DISCUSSION – Why I think 13 Reasons Why is problematic

I have seen ’13 Reasons Why’ a month after its release date, tho, I was indeed excited to binge the show since it has Selena Gomez in the producer’s seat and the show is based off a book, as a reader anything that has to do with books get me all pumped up.
13 Reasons Why has a lot to divulge, the steam of the show itself emphasizes salient issues such as sexual assault, homosexuality, bullying, suicide, mental illness. The show has a profusion of leitmotifs to talk about and also, all the necessary resources to execute the idea and theme, but to my dismay, the show felt flat and lacked the depth and maturity to tackle such prominent issues. I am chagrined by the fact this show used suicide and mental health impediment as the plot device to gain profit. The efforts seem very futile to me. 13 Reasons Why ended up being another teen-drama show. Yes, Hannah explicitly mentioned what shoved her off the ledge but the building up to her mental ebbing state was forlorn, the writers and directors could’ve done so much better with a plotline they had in their hands. I have many grievances with 13 Reasons Why, since, season2 is inevitable it only makes sense to me to mention the points I don’t appreciate in the show. 13 Reasons Why has gotten many eulogizes, primely from the younger audiences, the revelation hasn’t come yet about the show, so I may as well do it.

Let me just put it there, 13 Reasons Why tackles a dark and dour issue but this doesn’t mean the show gets a green light to depict anything as the director and producers please. This political-correctness cant suppress the fact 13 Reasons Why glorifies suicide and delineates suicide is the only option to get revenge on your bullies and assaulter.

My initial reactions upon finishing the show were same as everyone else who’d seen 13 Reasons Why. I wept copious amount of times. I had pestered others to watch the show. I even panegyrized 13 Reasons Why incessantly, but as the times passes I begun to scrutinize the show and to my revelation, the show is nothing but one problematic heap.

• Glorifying Suicide? 

The show was supposed to be educating people about the repercussions of suicide. How suicide is never the only answer to a problem you are facing. However, 13 Reasons Why completely missed the message it was trying to portray and instead, 13 Reasons Why glorified suicide by rendering suicide as the only option to promptly climb the popularity ladder and to make your bullies feel iniquitous about your death.

I do understand the fact, Hannah had to dolor a lot on her, but this doesn’t justify suicide as the only way out. Hannah chose to kill herself instead of taking up a stand, to be more resilient, to battle the state of mind, she relinquished her life. To top of all the maniac, Hannah decided to make a tape, a tape that could potentially propel perpetrator behind the bar, if only Hannah had the courage to fight, she could’ve taken a stand against her assaulter. Isn’t this a fantasy of all bullying-victim, to get noticed and recognized.

• Self Harm isn’t an option, it should be condemned. 

2 teenagers committed suicide after watching 13 reasons why. Teenagers are susceptible. The show blatantly advocates self-harm, remember when Clay asked Skye why she has scar marks on her wrist, she replied with this dialogue “suicide is for the cowards, This is what you do to not commit suicide”, YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. Self-harm couldn’t be a solution, this is wrong on so many levels, you are advising teenagers that self-harm is perfectly normal but seeking help can be an act of cowardliness, no one in 13 Reasons Why tried to look for help.

• Gimmick! 

I said 13 Reasons why is more of a teenage-drama show than an awareness show, it made for sheer entertainment purpose, not for the highlighting mental health issues. The team pulled out the whole thriller gimmick effortlessly, whilst watching 13 Reasons Why I wasn’t concerned about the turmoil or despondency Hannah must be facing, my attention on Hannah was sidetracked by the next plot-twist or cliffhanger in the show, I was sympathizing more with Clay, it didn’t evoke empathy, the depression representation wasn’t detailed, the makers were clearly wasn’t bothered to work on the minutiae of it.

• Hannah Baker, a narcissist ignorant brat. 

• Blame Game? 

Let me take a moment to shed some light on Hannah Baker, she is more like an antagonist to me, I do love flawed characters but Hannah is straight up a try-hard kid, who is filling change her personality to fit the group, she is not the role model young girl should be looking at. The problems Hannah Baker had were trivial, she was naive and ignorant. Hannah should’ve reported the misdemeanor of Justin when he circulated her photo, Alex and Jessica’s tiff isn’t even a big of a deal, this literally happens in everyone’s life and everyone has to deal with this on their own, putting their names on the list and wrecking their lives isn’t an act of heroism. Zack’s name on the list wasn’t honest, his actions were moronic but not something to have a quibble about, Ryan’s narcissistic action again an example of pure naiveness but this does happen in High School, rest of them are a bunch of horrible and spoiled teenagers and they will face the consequences of their actions, a voice can stop the wrong but for that you need to speak up. All this still doesn’t give Hannah any control to wreck anyone’s life, she can’t just blame her death on others, the mental torture Clay would’ve to tackle after her tapes, would she be able to hold the liability? did she even consider that for a second?

Sherry’s action, she did eventually call the cops tho, yes she messed up but remember Murphy’s law, you cant control the inevitable. The only crimes are the ones caught, one should face the consequences of their actions and sherry is facing hers.

• Trigger Warning? Why the Graphic scenes. 

Another abominable thing I have noticed in 13 Reasons Why is the graphic rape/suicide scene. Can someone please explain to me why the makers didn’t put any trigger warnings. A rape survivor could’ve seen this, the scene could potentially trigger the trauma back to that person, even with the self-harm scene. You don’t have to explicitly show the scene in order to make your point.

• Sexualization, poor representation of the Gay community. 

I have noticed another problematic aspect of this show is sexualization, I will not go into the casual sexism and slut-shaming being portrayed as a new cool way to make friends trope, because it is visible enough to pick on if you scrutinize the show enough. I am gonna talk about homosexuality, Tony is gay yet he didn’t show even one sign of being homosexual up until it was mentioned in episode 4 or maybe 5, his chemistry with his partner is as bleak as it could possibly be, the representation is feeble, the makers are comfortable enough to show graphic scenes, heterosexual sex, lesbian making out but can’t even show one tender moment between one gay couple. The stigma is still hard to rub off even in this so-called progressive show.

• Suicide has ramifications, it isn’t that simple. 

Suicide isn’t simple, you cant be like “no-one is my friend” I should die now. Who said Hannah was alone, couldn’t she recognize Clay?. Suicidal thoughts aren’t that plain-sailing to break down. Depressive thoughts can be intrinsic, depression can be triggered by external forces, it is a mental disorder, not a physical wound. Somone pointed this fact, once you are dead you are literally gone forever, no higher power can bring you back. People will talk about you for awhile but they will move forward, the only folks who are gonna miss you, is your family, you will not get the Hannah Baker treatment, people will not set memorial or think about you, your bullies will not feel guilty at all.

• Taking mental health casually. 

 

bish, you do.

 

Lastly, I would like to make another point, 13 Reasons Why was supposed au courant people especially teenagers about suicide and mental health issues but now, it has become a pop culture phenomena. Now, people are using 13 Reasons Why for memes and casual conversation, for heaven’s sake, a girl killed herself because of depression, you cant make up jokes like – my friend forgot to invite me in her party – welcome to your tape or dropping mental health references in casual conversations.

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I would really love to know what you think of this show, you don’t have to agree with me, Is there any point that you would like to make, if so, then drop it down in the comment section.

FML this show FOREVER

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