My Analysis on 13 Reasons Why pt.2
Welcome back. Before we begin this post contains major spoilers. This post is going to discuss the storytelling aspect and the message the show tries to send to the audience. Be sure to read pt.1 if you haven't seen it yet.
Pt 1.
The Story
I feel that people didn't take the show as a tragedy. This is a form of the genre that I haven't seen in a while. We all love happy endings and I feel that sometimes we need to have a tragedy. Media is supposed to make use feel good and this show was supposed to pull us down to the reality of issues that we have every day. I think that this form of media is important to understand that we have more than just happy and that maybe we should go down those routes from time to time. I did not really think this was a tragedy until the scene between Hannah and Clay talking about the "what if" with her being with Clay. Showing the happiness and form of paradise between Clay and Hannah really pulled me in how I wanted this to become true. This type of alternate happy what if is seen in other media. In the video game Bioshock Infinite and in the anime Neon Genesis Evangelical, the protagonist dreams of a better future where they could have the happy ending that many people want in their life, but inevitably fails and the story ends in a tragedy. The issue with the story was how long it dragged. I was hooked in the first episode to know what was on the tapes, but I felt that it was a carrot on a fishing rod constantly being so close and when we are one step closer to hearing the tapes the carrot is being pulled just a little further away. Courtney, Zach, Marcus, and Ryan's scenes felt that they were fillers to pass the show further along. Those episodes were only saved by Clay's insanity. I felt that I had to keep getting through episodes, but this felt more of a task rather than an entertainment. The final four episodes actually picked up with everyone feeling guilt and identifying some huge reasons why Hannah killed herself. I get that all the characters are from high school, but these kids had zero empathy about anything but themselves. Sheri literally caused Jeff's death and Justin made the suggestion to murder Clay. There had to be at least one person that heard the tapes before Clay would want to report these crimes. Everyone before Clay knew the Bryce raped both Hannah and Jessica. What is this? Hannah discusses the butterfly effect which the is a great example of in the show, but I just felt that some of the characters in the show were unrealistically cruel to Hannah, and how posting an anonymous poem could have the same consequences as being raped. I am glad that I made it to the end of the show and everyone that needed to hear the tapes such as Mr. Porter and Hannah's parents, but the journey there was just so drawn out and exhausting in my opinion. I understand that this show's audience was for younger adults, but I am a young adult and I couldn't really get on board with the storyline. One big story theme that I did appreciate is how Clay's story is the hero's journey. The hero's journey is a story telling theme that many forms of media have portrayed since forever. Luke Skywalker is another prime example of the hero's journey. Clay even had a shirt that had the word Hero in one of the episodes. Check out this outline to shed more light on the hero's journey.
Another issue that made me not enjoy the story was the message the show was trying to tell to the audience. Selena Gomez, in the documentary, expresses that she wanted the show to treat the audience as young adults and not teenagers, but did she? The story would have characters in everyday life, but when the scenes that tackled assault, bullying, and suicide felt that they tried so hard for the audience to get the message as if we have to stop the scene and show an example of bullying as if this whole scene can be taken out and placed in a PSA that we play in high school. I understand that the suicide and rape scene was supposed to shock the audience to show that these things really happen and I get that, but with all the scenes of bullying, cyber bullying, and drug abuse was just so blunt and generic that I felt that the show thinks that we wouldn't get the message if it isn't right in our faces. I wanted the show for use to hold us to a higher intelligence that we could pick up the issues more than it did. A good example of sending the message of issues in our community can be seen in the show Atlanta by Donald Glover. One of the scenes in that show had the main character seeing someone with a mental illness acting out in the jail being laughed at then attacked by one of the guards. The main character says that the person needs help and then another guard tells him to shut up. The scene is humorous in some way but sends the message that this is a real issue. Atlanta understands that their audience will pick up the messages it wants to send without sacrificing the story. 13 reasons why had powerful messages, but I feel that they were so hung up on being sure that everyone got it that it would drag out the story. Yes, we get that these issues are bad, but cramming it down our throats was not necessary for my opinion.
The Message
Bullying
I understand that bullying is a real issue in today's time. I was part of the first generation to begin to see cyber bullying becoming a serious issue in high school and in college. Reputation matters in schools and everyone in the show is affected by that. Due to a text, Hannah reputation is changed to being a slut. Slut shaming is a real thing and Hannah is more prone to being part of sexual abuse from both Bryce and Marcus. She wants to be seen more than just a girl that sleeps around but due to Courtney only fanning the flame, Hannah's reputation was ruined. Now here is a question that really blows my mind, are girls in high school shamed for being sexually active, yet boys are praised for their "conquests". When I was in high school we just didn't talk about how many women people slept with, and we never thought of this as some achievement, and with girls who may have slept with a lot of guys, we didn't walk behind her pretending to grab her butt as the other guys in the show. That just wasn't a thing. With that being said, I'm not going to say that since it didn't happen with me it didn't happen everywhere, but the whole slut shaming epidemic needs to be tackled on both fronts. Women need to quit spreading rumors and writing on the bathroom walls and boys need to understand common respect. What happens to chivalry? I get that not every guy is a gentleman, but being a decent person and thinking about more than having sex, something that almost everyone will experience at some point in their lives. I think that Clay sends the message pretty well, "we need to start treating people better".
Sexual Assault
I have never been a victim of sexual assault or any sexual misconduct. I could not imagine the horrors that Hannah had to experience with watching Jessica and then eventually herself becoming a victim of such a horrible crime. With Bryce expressing the theory that, "every girl wants to be raped", is the mentality why we have a sexual assault victim every 98 seconds, every 8 minutes is a child and only 6 out of 1,000 perpetrators will be in prison. Ths isn't my words but RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) which sheds light on this issue. Suicide is never the answer, but I could see Hannah's feeling pretty low. This issue is portrayed pretty accurately with showing how awful this crime is in reality. I know that I complained about the director trying to cram the message to us, but in this case, I feel that it was necessary. These scenes made me uneasy and that was the exact plan the director was trying to send. This is even discussed with Mr. Porter and Clay when he confronts Mr. Porter not feeling comfortable with talking about this topic. Both actors of Hannah and Bryce had to even talk to a psychologist before and after filming the rape scene due to the impact that had on them. That is a problem and in some cases, this backfires with the Brock Turner case only serving 3 months in jail for a crime with the usual punishment of 10 years in prison. I feel that the show did this right even though it is hard to swallow. The hardest part about this is that this show is fake, but those crimes are real and that bothers many viewers. For more statistics on sexual assault check out more stats on RAINN.
Suicide
Suicide sucks people. American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) states that suicide is the 10th leading cause of death and 44,193 people die each year from suicide. This is the brutal message that this show wanted to send. I feel that this show sent a message, but not the message they wanted to send. This show wanted me to feel for Hannah and I really did when seeing the awful things she fell victim to, but my sympathy, in the end, went to her parents. I couldn't stand any scene with her parents due to the fact that I know they were going to be miserable. I feel that Hannah could have talked to her parents and that in this situation, her parents finding her body and trying to pull her out of the tub only made me angry. Understanding why Hannah killed herself does not mean she should. Suicide is never a psychological and positive solution to resolve serious trauma and I think the direction of this show missed its mark. Her suicide is not justified with the amount of suffering that her parents and Clay had to experience. I know she wanted to get back with all the people on the tapes, but that is the double edge sword of suicide, not only do you get away from the bad people, but you also lose the good people that loved you. Hannah's depiction to some is seen as a martyr, that her death was for the greater good, but it wasn't. Her suicide led to parents being broken and the tapes may lead to a school shooting by Tyler and Alex already shooting himself. Being on those tapes and realizing that small actions led to her rape is damning to anyone that wasn't Bryce. In some ways, everyone on that tape could be blamed for Hannah's rape and suicide, but are they? Is the beginning with Tyler really lead to every with Mr. Porter? Why exactly was Mr. Porter the last chance on not her parents, not clay, not Tony? Her suicide was not acceptable and that is what made me so frustrated at Hannah. She could have sought justice for those who did her wrong, but suicide was not the way. The message of suicide is sent to show that what Hannah did helped others, but seeing what her parents will have to deal with for the rest of their lives, to think of all the opportunities they could have had with their daughter, to see her grow and have a family of her own are all buried with her. That is unacceptable and the most important fear any parents will experience. Everyone on the tapes did terrible things with the least being Clay and Ryan and the worse being Bryce, but Hannah put her parents in the worse experience in their life and that she is no better than the others on the tape...except for Bryce. I guess her tapes were a way to get back at all the people that did her wrong, but does that make her any better? That hurting them and making them feel the way she did is okay? I thought we were passed an eye for an eye mentality, but this show begs to differ. I think that Sherlock Holmes in S4E2 describes suicide in a way that Hannah did not realize before her demise.
Taking your own life. Interesting expression, taking it from who? Once it's over, it's not you who'll miss it. Your own death is something that happens to everyone else. Your life is not your own, keep your hands off it.
This isn't the first time I have discussed suicide. If you are new to my blog be sure to check out my story about the woods.
For more stats on suicide be sure to check out https://afsp.org/about-suicide/suicide-statistics/
Time to put to rest and move forward
I feel that this show did a good job. I hated most of the storyline and dialogue yet I have written to blog posts about this show, talked about it multiple times with my friends, and have done a lot of research on this show. It caught my attention and to have a fair judgment I watched the entire series. Do I feel that this show should have a second season? No. This show has a beginning and an end and I feel that this should be left at that. I think that this is a piece of art which is portrayed as a tragedy. This show sent some powerful messages, and even though I feel that could have been more subtle with portraying these issues to the audience, this could prevent a sexual assault, a suicide, and bullying. I can't be mad at a show that could help people just be better people in our communities. What I do fear with the second season is them ruining what this series has just for the benefit of profit. I feel that this show should end where it ends. Hannah is dead, the parents received the tapes, and Clay and Tony drive off with the assumption that they won't become victims of Tyler's shooting. I feel that after seeing the show that someone should reflect and then move forward with their life. That is why I feel that this is a piece of art. It was the artist's depiction of issues in the community and the message was sent, but now it is over.
Feel free to leave thoughts and opinions on this topic. I am always up for feedback and would love to have a discussion about this show. Be sure to check out my other works whenever you have free time. Thanks for reading! I hope you have a wonderful day.
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