So a lot of people watched “13 Reasons Why”.
I have read so many reviews. Mainly from people who either have never struggled with the things portrayed on the showed (depression, anxiety, suicide, etc.) or they have never gone through some of the experiences these characters did (self-harm, harassment, rape, etc).
I watched 13 Reasons Why. I watched it and I hated every minute of this show. But I kept watching until the end because I wanted to see everything that was happening. I honestly skipped through some parts because I couldn’t watch, and I also felt “weird” after every episode. I felt dirty, ashamed. Because even I was annoyed and mad at Hannah Baker.
I felt like so many things in this show were so dramatized that it just missed the point. Many things were also unrealistic to the max. Halfway through I felt like I was watching, what I thought was a show to bring awareness to these issues, a want to be Pretty Little Liars series or a really bad remake of “the perks of being a wallflower” (which if you ask me got it more right than this show ever will). It went from seeing how the world would raise awareness to feeling like I was watching a show for some sick entertainment with some subpar acting.
People are saying if you teenagers are watching this, to watch it with them; but I don’t think that will help, because even adults right now have no idea about the issues on this show because this may be the first time that they have been aware of them or seen them (which is SAD). Teach your children yourself. Get educated from research, professionals (who also advise against this show), and accredited websites with information on these issues. Don’t learn this stuff from Netflix. And in all honesty, talk to a friend you know is struggling with these things or has been through any of this. I promise most of them will be willing to share; I will. I will gladly share with you if it helps you understand or help you. This has been a book for a while that no one knew about or even wanted to read, until it became a free entertainment show on Netflix to watch in your free time. For people to talk about for a couple of months and then to continue on with their lives, only for Hannah Baker to fade once again while we all move on to the next show we become fascinated with.
Like I said, even after I watched it, as a twenty two year old, it made me feel weird. I wasn’t able to watch them all at the same time. This show for me, as a young adult, did me no good. As someone who has struggled with the very things in this show and have gone through similar experiences as some of these characters I am disappointed. When you hear people say, “this is what I wish people knew about what I am going through or the feelings I am dealing with”, none of them in the show are what those are what people struggling with these things want you to know. Hannah Baker is called a victim but also this role was so blurry to even myself. I actually got mad at her, her friends, and sometimes rolled my eyes at some of the outrageous things being played out. Then, I thought, “do people hate me too, like they hate her?”. I thought, “I’ve experienced some of these things and now people will think they ‘know about me’, too.. and they don’t. This hurt me. It broke my heart. Made me have feelings of shame and doubt. It made my insecurities pour out of me. This show brought up many things I thought were starting to be healed inside of me that are now at the forefront of my mind that are apparently not. It left me with a heart full of feelings and hurt with nowhere to go with it, to be alone and relive it.
I wish the media did better. For everyone’s sake. We can do better.
Relentless Grace 