SPOILER ALERT: Details from 13 Reasons Why are discussed.
Tears rolled down my face as my screen turned a disgusting shade of black, and the annoying “what you should watch next” options popped up. My jaw was left open, gaping at the finale I had just witnessed. In the past 48 hours, I, along with the rest of the nation, had binge-watched the new Netflix TV series “13 Reasons Why.” The show starts off with Hannah Baker’s voice, telling the world to adjust their devices to listen to her tapes, to listen to the reasons she killed herself. In the past 60 minutes, I had watched as Hannah Baker, a 16 year old, slit her wrists. I watched the blood leak uncontrollably from her vertical cuts. I watched her lie down in a bathtub, the water turning a rusty shade of red. I watched Hannah Baker die, along with countless others around the world. Now, as that was fairly graphic, I assume you felt discomfort reading those words, a pit in your stomach or nausea. Being a 16 year old, watching a suicide left me feeling horrible. I have never felt suicidal or had those thoughts, but after watching the finale, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. What about the people who have struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts?
Obviously, suicide is a very serious topic. To create a drama about such a controversial and intimate subject is to play with fire. “13 Reasons Why” was made into a show to get people talking about important topics, such as suicide and rape. By showing graphic acts, the show has sparked controversy throughout the nation as to whether or not its credibility should be questioned. While the show accomplished the task of getting the topics to be talked about, it ultimately glorifies and romanticizes suicide, as well as shows graphic scenes that are triggering to many.
Despite the problems described above, the show does correctly display the warning signs to look for when concerned about someone's depression and safety. One of the many shocking events of the final episodes is the attempted suicide of Alex Standall, a former friend of Hannah Baker, and the subject of Tape 3. According to Hannah, Alex was to blame for ending their friendship by putting her name on a class “Hot or Not” list, and labeling her as having the “best ass.” As the show progresses, this initial label results in Hannah becoming a target of sexual objectification. After Hannah’s death, Alex is seen openly struggling with his guilt for the role he played. In the final episodes, a gunshot is heard followed by the confirmation of Alex’s attempted suicide. According to a May 2, 2017 Hollywood Reporter article, “the show explored warning signs to Alex's suicide all season long,” further expressing to the show’s audience how easy it is to miss the signs of someone who is struggling. The point of his suicide attempt was to reinforce the idea that Hannah states in her tapes, that we are all so focused on ourselves and the things that directly affect us, that we become blind to the struggles of those around us. The show causes us to become so invested in Hannah Baker’s story, we completely disregard the signs Alex is giving, such as wearing darker clothes, purposefully falling in the pool and not getting up immediately, and other clear signals of depression. While the aspect of suicide in regards to warning signs is correctly displayed, the show fails to further discuss the topic in a safe way.
“13 Reasons Why” manages to create the illusion that suicide is romantic and glorifying in its telling of Hannah Baker’s story. The show follows Clay Jensen, a former friend, co-worker, and crush of Hannah, as he listens to the tapes. Rightfully so, he is stricken with grief at the thought of contributing to her death. However, as he listens to his tape, he comes to the conclusion that he “cost a girl her life because [he] was afraid to love her.” This love interest was an expected part of a teenage drama, though the notion that love can solve all depression and possibly prevent suicide is both naive and risky. In an interview with Fox News in April 2017, David Palmiter, psychology professor at Marywood University, explains that the show failed to recognize that romanticizing suicide “could send a signal to the mind of a depressed teen that there is something tragically poetic about suicide,” and that could potentially encourage that teen to take his or her own life in the pursuit to find love.
Furthermore, the way it is portrayed in the show, suicide “is the only means of bringing about justice,” a successful way of getting the ultimate revenge. Hannah Baker uses her death to place blame on everyone but herself. After all, what could be better revenge than forcing others to live with your death on their hands? However, the show ignores a key fact: suicide is ultimately your own decision. No one forced Hannah Baker to kill herself. While there may have been some events that led to her decision, the decision was still hers. This glorification of suicide risks the encouragement of self-harm in response to negative experiences.
As mentioned previously, Hannah Baker is shown killing herself in a fairly graphic way. The problem with showing such a violent death is that it is triggering to people that have either thought about or attempted suicide. The producers could have chosen to go the same route as the book the show was inspired by when having Hannah die. In the book, written by Jay Asher, Hannah Baker dies by swallowing pills. While this is suicide nonetheless, it is a much less graphic depiction. As stated in an April 14th Washington Post article, “describing a suicide in graphic detail...can lead to suicide contagion, or ‘copycat’ suicides” among people already struggling with thoughts. This response was seen as “13 Reasons Why” is “to credit for a spike in calls to suicide-prevention hotlines” as stated in an April 19 Washington Times article. The fact that a show is able to cause such anxiety and negative responses among the intended audience is a clear indication of a poor portrayal. Though the horribly visual suicide was not until the finale of the show, the previous episodes are just as graphic and hard to watch.
Issues regarding graphic content are further explored when, in Tape 9, it is revealed that Jessica Davis, former best friend of Hannah, is raped by the publicly-adored football captain, Bryce Walker. The events surrounding the rape include a party where Jessica is on the verge of passing out drunk, and she is led by her boyfriend to her room. Things go awry when the boyfriend leaves her alone in the room and allows his “best bro” Bryce in. Little to their knowledge, Hannah is hiding in the closet and witnesses the horrible rape before her. As she describes the act in the tears, flashbacks are shown to the audience: Jessica being thrown onto her back, her dress being pushed up, Bryce’s belt hitting the floor, the cries of pain Jessica makes. Such visuals can be extremely triggering for victims of sexual assault. Three episodes later on Tape 12, Hannah reveals she was raped by Bryce at one of his parties some time after the events at Jessica’s took place. As this rape occurs, the camera zooms in on Hannah’s face. I watched the light visibly drain from her eyes as Bryce abused her. I saw her become limp, no longer human. According to a Huffington Post article, it seemed as though the “writers and showrunners [were] trying to force the audience to confront rape,” a topic that should not have been forced in such a manner. What I saw did not seem like a Hollywood set. What I saw was raw, uncensored rape. However, unlike the suicide, neither rapes are glorified or romanticized, thus becoming a more valid depiction. This in no way makes the events witnessed any less triggering to victims of sexual assault.
Through all of the things previously stated that make “13 Reasons Why” a less-than-attractive show, the biggest problem was that it did not mention mental illness. The Washington Post states that “well-established research suggests that 90 percent of individuals who commit suicide experience mental illness,” but “13 Reasons Why” never explicitly considers this. It is conceivable that Hannah was already suffering from depression, PTSD, or other mental illnesses that would have contributed to her suicide. This failure to express the impact mental illness has on such decisions is shown as Hannah never tells her parents or friends that she has suicidal thoughts. By including her parents in her struggle with suicidal thoughts, Hannah could have gotten professional help. Disregarding the impact mental illness has on suicide leaves the show lacking credibility. Instead, it proposes the notion that any event in life can cause suicidal thoughts, when in reality, that is false.
When watching “13 Reasons Why”, it is important to remember that it is a work of fiction and that certain aspects of reality are played upon for a dramatic effect. While the show is a good drama, it has been extremely triggering for people who have experienced suicidal thoughts or have ever been a victim of sexual abuse. As it has been renewed for a second season, it is vital that the people who watch recall the fictitious aspects of the story, and the directors shy away from such graphic depictions of events.
