The Netflix original show “13 Reasons Why” is about a girl who commits suicide and leaves behind 13 tapes dedicated to certain people, describing why she decided to end her life and who contributed to it. Although it did portray suicide in a serious way, the show was a bit of a disappointment, acting as if you can never find help in anything.
“At first, I actually felt a bit scared to watch the show since it touches really sensitive topics,” says freshman Mary Price.
The show starts off with the locker of Hannah Baker (Katherine Langford), who committed suicide two weeks previously. Students place positive notes on her locker, saying things like, “She was so pretty.”
Later, Clay Jensen (Dylan Minnette from “Goosebumps” and the popular horror film “Don’t Breathe”) receives a box of tapes and listens to them, realizing that they were made by Hannah, each one dedicated to a person and reason why she killed herself. As Clay listens to the tapes, he uncovers more about some people in the school, and finds out the deeper and darker secrets of the students.
Though the show received wide praise, it also received a lot of criticism about its portrayal of suicide and mental health issues.
“The show was alright for me. It was not the worst, but I feel like it was so much thrown at you,” says an anonymous freshman.
Even if you are uncomfortable talking to an adult in school, you can always talk to your parents about how you are feeling. Any adult that you trust to help you can be a valid outlet to vent to.
There were so many solutions to Hannah’s problems that she could have taken instead of avoiding them. The show did not fully show the help she could get from so many people and resources outside and in school.
Although the episodes themselves were interesting and packed with a new mystery each day, I couldn’t help but feel bothered that Hannah could have done one thing over the other, or could have found another solution to her problem instead of keeping it all to herself until she broke.
To add on, the acting was somewhat inconsistent, especially Minnette’s. His acting at times was very good, but at some points, it seemed rather lacking.
Langford’s potrayal of Hannah, on the other hand, was very impressive. Although this is Langford’s first television series/film, she was an astounding actress and played her part very well.
Overall, the show was alright. Many parts of the show were somewhat questionable to me, such as the way Hannah handled certain situations, which could have had better closure. It is more important to get help with these problems rather than keeping it oneself, which was also something that the show should have had.
There were many ups and downs, but if you are looking for a show that is mysterious and even dramatic, then “13 Reasons Why” may be a good show for you.
How did you feel about the show when you first heard about it?