13 Reasons Why - My Thoughts
“Sir have you seen 13 Reasons Why?”
“No, I haven’t even heard of it. Is it good?”
“Yes. Really, really good. You must watch it so we can talk
about it.”
This is the conversation I had with one of my students which
first made me aware of the show 13
Reasons Why – a Netflix Original which has been the source of much
controversy, especially in the education sector. As it happened I was on the
look for a new show to binge watch and since it offered an opportunity to
discuss some important themes with a passionate student of mine I sat down and
watched it with my wife over the course of about a week.
During the week I had avoided most online correspondence
regarding the show as I didn’t want to ruin the experience but I knew a few
things (which aren’t really spoilers).
The TV show was going to depict a rape scene and a suicide
scene. My opinions when it comes to art and its limitations have always been
that art has no limitations – it’s job is to show what the creators think it
should show. Censorship is a bad thing and shouldn’t have a place in the
artistic world. However as anyone who has read my thoughts on the Jim Jeffries
gig I walked out of will know – that just because you have a right to say and
show what you want as an artist, I don’t believe this means you don’t have a
social responsibility to be aware of, consider and understand the implications
of the decisions you make as an artist. For example, if you are the
aforementioned comedian and decide to make rape jokes for the sake of making
rape jokes you shouldn’t be above the scrutiny and public reaction to your
jokes. After all I think it’s hugely important that we remember that freedom of
speech works both ways. Just because you are an artist doesn’t mean that you
are above social responsibility.
So it was with this (not necessarily agreed with) mind-set
that I settled down to watch this show. I was hooked pretty quickly. An
interesting premise, excellent young actors, exceptional older actors and a
topic that is considered so taboo that people are quite frankly terrified of it
being the subject in which any artistic medium brings to light.
Since this isn’t a review I don’t want to spend time
discussing the show itself in terms of quality but more discuss the critism in
which it received. Needless to say I overall enjoyed the show and found it
engrossing throughout.
The main controversy that 13 Reasons Why has received is the fact that it shows, in reasonably
graphic detail, both rape and suicide. This is done very bluntly and visually
and has caused the show to be deemed as irresponsible and some people have even
gone as far to suggest it glorifies suicide. I had seen facebook posts that
colleagues of mine had shared demonising the shows portrayal of suicide and
many articles simply saying “don’t let anyone watch this show.”
To make something super clear – as a teenager and someone in
my early 20s was someone who suffered from severe depression, was victim to
self-harm and had personally dealt with the thought processes and actions
around suicide. So I’ll admit I had a vested interest in the show but also an
understanding of it’s content. I also work a high school so my opinion on
working with young people is rooted in reality.
There are very few moments when I
have watched a show (especially because I am a massive fan of horror) where I
have looked away from the screen. When Hannah cuts her wrists I looked away. I
felt physically ill. I broke down when her parents entered and found her body.
I hurt for days afterwards. All I wanted to do was talk about it. I wanted to
go back in time and stop Hannah from killing herself. I wanted to go back to
high school and be nicer to people. I hurt. Big time. Not once did I feel that
Hannah was justified in her abhorrent decision. Not once did I think “that’ll
show the bullies.” Not once did I feel anything other than utter horror and
desperation at what I had just seen before me. It left a lasting affect – a need
for conversation.
As I said a lot of the criticism
the show has received is that it glamorises suicide. As it shows Hannah getting
her revenge on those who wrong her and blames them for her suicide. I understand
this criticism and see how that can be perceived but it is not what I took away
from the show. The most dangerous thing about 13 Reasons Why is the fact that schools are not only banning
students from watching it but they are banning students from talking about it
on the school campus. Now THIS is dangerous. Firstly, when you ban students
from watching something – all you are doing is making it more likely that they
watch it. Secondly, by banning conversation around the controversial you are
ensuring that the stigma around said controversy just becomes an even bigger
thing, even more of a problem.
We are so quick to ban things that
make us uncomfortable. We are so quick to be scared of things that expose us to
the frightening realities of issues like depression, self harm and bullying.
Why do we protect ourselves from talking about things that we are surrounded by
on a day to day basis? Our fear around talking about depression, suicide and
mental health is the reason that shows like 13
Reasons Why are important. You don’t have to agree with it. You don’t have
to like it. You certainly don’t have to approve of the way the story is told or
whether or not you approve of the graphic nature of the show. But we as society
need to reflect on why we are so scared to talk about the themes and issues
that 13 Reasons Why dealt with. Which
is why, for me, 13 Reasons Why is a
success.
So instead of telling your kids,
or students of friends of for watching the show, why not have a chat to them about
what they thought about the show? How it made them feel? You never know – it might
be a conversation they really need to have.
