What I Thought of 13 Reasons Why
April 24, 2017
Hey guys,
So I have seen quite a lot of these blog posts going round and thought I would jump on the bandwagon seems as this show has had an impact on me. **spoilers ahead - so quit now if you haven't watched it and don't want spoilers** |
| Picture taken from Google |
13 Reasons Why is about a high school student, Hannah Baker, who ends up committing suicide and leaves 13 tapes explaining 13 reasons behind why she's done what she's done. The suicide itself is a complex issue which was very graphic and was very hard to watch but I felt like this was needed to show the pain victim's of suicide go through and how hard it actually is. Especially when her mum and dad found her. 13 Reasons Why is based on a book by Jay Asher in which was purchased and turned into a mystery tv series, with Selena Gomez being the executive producer. Selena Gomez is very open with mental health as she suffers with anxiety and depression. And one thing I love that she said about it was: "If you are broken, you don't have to stay broken." The show covers a mixture of content throughout including; loneliness, ignorance, slut-shamed, "easy", bullying, alcohol, drugs, rape and of course suicide.
This series on Netflix is currently what everyone is talking and obsessing over. When it first got onto Netflix I watched the trailer and was intrigued by the trailer. It took me a few days to watch and it took me on such an emotional rollercoaster I found myself shouting at the computer screen; in particular when Clay kept asking so many questions. The heartbreaking series has everyone giving their positive and negative thoughts on the series. Overall, I found it such a good series as there is a huge stigma against mental health which needs to be addressed as it used to be just brushed underneath the carpet. This also comes the same time as Kate and William promoting the campaign 'Heads together' for mental health and getting the support and help people need. Who watched and loved them on the Radio One Show?!
At first I found the episodes a bit confusing and hard to get around but once I was getting into the episodes I started getting my head around it all. The 13 tapes had 13 people who had something to do with her suicide (whether it was small or big things), at first I didn't think that was a good idea as suicide should not be blamed on anyone but then again the people who were involved were blaming Hannah portraying her as an attention seeker and a liar. However, they did end up admitting the truth as they seen the damage that had happened surrounding the incident. These tapes were very hard gripping and summed up how victims of suicide feel and how the smallest thing can trigger something massive. Also, it shows how victims can give off signs of help but the signs aren't recognised and sometimes they can be very good at holding in their inner emotion until its too much but then its too late to get the help they need.
By episode 9 my mum and 12 year old brother had came across me watching it and instantly got drawn to the episode. They started questioning me abut the show and what it was about and all I could say was WATCH IT. They did watch it from the start and was so gripped and emotionally. I hardly ever cry at TV shows or films but this one actually had me in full-on-mode crying for ages. It was heartbreaking. One thing I didn't agree on was the episode in which Jessica was raped and Hannah believed she couldn't help her friend (tbh she was scared and even Justin, Jessica's boyfriend, got knocked back from helping her) but after she had got raped her kind of apology was putting a blanket over her. She then didn't tell Jessica about what had happened but instead told it publicly through the tapes. I believe Jessica did know but hadn't fully pieced the night together...we did see Jessica start to spiral out of control (drinking in school.) Hannah committed suicide by slitting her wrists with razors whilst fully dressed in a bath. She then ended up bleeding to death and her mum walked in because the bathroom had started to flood. This was hard! I literally couldn't look at the screen but didn't want to not look. It was literally portrayed brilliantly, it feel so real.
The actors who played the parents portrayed everything really well, in which they were trying to establish why their daughter did what she did, who her friends where, try to get her justice, find out if they were to blame somehow, and how it could have been prevented if Hannah had got the help she needed. They also tried to help break the stigma and help other people who could be suffering. Hannah believed her difficulties would have been a burden to her parents as her parents were struggling financially. In addition, I loved Clay. Clay was the only real friend Hannah had and he was always supporting and caring; however he also didn't pick up on the little details about Hannah. When Clay and Hannah were kissing he asked her if it 'was okay'. This portrayed the cute gentleman that he is. Unfortunately, Hannah having flashbacks from the previous lads she had been with, ended up screaming and shouting at him to get out so he did as she asked and left. This then lead to more incidents happening that night which triggered to her ending her own life. But overall, this has changed how Clay is and how acts because he doesn't care what people think of him but he does care how people think of other people. At the end he was shown to be hanging gout with Skye who seems to be a survivor as she was shown with slits to her wrist in which she admitted that she does suffer too. The other characters in the series were very selfish and were wanting to hide their secrets instead of listening to how their secrets have hurt Hannah.
The teachers within the school were not very good at picking up on what was happening. Hannah wrote an anonymous letter about how she was feeling and the teacher in one of her classes read it out to the class in which the students said the pupil who wrote it was lonely and insecure and with other students claiming that the pupil was attention seeking for the wrong reasons. The teacher brushed the note under the carpet and never asked who the pupil was. Hannah also told the counsellor about her ordeal of rape and how she felt lonely and like she didn't belong in which the counsellor told her to basically brush it under the carpet as the rapist would be leaving school within the next few months. This is absolutely crap, who could do that?! He basically was not doing his job at all! That was her final call for help and it was blown.
One character I did feel for was Zach. Zach was a character that felt for Hannah, especially after the way she was treated by his friends. He offered to pay for her drinks and then asked her on a date in which she declined as she thought it was a joke between his friends. In order to get back at getting rejected, he started taking her positivity notes (which were giving her confidence, comfort and liking her life) from the classroom which made her feel once again, lonely. But overall he was lonely too and he felt pressured around his friends and his family to do good and to be captain. It showed throughout that he is a genuine guy who cares for his friends but also cares for Hannah, so it was difficult to do both. Hannah writes Zach a letter saying sorry for rejecting him and knows that he's been taking her positivity notes and in the tape she highlights that he scrunched the letter up and walked away. However, in the last episode it showed that he hadn't actually scrunched it up but kept it in his wallet. This shows he was pure and he really did like her and blames himself for playing a part. In the end he ended up questioning his friendships and their values and he found that they were selfish so instead started spending more time with his family.
There was so many questions at the end of the series which is baffling my head -- Did the parents listen to the tapes? Did they get justice for her daughter? Did Alex survive? Wheres Justin gone and planning to do? What's Tyler planning with them pictures and guns? How did Jessica's dad react? Really do hope there is another series to clarify these questions.
Overall, this heart breaking series is definitely in need of a watch (if you haven't watched it) it just shows that a little can go a lot and trigger something so tragic. But vice versa just saying hello and smiling can help give people the boost in self-esteem and self-confidence. It just changes how you look at the environment, the world and especially how you look at people. Also, it just shows how you should always be there on hand to stick up for your friend and support them no matter what. Everyone needs a shoulder to cry on some time in their life and everyone needs an ear so they can speak their mind without being over spoken and judged for how they feel.
There has been a few times in my life where I have just feel so sad and lonely but also just need to be myself. There are also times where I feel lonely and insecure yet I'll be in the room with my family or my close friends. There has been times where I end up taking myself to bed really early and I just cry myself to sleep. You just can't help the way you feel. Sometimes I find a good cry can also be a miracle worker as I feel a weight has been lifted. Its confusing... Sometimes just writing things down helps to take that weight off your shoulders and this is one of the reasons why I blog. My friends used say to me 'Nadine you ok' and I would be like 'Yeah' even though deep down I wouldn't have been but there wasn't a reason for why I felt like that. During high school there was a 'Learning Mentor' in which I became quite close to, she always used to pull me into the office just to see how I was doing. She was lovely. So to some extent I do know how people can feel and how mental health can affect everyone at some point (some little, some major) so everyone just needs that person to talk to or even a hobby in which they can feel themselves and be their most confident at.
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| Picture taken from Google |
Nadine Alex x
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