When the Netflix original, Thirteen Reasons Why, hit the legendary streaming site back in 2017, it was met with a great deal of controversy. Based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Jay Asher, the teen drama followed a high school student named Clay Jensen who, along with the rest of his school, is attempting to deal with the aftermath of their classmate’s suicide.
The show, produced by film industry veteran Brian Yorkey and Hollywood celebrity Selena Gomez, depicted a wide range of issues that today’s youth often find themselves dealing with, such as drug addiction, sexual assault, bullying, homophobia, and domestic violence. Additionally, it also sought to portray larger societal issues at hand, including police brutality and school shootings.
Naturally, this blatant display of graphic content drew a ton of criticism; health professionals and educators claimed that the show led to the increase of incidents of self-harm and suicide threats among adolescents while Australia’s National Youth Mental Health Foundation, Headspace, was forced to issue a warning due to the escalating number of calls they were getting following the show’s release.
However, this widespread condemnation has distracted the general public from the good things about Thirteen Reasons Why, such as its courage to tackle head-on issues that are normally considered taboo as well as its finesse at handling the depiction of such themes on screen.
At the end of the day, Thirteen Reasons Why is a must-watch, especially for adolescents and teenagers struggling to find their place in the world today.
Here are three reasons why everyone should watch this show at least once:
It Shows How the Little Things Matter
“Chaos theory isn’t really about chaos,” says Hannah Baker at the beginning of the series. “It’s about how a tiny change in a system can affect everything.” These two sentences were the crux for the entire show.
Thirteen Reasons Why is a story of how a teenage girl commits suicide after a series of seemingly small incidents pushed her over the edge. Hannah’s story shows that, even the simple things we do, those that we tend to overlook, often play a huge role in the lives of others.
In an era when social media is king, teenagers are prone to underestimating the power of their actions as well as their consequences. However, Thirteen Reasons Why encourages viewers to pay closer attention to the things they do and the things they say, lest they end up unwittingly hurting others.
It Raises Awareness for “Taboo” Issues
Teenagers and adolescents today are largely concerned about issues such as sexual assault, suicide, and drug addiction; however, these are all considered taboo subjects by modern society. This means that they’re oftentimes swept under the rug and talked about only in hushed and shameful whispers.
However, Thirteen Reasons Why dispels that misconception, shining a light on these issues and forcing conversations and dialogues about them to happen. As a society, we need to understand that ignoring these problems won’t make them go away. Rather, we should all strive to understand them so we can provide the proper guidance and support to the youth.
It Focuses on the Gray Areas in Life
When we think about bullying, we tend to consider it as black and white; there’s the bullied and the bully. The same goes for other issues; the abused and the abuser, the addict and the dealer, the victim and the perpetrator.
But life isn’t black and white, and it’s time that we all realize that.
Thirteen Reasons Why takes a more nuanced look at these issues, exhibiting its gray areas and the complexities that surround them. For instance, viewers are introduced to a popular jock named Justin who distributes compromising photos of Hannah. Our knee-jerk reaction is to censure him, write him off as a bully and an evil jerk, the villain of the show.
However, we also get to see how Justin is abused by his alcoholic mother, oftentimes leaving him homeless and vulnerable at an age when a safe home is essential above all else.
As much as we hate to admit it, Justin is as much a victim as he is a victimizer, and the same can be said about all the other people whom Hannah encounters that eventually make it onto her cassette tapes.
That’s the beauty of Thirteen Reasons Why; it isn’t afraid to show how incredibly complicated and nuanced real life is. There aren’t any good guys and bad guys; there are only humans who screw up and make mistakes yet still strive to do their best at the end of the day.
Overall, Thirteen Reasons Why is a phenomenal and radical show that doesn’t back down from controversies. We live in a world plagued with issues, and it’s time that the media does their part in bringing these problems to light.
If you enjoy watching this series, there’s great news for you. Several of its stars are available for direct contact on Payphone X. You can text them, call them, or book a personalized video. Whatever method you prefer, this is an exciting opportunity to talk with a talented actor who is a part of Thirteen Reasons Why.
Images courtesy of Netflix.
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