Okay, I’ve watched Season 1 and 2 of 13 Reasons Why and they don’t romanticize rape and suicide at all? They show the consequences clearly and yeah it’s graphic but it’s also an 18 as well as having VERY specific warnings of violence in season 2 showing they learnt from their mistake of not doing so in season 1. You can not watch the show if you don’t like it but why try to have it stopped for others who are sick of seeing shows like F the Prom and other shitty series which are much more unrealistic and problematic? Like it’s an accurate representation of what can happen without others knowing and how evil people can be as well as how messed up. They don’t try and sugarcoat shit which is the opposite of romantizing it.
Season 2 whilst adding a lot of stuff that wasn’t needed, it did show us the consequences of actual suicide and some real world truths. Hannah isn’t seen as innocent like she was in Season 1, we find out she was kind to many but also hid an entire relationship, bullied a girl at some point and even pushed Alex and Jessica away herself. It doesn’t make her a bad person but an ordinary human, she seemed too perfect and blameless in season 1 and I’m glad we got to delve into other character’s reasons. Hannah isn’t innocent but she didn’t deserve to die or half of what happened to her.
The way they protrayed Jessica this season was perfect. Girls who get raped are often seen as lying at school because some do but many don’t. The way Chloe assumed she was lying but said it was fine is how many react. They don’t see it as a big deal if they assume the girl is lying. I’m glad they didn’t make it dramatic like they could have. The comments on the bathroom door are also accurate. Like, nobody outright isolated or bullied Jessica but you know people judge her from how they act and what they do. Most people don’t confront people they have issues with at school, her character and issues were so well done.
They also made Clay’s character more unlikable which I’m actually happy about. He may have been innocent regarding the tapes but even he makes some messed up mistakes such as leaking the tapes without Jessica’s permission when it affects her. He was also an ass to Skye, he was so scared of losing someone else that he pretended to love someone just because he saw some of Hannah in them. Fucked up, that’s the best way to describe him in season 1.
Tyler, still a massive creep, but he does improve as a character. He is one of the only one’s to be entirely honest at the court case which shows there is genuine guilt there. He is almost a parallel of Hannah, he is being bullied and he gets raped. Instead of committing suicide, you see him placing his anger and loneliness into guns. I don’t think any real person would be stopped so easily like he was but I’m glad they didn’t make the series about a school shooting.
All the characters were developed in some way so they weren’t just what Hannah made them. They were their own people with flaws and in some cases were extremely evil. Sometimes, a rapist doesn’t act alone anyway and some will hide his secret out of fear of that person’s influence. The school can’t just get rid of someone for a claim. It’s so accurate and Bryce’s lack of punishment is what most rape victims deal with.
The show is bitter, raw and shows how things in the real world play out. People suffer, there are moments things get better but they never fully go away and sometimes you can’t just run off into the sunset or forget something. The way they made each character and how they react as well as people outside the circles reaction, I’m pleased with what they have done. They don’t romantize shit, in fact they do the opposite, they show the real reality which many can’t stomach.
I’m a weird rarity that prefers season 2 because we learn more away from Hannah’s interpretation.
