13 Reasons Why

13 Reasons Why is one of the most controversial Netflix series at the moment. The series is based on tragic events that happen to Hannah Baker, a teenage girl and a main character of the show. The show touches on extremely sensitive subjects including drugs, abuse, sexual assault and death.

Clay Jensen, a very emotional boy, struggles to find justice for Hannah after listening to tapes listing the reason why she committed suicide. Throughout his journey, Clay discovers that many of his friends and classmates were involved in Hannah’s life, and subsequently, her death.

The first season of the Netflix Original series came out in March of 2017 and was watched worldwide. Many people fell in love with the show while others claimed the series caused chaos in schools and had a negative impact on young teenagers. With the release of season two on May 18, 2018, controversy about the show started up again.

I have enjoyed watching the series since the beginning, and the second season only furthered my enjoyment in the show. Although the show is mainly about Hannah, it also dives into the lives of the other students she was involved with. For example, the season two finale showed a horrible, brutal sexual attack on Tyler Down, another student who attended the same school as Hannah.

Many people have commented on the last episode of the second season,  saying it was “horribly graphic” or “disgusting,” and I don’t disagree.  However, I feel the scene was needed to display the reality of assault on teenage boys in today’s time. The creators of the show noticed all of the commentary on the episode and decided to speak up about it.

“I felt tasked with this need to represent what victims go through, to hopefully show that they’re understood and heard, and for people who don’t know what these issues are or don’t have the empathy to understand, to show them what it’s like,” stated by one of the producers during an interview with Cosmopolitan.com.

While I don’t enjoy watching the graphic scenes, I feel they are necessary for the meaning behind the show. Without these scenes, Hannah’s life, death, assault and more could not be displayed properly.  Some viewers of season one tried to have the show deleted but the amount of positive feedback of the series greatly outweighed the negative.

Despite the tragedies portrayed in the series, I really feel the show has important messages for our society.  I believe it should continue on for multiple seasons.

Photo Credit:  Google.com