“13 Reasons Why” is a show revolving around a suicide, which may make some potential viewers cautious of it, but they shouldn’t be.
I hesitate to call it great because of the subject matter, but it really was in its portrayal of suicide.
I think that “13 Reasons Why” is an important lesson for everyone, in that we all affect people’s lives in ways we might not even realize.
The series focuses on the suicide of teenager Hannah Baker, played by Katherine Langford. The show is from the point of view of her classmate Clay Jensen, played by Dylan Minnette. The show finds the viewer, as well as Clay, attempting to figure out why Hannah decided to kill herself. This happens through the use of 13 tapes Hannah decided to record and send prior to her death to the people she claimed caused her to kill herself.
First off, the series, based on the novel of the same name, portrays suicide better than most shows I have seen. It reveals that people go to this extreme because they feel completely alone. They think that they have no other option than to kill themselves. All of the characters in the show have caused her to believe that suicide is what she should do, and that is what can happen in reality as well.
Someone believes that they are all by themselves, and that they don’t want to live anymore. The characters the actors portray in the show feel like they could have been from anyone’s high school.
A strong suit for the show is how it is able to portray depression and self-harm as something that can be the fault of everyone, even those who seem to be nice people.
The greatest strength for the show, though, is the actors’ portrayal of their characters. Each person nails their role exceptionally, making the viewer dislike each and every single person because of what they did to Hannah.
All of the characters were at fault because they didn’t stop what was happening to her, even the characters that weren’t necessarily terrible people. That is why this show succeeds in my book, because it shows that everyone is responsible for that person. Hannah, the person in this case, feels alone enough to take her own life.
Overall, “13 Reasons Why” was a great show that was able to express some very difficult things. It was able to have me actually look at my own life and reflect on my influences on others.
For that reason, I recommend you watch this show, despite its heavy subject.
