13 Reasons Why Nobody Should Watch 13 Reasons Why
Brace yourself. I’m usually strongly against any whiny blog about a TV show; they tend to be entitled and unfounded. After watching Netflix’s most recent success story, however, the rage has brewed.
I’m writing this, not because I’m annoyed at the storyline (which ends in an empty, soulless and shamefully sequel-bated shitstorm), but because I genuinely think this show is dangerous.
Hundreds of thousands of young people have watched and will continue to watch what, for the sake of my own sanity, is hereafter referred to as 13RW, and the writers and director had a real opportunity to make waves in what is an increasingly mentally hostile environment to grow up in.
Instead, the result of what is actually (on the whole) a well produced series is something that will only perpetuate and potentially worsen negative and corrosive misconceptions about mental health, sexual assault, sexuality and relationships.
TL;DR: This show will, without doubt, force more children and young adults into further harming themselves than it will enlighten any to come forward and talk about the problems they face.
There are obviously spoilers in this post. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
The whole premise of the show is based on the (clever, I’ll admit) idea of a recorded suicide note in the form of cassette tapes. Don’t ask why the writers thought cassette tapes was a good idea, but it does kind of work.
In principle, there’s nothing wrong with the tapes as an idea itself, but rather it’s the content and nature of the tapes that really pissed me off. As a sufferer of severe anxiety and someone who has witnessed first hand the effects of mental illnesses, there is no way in hell that someone feeling the way Hannah Baker’s character does would effectively create a name and shame list of those who have wronged her.
Anxiety and depression are wholly insular. Everything that you feel and everything that happens to you is automatically your fault. Of course, you sometimes feel angry and blame someone or something for what is happening inside your head, but ultimately it always comes back to you. Personally, there is never a moment where anyone but myself is at fault for how I feel. To formulate a plot whereby someone so unstable within their own thoughts and feelings that they are contemplating ending their life would have the self-worth to blame everyone around them and then to record messages and create a convoluted method of distribution is, frankly, ridiculous.
This is a gross mischaracterisation of mental health and it’s just not accurate to suggest that people suffering from mental health disorders would feel this way. It casts a dull light over what is already dark enough, suggesting that if you’re depressed, you’re just angry.
Hannah, welcome to your tape. Reason 1 leads neatly onto Hannah’s character.
There was such potential for Hannah’s character as a saving-grace to any boy, girl, man or woman that faces mental instability. It’s a shame that the writers missed the mark so hugely on that one.
What the tapes and the subsequent plot that Clay follows in finding out her ‘reasons’ for suicide do is actually make Hannah seem a bitter, jealous and weak character. Rather than feel for Hannah, we are constantly reminded that she is ‘probably lying’ and that her tapes are, quite simply, a blame game.
By separating Hannah’s reasons for killing herself into tapes (an episode each) the audience is given an isolated hour to watch what brought her to such a state of mind. The isolation and Hannah’s characterisation make her seem pathetic and, mainly, jealous. The things she faces, when amalgamated together, are horrible and stark. Dragged out into hour-long, bitchy and constantly derived episodes, however, each one makes Hannah seem twisted and the very real problem that millions of children face every day is lost to the dilemmas the writers pose to the audience: “was she lying? Should she have killed herself?” The questions should be, what can be done to stop this from happening, how do you spot the signs, and how can our actions mount up to, inadvertently, perhaps, cause the same fate as Hannah in real life?
In the end, far too many of the episodes left me personally unable to see past the idea that she’s just overreacting. Alex and Jess getting together? So what, that happens all the time. People making up rumours about you? Grow up, everyone’s faced that. The icing on the cake? The all-to frequent line: “Hannah made the choice to kill herself.” Hannah’s character is portrayed ruthlessly and relentlessly as a selfish bitch who was thinking only of herself and her goal of shaming her enemies.
Some of the second half of this series focuses on rape and rape-culture. It starts off well, but it ends like the rest of the show, disappointingly and with problematic consequences.
Hannah witnesses the rape of her estranged friend, Jessica, at the hands of high school celebrity, Bryce. This is dealt with somewhat sensitively at first, with Jessica’s ordeal and her mental turmoil being a good focus. However, as her storyline opens up, it is skewed into the issues of the relationship she has with Justin, her then-boyfriend, who didn’t stop his friend from taking advantage of her.
It is clear what the writers were trying to do. Justin fails to stop her from being harmed, then lies to her about the event to ‘protect’ her. Onward, the plot turns from the mental anguish of a rape victim to an almost trivialised lover’s tiff. There are moments of reality in there, it has to be confessed, with Jessica’s character being strong and deflecting Justin’s attempts to reconcile his faults.
The problem is, though, that another important opportunity is lost to a Hollywood romance. Where there was the space for what could have been a healthy conversation about how a person deals with what Jessica goes through and the avenues to take if you, god forbid, experienced it, too, there ends up being a poorly supported subplot about Justin’s issues and a brief mention of her confession to her Father at the very end of the series.
As for Hannah’s rape, I’ll cover that in No. 5.
I can’t comment much on this as I, thankfully, don’t have firsthand experience of the effects of suicide.
What is glaringly obvious, though, is that Hannah’s suicide did not and should not have been shown in the way it was.
First of all, it is graphic. And I mean, graphic. Hannah is shown slitting her wrists multiple times in a close shot. Blood gushes from her arms and the entire sequence is shown in one sitting. That’s not the major issue, but it is most definitely something to be wary of when it’s considered that young people can watch this.
Secondly, and most importantly, the suicide is almost peaceful. There’s a quick, muted cry when she makes the first cuts, then lots of quick, heavy breathing, but then it’s calm. It’s stark, horrific and horrendously sad, but aside from the gruesome first cuts, it doesn’t look that painful. Hannah blissfully slips into unconsciousness in a bath.
For a young person considering taking their own life, this essentially tranquil portrayal of suicide would potentially look preferable, if not inviting. Personally, this would have been better left out altogether. Perhaps a pre and post shot. To show the act of slicing into your wrists as virtually painless is dangerous and misleading.
This scene really, really got to me.
In the final episode, Hannah goes to talk to the drippy, badly characterised school counsellor in her self-professed ‘last try at life’ in an attempt to find some solace in the school system. She begins to admit to being raped and asks for reassurance that her rapist would be punished, and that she would never have to see him again.
This scene is fraught with problems and inaccuracies. I should start by saying that, as a teacher, I know the nuances of a student disclosing something like this. First off, the counsellor is wholly insensitive to Hannah. He begins with leading questions (not allowed) that insinuate that she ‘gave consent’ then ‘changed your mind.’ That wouldn’t happen, or shouldn’t anyway.
He then goes on to ask what happened and who did it, with Hannah pleading to not have to reveal the name (for fear of Bryce getting let off and the school turning against her further). This is fair.
The bit that really got me was the counsellor’s statement: “If you won’t tell me who did it, your only option is to move on.”
In NO WAY, SHAPE OR FORM should or would a school representative EVER use that line. If a student refuses to disclose information which means you couldn’t pursue charges or a solution to the issue, YOU SUPPORT THEM. You do not suggest they get over it, you do not suggest they are on their own and you never give an ultimatum like that. I GET that this is part of the plot. Hannah needs the final straw, but in all that is good and holy, why use that?
I’m angry at this, because I know for a fact that students at my school and across the country are terrified of coming forward with information of this nature because they are convinced nothing will get done. How many boys and girls, hell, even adults, will see this show and think that the way the show dealt with Hannah’s disclosure will be how they’re dealt with too? Too often victims of horrible crimes and actions are left to deal with things themselves. Thankfully, schools are now better equipped to help children in these situations. This will be a huge and dangerous back-step for many people.
This is a minor qualm, but a qualm nonetheless. All of the actors and actresses in 13RW are attractive and affluent (save for Justin’s money problems and home life). The vast majority of the world are average, with tight budgets, and this show risks alienating people for the sake of an attractive line up. Clay is played by a 20 year old man who is definitely attractive. He is supposed to be the stereotypical pubescent ‘nerd’: someone many would relate to. Instead, he’s played by an adult who wouldn’t be amiss in more heart-throb tweeny shows.
Further, most, if not all the cast are played by older actors and actresses, noticeably so. For a show that had a good chance at resonating with a young audience, it’s missed the mark again.
There is a higher-than-average ratio of non-heterosexual characters in 13RW which is good. It reflects the real world and the lives most of its young audience lead. Though, again, the show’s creators have missed the point big-time with lazy writing and defamation of characters.
Kourtney’s sexual awakening is dealt with well at first, and has promise. She kisses Hannah, gets caught, and is scared of admitting it to her parents and her peers. Unfortunately, it’s skewed again for the benefit of Hannah’s own defamation, into a spiteful jibe. It’s barely mentioned again, and the show makes you hate her for what she did to Hannah and the way she reacts to questioning later in the series. The problems she has with admitting it to her parents is barely mentioned again, brushed under the carpet, if you will.
Ryan, the poet is characterised as a snobby, pretentious and vindictive arsehole. He says he’s allowed to use the word ‘faggot’, a word used once and brushed off in a comical way, and his sexuality is never brought up again, save only to add a cruelly and crudely demonised camp edge to his character. Two clearly gay characters are portrayed negatively, and the potentially interesting and provoking storyline of a girl struggling to come to terms with her sexuality is referenced only as a jibe and insult by the other characters, namely Ryan. This is not an implication on my part that being gay or camp is bad, rather that the show’s two flagships to a young gay community (both out and not) are presented as bad people.
Yet another avenue of deep angst and depression in the younger community thrown away to make way for the smearing of Hannah’s character.
In a similar vein to the folly of the counsellor, the school is shown as a dead-end in Hannah’s cries for help. Through anonymous notes read by teachers, then conveniently ignored, to a revealing and heart-wrenching poem written by Hannah being unpicked in English lessons, the cries for help that Hannah’s character makes go unnoticed, even mocked.
Again, I understand why the writers did this. Hannah’s isolated, her cries for help are ignored, but for the sake of a juicy plot, young people desperately looking for a way to get their voices out are being told that there are no avenues to get heard. It’s dangerous.
As an English teacher, I know that a) a poem written by an anonymous student would never be analysed in class. It would be picked up upon immediately and so many cogs to find out who it came from or ways to passively reach the poet would be set into motion. It would not have gone that way.
As a class tutor/form tutor, I also know that b) an anonymous letter glaringly hinting towards suicide would also not go unnoticed or fobbed off. There would be questions, olive branches extended, damage limitation put in place. This sends the message that if you go to the people who are meant to help you for help, you’ll get nada. It’s toxic.
This is a sort of self-indulgent one. What is Tony’s character? Why is he there? Go away Tony.
A loosely Italian weird angel apparition boy who drives around in a vintage car with stupid hair professing his love for tapes and all things retro, following Clay as some odd fairy godmother, randomly beating up strangers. Oh, and he’s gay.
Tony is a big old cluster of a character dreamt up in a shrooms trip, then thrown in to be Clay’s Jiminy Cricket in a leather jacket. He’s annoying, weird, and the fact that he’s gay is annoyingly pipetted into the plot like one of the bosses sent a memo one day with the subject line ‘make it more inclusive’.
He doesn’t need to be there. He’s an exercise in box-ticking.
After recently watching Broadchurch (rest in peace) and its difficult and beautifully dealt with sexual assault story, I’m all the more irritated by this show’s lack of sensitivity and foresight.
At the end of every episode which, by the way, had much less graphic content and much more conservative dealings with rape itself, a disclaimer with links to a hotline dealing with victims of sexual assault was flashed up. I liked that. It was supportive, and meant that a show ultimately profiting from the issues and tribulations of a rape victim’s ordeal and recovery were reconciled with some attempts at helping those suffering.
All we are given with 13RW is a disclaimer that there are violent scenes depicting sexual assault and that some may find the following distressing.
There is no mention throughout the series of how to spot signs of depression or anxiety. No pointers for how to identify if someone is showing the trauma of sexual assault. Not even a frame at the end of the series with links to Samaritans or something similar. This show wholly profits selfishly and shamelessly off of research of real people’s heartbreak and suffering. It’s gross and, yet again, dangerous.
Another slightly indulgent one, but this character really is silly. Lainie is a self-confessed ‘emo’ and is Clay’s saving grace at the end of the show.
She’s a miserable, sarcastic, stereotypical odd rocker-type girl who, yep, you guessed it, cuts herself. Surprise, surprise, this is brushed over briefly and tastelessly during one of Clay’s finding-himself-moments.
Like Troy, her role is wooly and unclear. The issue of her own mental anguish isn’t explored and her character is confined to the façade of emo-girl, nothing more.
With self-harm now so prevalent and rampant in schools (here in the UK at least) it’s difficult to swallow that this moment is passed with the simple line “you hurt yourself so you don’t kill yourself.” Why don’t you develop, writers? Why?
I’m unaware of the bullying that happens in America. Perhaps they do still ‘pants’ each other in hallways and stick nerds’ heads down toilets. In England, at least, bullying is far more pervasive and insidious now, especially with the prevalence of social media and constant connectivity.
The show Hollywoodises bullying as any good old fashioned US movie does: the jocks beat up the little guys and the girls are bitches. I struggle to believe it’s like that now in the US, and it certainly isn’t in schools here anymore. Sure, children sadly get beaten up, physical stuff still happens. But if this show was to do any good, it would focus on things young people can relate to. The isolation caused by your friends having fun without you and posting it online with the purpose of getting to you is real and painful. It’s damaging. If you only see the swilrlies and punch-ups on a show supposedly portraying modern school-life, you’re likely to feel pretty alone, even in your bullying.
Like everything else in this show, nothing seems to be getting done about the issue. The creepy photographer is attacked, and rather than becoming the poster-child of championing bullying, instead becomes the subject for the clunky school shoot-up sequel the writers are clearly envisaging.
It’s a shame, but not a surprise.
And, finally, the conclusion. There are some good points in 13RW’s finale: Jessica’s confession to her Dad, Tony’s confession to the Bakers, Bryce’s uncovering.
But there’s so much wooly wooliness to some of the characters’ conclusions. Kourtney doesn’t come out (or it’s merely implied), the bullying is never solved, the Bakers get their tapes but don’t use them as evidence and Hannah is still really left as the self-obsessed weak nobody.
It’s an unsatisfying ending, but that’s really just a personal view. The real issue is that none of the issues investigated by the series are resolved properly and the theme of depression is left at a loose end. The people who were supposed to be responsible for leading to Hannah’s death are almost absolved of their sins rather than vilified (which is still abhorrently wrong considering my points about mental health in No. 1, but for the sake of the show’s angle). They look like victims at the end just like they’ve looked like victims all along. We might not like some of them, but you’re still left with the distinct impression that they’re not the problem; Hannah was.
To finish, what was that final shot? Why was Clay in a car with Jiminy and his boyf and emo girl. Why did they ride off into the sunset? What a cop out.
I half expected the car to take off to the tune of We Go Together. I mean, Tony is wearing his leather jacket after all, and there’s definitely grease in that hair.
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