in the world, that this show is proving to cause more harm than good because of these mistakes. Despite all the good that is in this show, and went into making this show, some of the content can be very detrimental to some of it's viewers.
12. Social Media Response
As true with any popular TV show, the internet is a buzz with quizzes and polls surrounding the characters. One quiz [8], “What character from '13 Reasons Why' are you?” has shown up on newsfeeds all over. How is this helpful in any way? Am I the girl who kills herself? Or am I one of the 13 reasons a girl feels so helpless she kills herself?
Similarly, there also memes circulating newsfeeds all over: “Whenever Courtney Breathes,” and “Welcome to your tape," to name a few.
Twitter responses have also not been helpful. The tweets shown below are either from or retweeted from the #1 "13 Reasons Why" fan account. Do I need to explain why these are the worst kind of ironic?
13. What Now?
The show doesn’t show any successful ways of getting help. It shows trigger warnings, so it understand the importance of these issues, but it doesn't show phone number of hotlines. No ways of getting help. If someone has mental illness and needs help, this show is telling them to just wait for everyone around them to realize something is wrong and start being super nice and everything will work out. However, it is okay, in fact, it is encouraged, that as soon as you start feeling depressed, to tell someone. Seek help. Asking for help doesn’t show weakness. I promise. How to fix this at this point: Add trigger warning before each and every episode. Add the suicide hotline number on each and every episode. Control advertising of the show to be centered around awareness and not drama and cliffhangers.
There’s also a push to have a second season. (Update: Season 2 Confirmed [11]))
Questions like, “What did the counselor do with the tapes?” “Does Bryce go to Jail?” and “What happened to Alex?” are just some of the few daunting plot lines that “need answers!” according to teens all over the internet. Here’s why there shouldn’t be a 2nd season. Why do we need more darkness? Hannah’s story has ended, so in order for there to be a second season, does someone else have to die? Why would we encourage this? Why should someone capitalize on mental illness? Life doesn’t always have the answers to the questions waiting at the opening of the next year or season. We have to come to our own conclusions, live our own lives, and move on making our own decisions afterwards.
This show shouldn’t be about the drama and "What’s next?!" This show was supposed to send a message. Start a conversation. Create awareness. Adding another season will diminish this concept even more and emphasize the fact that this show is about views and fandom, rather than the important meaning.
References
1-800-273-8255 The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline available 24 hours a day at no cost at all.
1.https://1in6.org/get-information/the-1-in-6-statistic/
2.https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/drug-testing/faq-drug-testing-in-schools
3.http://freakonomics.com/2011/06/21/the-suicide-paradox-full-transcript/
For further reading: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3263660
4.http://ew.com/books/2017/04/06/13-reasons-why-book-hannah-survives/
5.Netflix special, “Behind the Reasons”
6.http://depts.washington.edu/mhreport/facts_suicide.php
7.https://www.headspace.org.au/news/dangerous-content-in-13-reasons-why/
8.http://www.playbuzz.com/popbuzz10/quiz-which-13-reasons-why-character-are-you
9.http://www.dailywire.com/news/19250/google-searches-how-commit-suicide-jumped-26-after-joseph-curl utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=062316-news&utm_campaign=benshapiro#exit-modal
10.http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/suicides-teen-girls-hit-40-year-high-n789351?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma
11. http://www.wired.co.uk/article/13-reasons-why-season-2
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