Hi,
Today I want to talk to
you about a series that I am watching currently called “13 reasons
why”. You might have heard of it but I strongly recommend it to you
if you haven't. I know it's a teenage series and that not everyone is
going to like it because it's too kitschy but I find it good.
It's about a teenage girl
in high school that kills herself because of what people have done to
her at her school. And this girl before dying she has recorded
herself talking about why she chose to kill herself. So through out
the series, that is composed of 13 episodes, we see each reason why
she chose to end her life. And of course I won't spoil it for you so
I'll let you watch it for you to learn by yourself what happened. But
as I watched this series it brought to me a lot of emotions.
It makes me think of how
crazy our world is and how rude people can be. Sometimes one little
action or word can destroy someones life. With internet information
gets passed on quickly and we all need to be careful about it. People
who don't feel well in their skin often don't show it and pretend
that everything is okay and that's why we rarely notice it.
High school can be
pleasant years but it can also be horrible ones for others. Bullying
and mocking is still present even though sometimes we deny it. Maybe
one small reflection can hurt someone, so before speaking or acting
think of the consequences.
It also brings up the
subject of homophobia. Gays are often the target of all this
bullying. And I learnt a couple days ago that homophobia in France
has gone up 20%. Do you find this normal? Don't people have the right
to love who they want? Some people find it not natural but what is
natural? Who put up this general idea that men should love women and
women should love men. It's absurd. Maybe there are more straight
people in the world but we don't need to impose it to everyone. What
if it was the opposite and being gay was normal. Society has maybe
evolved but some ideologies have just not gone away.
Here is a commercial where
we see a world where being gay is normal and being straight isn't
normal.
I find this commercial
very interesting. And I think it touches people and makes people
think. We need to be tolerant because being narrow minded will lead
us nowhere.
“To
be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you
something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
Hey :)
ReplyDeleteFirst, thanks for your article !
I’ve watched the whole series and when I was watching it, I both thought it was good (in a way) and disturbing. But not in a good way. I felt that something was wrong but I couldn’t tell what. The more I think about it, the less I like the show.
I feel that the show does not show anxiety or depression at all. It talks very very very vaguely about it but does not show any parts of it and how it affects life. It felt that Hannah was just a quite sad and bullied person. But having depression or anxiety is not that. I felt that the show was depicting something it knew nothing about.
I think this show might be good for people who don’t suffer from that and can be more aware of how words or acts can affect someone. This show has a purpose (awareness) but the message of mental illnesses is not depicted and it does not portray efficiently what having depression/anxiety is like. It might have a negative effect of people who actually suffer from mental illness. It might made them feel worse.
I felt the show reduced suicide to a selfish act. I feel like it was just picturing it as a “suicide for revenge” thing and so praises this kind of mentality. I hated that the show focussed on seeking a revenge after death rather than actually portraying mental health issues. It was very upsetting to see a person killing herself as if she just wanted to make people feel guilty, rather than portraying her emotions. The show completely disregards mental illness and to me, it felt like a revenge fantasy. It made suicide seem normal which can be dangerous.
I also thought that this series did not show enough (or at all) how you could get help. I think it would have been very good that, even if the suicide happens, we see how you can be helped. I wish there was at least one character that would represent hope.
I thought it focussed too much on the “revenge” side. To me, it sounded like Hannah was just wanted to make people feel guilty without making them understanding how she felt.
Well hum sorry I did not want to write something that long…
Bye! :)
You can actually be suicidal without suffering from anxiety or depression, so if the goal was to focus on suicide in itself and not on these mental illnesses, there's nothing really wrong with the series overlooking them. But as I did not watch it, I cannot really tell - if it seems it was intended to mention anxiety and depression, I perfectly understand how upsetting it is to have these matters badly shown.
DeleteNot everyone who dies by suicide has a mental disease, but in 90% of suicide deaths, there was a mental disorder involved. I thought it was very awkward and quite upsetting...
DeleteI didn't think of that but now that you've brought up the idea I do agree with you. It doesn't at all show Hanna's depression. But in a way we all guess that she is depressed even if they don't show it, I mean after all of the things that happened to her she can't feel good.
DeleteAnd it's true that she didn't get help but I think that the point of the series is to shows that people like her don't get help because they don't express themselves enough. People who don't feel good in their skin should go directly see someone and tell them what's wrong but that is rarely the case. So it's hard to guess when someone feels bad when they don't really show it. It's true more things should be put in place at school about that and to have someone you can talk to could probably help them a lot because keeping all your emotions to yourself is not always good.
I have heard a lot about this series but I did not watch it, since I am not that particularly into series to begin with, and people seem to have very mixed feelings for it. I have heard that it does bring up a very interesting view on suicide that we do not see enough, but that it gets really awkward on some matters and overlooks others. Now, I do think it is great for a series like that to exist, but I do not think I will ever want to watch it. I am rarely alright with anything that treats such matters in an imperfect manner.
ReplyDeleteAs for the video, I had heard a lot of it since it came out, but it's the first time I actually watch it ! It is as great as it is horrible. I think it makes its message pass through very well. It's not particularly long and does not let out any important detail, so it's definitely well made.
Hi Fanny, thank you for this article.
ReplyDeleteI have watched the series and I've had quite mixed opinions about it.
At first, I thought the show did not represent mental illnesses such as depression or anxiety very well, and that it was quite triggering for some people, especially when aimed at a younger audience like teenagers, who may be more vulnerable or sensitive about the matters the show talks about.
But then, I started understanding that the story is based on Hannah's point of view, and so, that we cannot judge how well it represents mental illness or not, since everyone experiences it differently. Plus, not all suicides are consequences of mental illnesses, even though I know the majority of it is.
Although, I do acknowledge that they could've made clearer the fact that she was depressed or not, because a lot of people might not understand it, even though it may seem obvious to others.
Soon after, I also realised that there are many other shows or stories that display crude/violent scenes which may be triggering to some people. Yet, they do not seem to get as much backlash as "13 Reasons Why" (from what I've seen). But the reality of it is, if one knows they are sensitive to such things, one should not watch the series nor watch it without knowing what it's about in the first place.
Now the 'problem' I've always had with this show, is that it seems like Hannah committed suicide for revenge, which is never the answer to resolving any kind if problem you have with someone. I feel like it portrays her suicide as a consequence of what people did to her, that she did it so that people would feel guilty and thus, that the series teaches people that every single little thing you may say to someone can lead them to killing them self and that it's your fault that person chose to take away their own life. Now don't get me wrong, I am not talking about bullies, nor saying that people shouldn't be careful of what they say (if they aren't being honest, and just being mean) and I do not want to make up excuses for them. Bullies can go to hell. And even then, killing yourself because of those bullies makes them win. We can make them lose by stepping up to them, even though I know it's very hard to do.
And one way to step up to them, to getting better, can be to unite and get help (I just got so cheesy there omg).
Speaking of getting help, I also felt like Hannah did not seek for enough or even any help, which probably isn't the right example to give to people?
But then, my opinion is that it's all a question of points of view. Depending on how people interpret and understand the series, it affects them differently. Some people understand the point of the show; that it wants to bring awareness, that suicide is never the answer and that if you feel bad, you should seek help. Others may not completely get the message behind the story, and probably think that if someone commits suicide, the blame is on this person's surroundings, or maybe that talking to someone about their problems is not going to help anyway, etc...
Overall, I did appreciate the fact that the story evoked today's problems in society such as sexism or homophobia. To me, the acting was good but it wasn't the best. I found the show entertaining but a little too cheesy and I didn't love it; I'm not sure it was my cup of tea (or at least, not as good as I like it, and tea is important for an Irish person ahah c;).
Anyway I still see the appeal of the show, and if anyone else watches it, I hope you'll enjoy it.
Byeeee c:
p.s: sorry for the long comment :$
Thank you for this comment, I totally agree with everything you said!
Deletethis comment is very useful, and I agree with you about the fact that even the title states this suicide as a direct consequence of her surroundings, a sort of revenge as you said. Suicide as being something to make other people feel guilty about is not really an example to show in my opinion.
DeleteI'm deeply in love with you
DeleteI have heard a lot about this series. You made me want to watch it. Concerning homophobia, I didn't know about it. It reminds me that in college, some people really hated gay people and I was so revolted!
ReplyDeleteI've just seen the first episode and it really seems great (sometimes a bit cheesy I have to admit but still great hehe)! Thank you for your article!
ReplyDeletesometimes a little bit too cheesy yep
DeleteHey people! (Careful spoilers!) I think you guys forgot one thing ! Slut shaming! Must I remind you that one of the reasons of her suicide is her experience as a viewer of a rape, as well as a victim . I don't think her emotions were portrayed enough, even if we could see it slowly killed the other victim. I personally was pretty affected about the series , especially that last episode with Hannah's suicide. It revolted me and took me a while before I could actually finish it, I think they did well on that and didn't 'glamourise' that at all.
ReplyDeleteI also find it quite comical how we are in the same position as the people on the tapes, 13 tapes and 13 episodes, given all at once, for us to choose if we watched it slowly or everything at once , like the characters. And just like them, everyone is talking about Hannah Baker . (Just one thing, it might sound stupid but to me checking out Katherine's account on social medias , Hannah's actress, and making sure SHE IS ALIVE actually reassured me , pathetic right? > < )
Well that's it for me !
-Ana
I think you watched the movie "baiser caché" or something like this talking about 2 teenage boys who love each other. I found your post really interesting and well, I was sure to never watch this serie... Finally you made me change my mind. Thanks for your post.
ReplyDeleteI actually watched half of it. I didn't really find it entertaining. Every single character, every single thing happening is a cliché.
ReplyDeleteAnd I really agree with Sarah.
They really show suicide as a revenge, they kinda glorify it and I don't think it's a really good thing
Actually I noticed that everyone around me and around the world was watching this show and loved it to death. So I had decided to give it a try and I watched a few episodes (maybe around 4 or 5) but I actually hated it somehow. Guess it's just not my cup of tea but I really thought that none of the characters were interesting, and that everything was cliché..
ReplyDeletebut maybe I'll try watching it again and watching every single episodes to confirm my opinon (or maybe I'll actually love it who knows haha)
At first, when I learned that a series talking about teen suicide, bullying and rape was going to be filmed, I was thrilled. Okay, maybe not the best choice of words, but I was happy that someone was finally going to break the taboo around these really serious subjects. To say that I was disappointed when I watched the series is an euphemism. The way the producers/writers handled the story is, to say the least, totally insensitive and naive. Why ? First, because I don't know anyone with a brain who would leave tapes after her/his suicide, but not give at least a note to her/his parents. Then, why is Clay on the list ? Don't say "but he broke her heart", I know, I watched the series. What I'm asking is, if she really cared about him, why did she drag him into this mess? But I'm not going to list everything that is wrong with this show.
ReplyDeleteI was expecting a series which would show that suicide is not a good solution to all your problems, instead I feel like I watched a glorification of suicide. Pretty sad, because it is indeed a serious matter that should be talked about.
Sorry if my comment was a little chaotic, I'm just so angry about this series I had trouble being clear.
When I started to watch this series, i couldn't stop. I really loved it, firstly because all the characters are very interesting (they are not just "bad" for killing Hanna Baker, or "good" for being sad for her death, especially Justin, my favorite character). Secondly, because when I watched it, I never knew what was gonna happen. So even if the message is not the one I expected, I really enjoyed watching this series. Of course, there are bad things to say about it, but I don't have to, some people did it already, and I totally agree with them.
ReplyDeleteFor me this series were life changing , I don't know if i'm exaggerating or not but I have to admit that it's very intense and you don't what's going to happen , the plot is so clever and the actors in it played perfectly their part but we shouldn't forget that this series are also for suicide prevention , it's an important case caused often by extreme bullying
ReplyDeleteDon't know*
ReplyDelete