13 Reasons Why: Netflix Series
There’s a new on Netflix is a show called “13 Reasons Why”
about a high school girl named Hannah who kills herself and makes 13 cassette
tapes to tell her reasons why she killed herself. Now at first I was a bit
skeptical about watching the show because well . . . let’s face it, no one is
particularly thrilled to watch a show about why a young girl decided to kill
herself. Not only does this subject alone makes people tend to shy away, when
you add in the factors such as age, society and bullying . . . it makes the
whole thing almost too much to bear watching.
I think the show does a great job depicting the life of
Hannah. You can hear her words and emotions from the tapes she had created as
you watch her and everyone around her go through the different events and
scenarios that lead up to her last days. You also get to see and hear the stories
of the people in her life and what they are going through during and after her
life ended. That in its self I found to be fascinating because you often hear
the victims story so you don’t think about how complicated everyone else’s life
around them is as well. It is also interesting to see the effects suicide has
on the people that are effected. Not just family members but the peers that
knew the person.
Another aspect of this show I found interesting was really
understanding the characters in the story. It reminded of my days in high
school and the people I had encountered. As children, we are often so consumed
with our lives and hormones we don’t see the different sides to the people in
the other cliques on campus. For instance, one of the characters is a star
basketball player who always appears so jovial and social. His parents also
bought him a 60,000 car so from the outside he would appear to have it all. Or
there is the cheerleader with the star athlete boyfriend with all her friends
who also appears as if she has everything anyone could ever desire. Obviously, they
are people so have they have feelings and home lives that no one is really
aware of so to see them struggling with their insecurities and struggles was a
good look. There’s so many movies that tend to put these caricatures of these
high school stereotypes that make these characters non-believable.
I never experienced bullying growing up but I think it’s
interesting how different it has come in the last 10 years. When I was growing
up, I wasn’t aware of anyone really trolling around on Myspace, Blackplanet, or
AIM. Also, not everyone was equipped with a smartphone or even a flip phone so
life/social media wasn’t always “on”. I didn’t have to worry about someone
taking screenshots or pictures and spreading my business. At that point it’s
like teens getting bullied never find any peace and are always living in that
hell. Something that most adults aren’t familiar with dealing with. So the
parents in the series aren’t quite able to understand the children or get them
to talk/open up to them.
Now I don’t want to give a way too much but this was definitely
worth watching. For young people, maybe they can find more kindness to their
fellow peers, find a reason worth living, and see how their choices impact the
people they come in contact with. For adults, maybe they can more understand
how different/difficult is for the teenagers growing up, the struggles they
have to deal with, signs for trouble teens, and maybe a way to open the
dialogue so that we can prevent the amount of suicides among our younger
generations. If you don’t think that suicide is a problem amongst teens, then
you are sadly mistaken because currently suicide is the 2nd leading
cause of death. So even if you don’t go watch this series be aware of those
around you and treat them with the same kindness and respect you would want to
receive in return. It’s not cool to be a bully and lashing out at others will
not ease your pain.
If you know someone who is suffering or contemplating
suicide below is the link for the resources to find help for them.
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