I think I will be one of the few, but I do not support this show's portrayal of issues even though I really wanted to. I'll list just a few reasons why to keep it brief(er).
1.There is no ethical reason to make 13 hours of entertainment about a girl's suicide. Suicide is tragic and does happen in life. It appears in other media and movies and is a topic that needs to be talked about. However, when you make a TV show with numerous episodes or seasons, it is for entertainment which effectively desensitizes the message. Case in point, all the teenage comments on social media begging for a Season 2. Please think about that for a minute.
2. Again, about entertainment. If the show was not meant to be entertaining, why is everyone binge watching and why did they make it a mystery series? The mystery made it a sort of game and put the focus on all the drama--not the tragic nature and issues surrounding suicide. I understand the intention of the Tapes was to show the backstory so we can understand why Hannah chose suicide, but the show also had another main focus and that was the story of the friends in present time dealing with the Tapes. This jump back and forth made it suspenseful and unrealistic and should have stuck to Hannah's story. Which brings me to my third point.
3. Hannah, who is a main character and we're supposed to sympathize with, created that twisted emotional mind-game. She recorded hours of audio blaming others for her death. If the makers of the show actually wanted to send teens a positive message, they would've clearly condemned this cruelty. Or better yet, chosen another story to tell. None of the people Hannah blames are responsible for her suicide. That was her choice alone. Of course, there's no excuse for the bad things that other characters did. They were responsible for their choices like Hannah was for hers. After the first "traumatic" incident, however, she definitely could have prevented several others by making better choices. She continued to hang around the same hurtful people and constantly pushed away (or refused to open up to) the people who clearly cared. She expected them to read her mind. And we're supposed to have sympathy for her? This is not victim blaming, just to clarify, because regardless of how others treated her, with her choice to commit suicide, she was her own victim.
I think it is more essential to start teaching kids about emotional intelligence instead of just telling them to be nice and sensitive to everyone. As harsh as it may sound, Hannah Baker had a Utopian, distorted view of the world. Three stars for phenomenal acting and creativity.
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