+1
Finished on the weekend.
Wow, it gets pretty dark and depressing in the last few episodes and has ignited a hot debate about suicide, bullying, rape, underage drinking and drugs among other things that kids are dealing with these days.
I'm still thinking about this show a few days after the fact, which is rare for me. I don't believe this show glorifies suicide, which it has been criticized of doing. It showcases the heartache and utter confusion that people are left with after someone leaves this world. Look at her parents, completely devastated that their child decided that she had no other option than to kill herself. Every scene with them made me uncomfortably sad. They are suing the school, not to receive financial gain from the death of their daughter, but to make the school responsible for ignoring the signs. Hoping that the next kid doesn't have to go through the same issues.
The show does an excellent job of switching my view points on certain characters. At first, I hated Justin, the boyfriend, who is on Tape #1. But the show does such an excellent job of making me have sympathy for him by the end of the show. What he did was wrong, by not doing anything. Despite the cast being older than the characters they are playing, I felt that the series nailed teenage drama, social chatter and demeanor. The show felt real and I was connected to Hannah Baker all throughout. Hoping that maybe there was some slim chance she was still alive and that she faked the whole thing. No, that would detract from the issues and message this show is trying to tell. She is dead and the last episode, which depicts the suicide scene is hard to watch. The scene that comes right after might even be harder, when her parents find her dead body.
The show moves between the past and present. Warm colour tones used for when she was alive in Clay's (main character) world, and blue cold tones for when she is gone. The show seamlessly flows between the two timelines and uses clever ways to help the viewer distinguish which timeline they are in.
The show left me with so many unanswered questions and cliffhangers. There is only the one book, but there looks to be another season on the horizon due to the popularity. Some people question this, but there are so many story threads left open for the show to continue on, that I wouldn't mind it. Teenage bullying is a serious issue, 13 Reasons Why looks at it head on. The subject matter is easy or pretty, but if we ignore it, or sugar coat the entire thing, messages won't be received. I've read online how many people have felt like Hannah, or Clay, or any other character on this show. People don't want to talk about rape or suicide with teenagers because it's a touchy subject, 13 Reasons Why is bringing these issues to the front page and getting people talking. It's about time.
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