The Netflix original series is making waves all over social media for all the right reasons.
On March 31st 2017 Netflix released Thirteen Reasons Why. The series is based on a book by Jay Asher written in 2007. About a girl in high school named Hannah Baker. Who commits suicide and leaves the tapes for the reasons why she did it. Specifically the 13 Reasons Why she did it. The students who are on the tapes are told to directly by Hannah herself, to pass them along once they’re done. If they do not pass them along and disobey her rules then she has another set of tapes and they will be released.
The series is such an eye opener for many teens. Although it’s sad that at 16 or older these people are just learning that words matter. But hey, at least they are learning something.
13 Reasons Why is so apologetically uncensored, they show every bit and piece in full detail of Hannah’s tragic last days. Which is why the show is great, because it really shows how little things that you do can really impact somebody’s life more than you know.
If you think you’ll feel uncomfortable by the graphic scenes in 13 Reasons Why, good. You need to feel uncomfortable, in order to really understand Hannah. Often times rape isn’t shown in much detail, its always overlooked and just glazed over. But instead the show really puts it into perspective.
Hannah’s story is so powerful. She mentions rape, drunk driving, bullying, sexual assault, manipulation, and stalking. She wants to blame those who caused her death and make sure they know they’re the ones to blame.
Studies show that four out of five teenagers who’ve committed suicide have shown signs. Although they might not come out and say directly “i want to harm myself, help me,” it’s important to know the signs. For example, Hannah wrote a poem suggesting death, most people overlooked it because it’s just a poem she can’t really mean it or be serious. But, nobody even bothered to ask her. It ended up being serious, and a cry for help.
Some negatives of the show is it seems to focus on the students and hiding their secrets. Instead of extending compassion toward Hannah, the show tries to make the audience feel compassionate for the people who contributed to her suicide.  By the end the show it almost makes Hannah out to be a villain. Professionals are saying that the show is a blame game. Enforcing the idea that suicide is the only way to make change happen or to be heard.
Overall, every middle school, high school and college student should watch this series, so they can really visualize suicide and what happens after somebody commits suicide. The posters in school and sporadic assemblies aren’t really effective. They might have you think about it for a day but this series resonates. It proves that there’s a cause and effect for everything which is the same thing for real life too.
