My Analysis on 13 Reasons Why pt.1

Disclaimer: This post is going to contain spoilers to the show. I suggest finish the show before reading this or if you don't have any interest in watching the show than welcome?...I guess.

My facebook has been blowing up with all the people talking about the new show to hit Netflix know as 13 Reasons Why, a story about a boy named Clay Jensen finding cassette tapes from a girl at his high school named Hannah Baker who recently killed herself. On the tapes, Hannah gives 13 reasons why she committed suicide. The show depicts heavy topics such as suicide, bullying, stalking, lying, sexual assault, and other issues that young people deal with in this age. Now I will admit that this show was difficult to get through. I would constantly yell at the television due to the frustration I would have for some of the characters and dialogue in the show. This blog post is going to be me breaking down parts of the show and how I felt about character development, story, and the message the show is trying to portray. A lot of people are getting ripped apart for any opinion that doesn't make this show the best thing on Netflix. I personally did not enjoy the show, but I will tell you why. This show isn't bad, but just had some issues that I couldn't shake. This is completely my opinion and if you disagree that is okay. A lot of people I have seen on social media have expressed to critics that, "you just don't get it". This brings up the argument of art as I talked about in the last post that art is meant for the viewer to have their own interpretation of the artist's work.

The Characters

Justin

With working with high school age kids I can agree that the type of behaviors in this show is pretty spot on. Many of the characters shut off from their parents avoiding, to tell the truth with the fear of consequence. The first tape I want to talk about is Justin Foley. Justin's character goes from the stereotypical jock who takes pictures of Hannah going down a slide which goes around the school to show that she sexually engaged with him. Not really sure how that picture could really lead to that assumption, but for the progress into the storyline, I get it. Justin in the beginning of the show is the google image of pretty boy jock that would, of course, have a chest tattoo. He's that bad boy depiction that we have seen so much in media that I just couldn't stand that character. Even throughout the show, he would go missing without telling anyone and then have a scene of him walking around his friend's house wishing that he could have a family like his friend. To me, this scene felt like a crowd control as if the show was telling me, "ya, Justin is an awful person, but look! He has had a bad childhood and he only wants a family that will love him. This is completely okay right?" No. Just because Justin has a bad home life does not give him a right to be such an awful person. Some people would argue that he did defend Hannah when others would call her names, but he didn't ever say, the picture was nothing but her going down the slide, all we did was kiss nothing more. Justin had every chance to fix the issue and he didn't. Justin even suggested staging Clay's suicide in one scene due to the fear that the tapes would be public. The only time I appreciated Justin's character was in the final episodes when he starts breaking down and has a conscious about his decisions. He truly grasps that he has made some terrible mistakes and that he has really lost everything at the end. Not sure if he really deserved everything that happened to him, but he did start the fire that led to Hannah's demise.

Tyler

Tyler seemed to be the creepy person that we all know in high school. No one liked Tyler in the show due to him stalking Hannah, but that was about it. Tyler is pretty one sided and doesn't have a big change except for the final scene with Tyler where he is shown with a large gun collection implying that he is going to shoot up the school, (or that was my impression). I appreciate that he was honest during the hearing, but due to him not having the tapes, you can see he feels defeated.

Marcus

Could Marcus be a more of a cliche? Look how perfect he is, just such a great guy isn't he? Well, maybe not. Marcus was so irriated on how he focus so much on not tarnishing his view in the school, yet he would want to sleep with Hannah. I guess the message we get from him is that even perfect people can have bad features. The only redeeming factor I had for him when he questioned the morality of the tapes. Marcus explains to Clay when behind Tyler's house expressing that the tapes are messed up and that she shouldn't use her suicide to get back at the people on the tapes. In some ways, Marcus is right.

Courtney

Never in my life have I ever wanted to hate someone like Courtney. I get she spread the rumor about Hannah to cover her on reputation, but was that really necessary? Courtney's character was just so fake that it frustrated me how so far she has dragged along in the show. Literally, Courtney's whole tape could be removed and nothing would have changed the situation. I know we can argue with other people in the tapes, but every scene with her made me cringe. I know the reason why she lied was to cover her sexuality from everyone in the show. I know this is trying to send the message that people in the sexual minority communities are still oppressed today, but multiple characters even tell her that times are different, and a character who is gay tells her to come out. Courtney is so infuriating to watch the show in how fake she is on the outside with poor reasoning why she is the way she is.I'm going to ruin Hannah so no one knows I'm gay in 2017. I get it, but really?

\Zach

The issue with all the Zach and Marcus is that they are really the same character. They don't have their way they pitch a little fit and hurt Hannah. Zach is just jock number three in this list that is the exact same perfect athlete. Zach is unrealistic mean to Hannah. He took out her compliments and that is that. The only time he has some interest to his character is being the only one to prove that Hannah did lie on some of the tapes when he shows Clay the letter she wrote him, even though Hannah expressed that he threw her note away.

Ryan

Ryan is my favorite character on the show. I feel that if I was in these situations I would have his personality. He expresses that his reason was that he posted a note anomalously that Hannah wrote and is somewhat unapologetic for the whole situation. I like how he tells the truth, due to understanding that what the other people did to Hannah should pay for their punishments. I like Ryan because he is blunt but honest. He calls people out on their cruelty and isn't afraid to say what he feels. He is in everyone's businesses with his magazine, but more importantly is that throughout he knows what happened to everyone and isn't afraid to exploit them. Ryan shouldn't have been on the tapes, but I appreciated someone like him staying calm while all the other characters were losing their minds.

Sheri

Another character that is worried about her reputation. Courtney, Marcus, and Sheri are trying so hard to be perfect that, one spread a rumor about Hannah, one tried to have sex with Hannah, and one who killed Jeff. Sheri was sneaky with trying to get with Clay to cover the tapes, but she was just the same as everyone else that she was boring. I did appreciate that she admitted to what she did as she should have. While writing this I had to google her name again because she is just so forgettable in the show.

Bryce

Bryce is a terrible person. Raping two girls in the show and managing to manipulate Justin to convince Jessica that it never happened is really sick. Bryce represents that blurred lines of sexual assault when he says, "I guess all the girls at want to be raped". Bryce doesn't think he has done no wrong. I wish we didn't need to see a character like Bryce, but people do think like him. It is a shame that we need to have this character to send the message of sexual assault, an epidemic that we deal with in our communities.

Jessica

Communication could go a long way. That is my biggest frustration with Jessica is that she was so mad at Hannah, but if she talked about the issue and understood that Hannah was telling the truth that she didn't sleep with Alex that this whole thing could be resolved. With both her and Hannah being both victims of sexual assault, I am glad that she tells her father at the end of the season so she could hopefully get the justice she deserves. Jessica is pretty messed up by the end of the show, but was irritated with how she didn't want to sleep with Alex yet is all over Justin wanting to have sex with him. I do wonder if this is a coping skill for her to ignore her assault. I felt for Jessica as she had to be with Justin who was truly a hot piece of garbage throughout the show with her picking up after him when he was upset. She does get back by telling him she doesn't want to see him ever again. Rightfully so in my opinion, Justin really hurt her. I never understood if Jessica and Hannah ever resolved their issues, but I don't understand why she never helped Hannah in her situations. She knew that Justin spread that rumor about Hannah to the whole school, exactly why would she want to risk the same situation as Hannah went through? Jessica could have resolved her issues with some simple communication and actually believe what Hannah told her at the coffee shop.

Alex

Alex was a fully developed character. I appreciated him in the beginning for being different than many of the other characters from the show, of course, this went out the window with pressuring Jessica to have sex with him. He was like all the other guys in the show where he would purposely hurt someone that did not give him what he wanted. I could not stand the stereotype of the sex objectifying women men that plagued this show with the excepetion of Tony, Clay, and Ryan. I felt that Alex got dragged into the issues of the other people on the tapes which did eventually lead to his demise. I appreciated Alex's character due to seeing him slowly breaking down with the guilt of the suicide of Hannah, but did he really deserve it? Alex explained that all he did was make a list, yet others committed crimes. Alex eventually attempts to kill himself. I feel bad for Alex for only being in the popular group was only because he was one reason why Hannah killed herself.

Mr. Porter

Mr. Porter is a terrible school counselor, but I think that was the message he was trying to send. He is always constantly coming back in the show, but I can understand the frustration of trying to have someone use communication to resolve issues. Mr. Porter was right when he told Hannah that unless she gives him a name that he could not help her bring justice to the man who raped her. With that being said, never tell someone who is crying about sexual assault that she would need to move on a get over the situation. There is a time for healing and moving forward from traumatic experiences, but that is a long road before telling someone who is admitting to being assaulted. Mr. Porter is a good man, but he needed to handle this situation a lot better than he did with Hannah. I cringed when she said, "I wish he came after me" when she walked out of his office. He did care about Hannah, but him covering up the whole conversation with her when questioned does place him where he deserves to be, on the tapes.

Clay

Clay was honestly the saving grace for me in this show. I loved how he is a nerdy guy, even though they milked the nerdy cliche out of him a little too much. Watching Clay go from passive quiet kid to a torn up and more cynical as he goes through the tapes was enjoyable. Seeing Clay from the first episode to the last episode you can see how much he has changed after listening to the tapes. Watching Clay break down and having visions of Hannah and to come back from that to trying to be a better person to people was the hero's journey that we have seen in other forms of media. Clay isn't a hero, but an anti-hero where he would seek justice in more unethical ways, such as taking the photo of Tyler, taking Courtney to Hannah's grave, taking Sheri to Jeff's parent's house, recording Bryce's confession, and personally telling Mr. Porter that he led to Hannah's death. With that being said, I hate that he was on the tapes, even though Hannah told him that he shouldn't be on them, but that he should know why she committed suicide. The scene where Hannah told Clay to leave but wanted him to stay. This is irritating due to Hannah wanted Clay to not follow her direction, yet with Marcus and Bryce, she wanted them to stop and they didn't. Clay is the only decent person, yet Hannah may have lived if he was like the other guys and not do what Hannah asked of him. I think that is complete garbage. Clay was one of the saving graces for Hannah and she wanted him to break that goodness for her. I feel for Clay because I thought him and Hannah had good interactions, but Clay was only left out on the surface due to the fear of judgment. I understand how he would lose his mind listening to the tapes, which made me wonder how some of the people on the tapes didn't feel any empathy for the trauma Hannah experienced before her death.

Tony

Kinda hated Tony at the beginning of the series. His whole mysterious attitude was ridiculous at times and the whole making Clay climb the rock was just stupid. I could never know which side he was on when Clay was going against everyone else on the tapes. Tony appeared to be some white knight that was just frustrated with how he would constantly follow Clay and look tough. The only saving factor for Tony was when he did start to open up and admit that he feels terrible for not giving the tapes to the public. He wants to follow Hannah's final wish but feels conflicted that the people in the tapes should have more justice for their actions. I did appreciate that he gave the tapes to Hannah's parents. Tony is a good guy in the show, but it sucked that I had to wait till the end to see Tony as more as some mysterious guy always in the background of Clay's life.

Hannah

I have a serious love and hate for Hannah. Her personality was the "I'm not like the other girls" personality, yet she is exactly that throughout the entire series. Watching Hannah go from this cheerful new girl to a broken down person who cannot find an outlet to express her thoughts and feelings that she is experiencing. You fall in love with Hannah's character which makes her death that much harder to accept. I think this show made me angry at times was because I really did like Hannah's character. She is a girl that we all want to be friends with, where she wasn't perfect but was genuinely nice to people. I feel that Hannah is selfish though due to what she did to everyone. Not only did she commit suicide for her parents to find her, but to leave Clay who truly loved her, but I have never been a victim of rape. I couldn't imagine what she was experiencing and of course when she did seek professional clinical help, he tells he to move on if she doesn't give a name. Hannah's actions are justified in my opinion even though I didn't want her to kill herself. She was a person that was the victim of so much cruelty. I feel that her suicide was her final way of trying to control the situation, which in the end she did. She destroyed almost everyone that was on the tapes but was that really for the best? Alex shot himself, Tyler is going to shoot up the school, Clay lives in regret wishing he told Hannah how he felt. Did Hannah really grasp what chaos she would unfold when she made the tapes? The only issue I have for Hannah was the lack of thought for her parents. All the scenes with her parents after her death were so exhausting in how they were not put together which is reasonable due to the loss of their daughter. The scene where she actually commits suicide made me so angry when her parents find and try to get her body out of the tub. Why didn't Hannah think of the torment her parents would witness finding her. Burying your child could be one of the biggest fears parents would never want to experience. Why didn't Hannah think of her parents or Clay? She had to know that they didn't deserve her death. In the end, I was mad at Hannah. She shouldn't have killed herself with all the bad people even though she had people that loved her, and that her tapes led to suicide attempt of Alex and the possibility of many students being killed by Tyler.

Conclusion in pt. 1

Well, everyone, this will conclude my first part in my opinion of 13 reasons why. I know this was a longer post, but I wanted to share my thoughts on each character and how their character development was either great or awful. There weren't any characters that I was mutual with throughout the whole show, except for the characters that actually changed and showed how these situations could affect someone's moods, personalities, and attitudes. 

As always, thanks for reading this! I should be posting part 2 very soon of my analysis on this show. Feel free to leave any comments and feedback on this topic.

Thanks.