The POP-EXPOSE ‘Thirteen Reasons Why’ by Mitchell Smith’!
‘Thirteen Reasons Why‘ is a 2007 novel written by Jay Asher about a teenage girl who commits suicide, and leaves behind 7 cassette tapes explaining what lead to this tragic decision. In March of this year Netflix released a 13 part series based on the book. This is not a show I normally would have watched or even checked out, until my 7th grade daughter told me she had watched it. Curious as to what it was I looked into the series and felt compelled to watch it and find out what my daughter and her friends were watching and talking about. The show starts out very peculiar, with the main character dead. I got home late one night last week to find that my wife had also peaked an interest in the show and I caught bits and pieces of a couple episodes.
Then a couple days later there was a news article spot lighting the controversy the show was creating. Trying not to draw conclusions on the show from critics, I decided to sit down and binge watch it over a couple days. At first thinking this show was very inappropriate for my 7th grade daughter. After getting through all 13 episodes I realized what a interesting and enlightening piece of work Brian Yorkey had turned a very tragic thing into and perhaps my 7th grader who probably already has a good sense of what is to come in the very near future for her, took the good out of the show and thinks about how she acts and how she can effect other people just by her words. They have already been learning sex education, and talk about drugs and alcohol at school, she most certainly has heard and probably said the “F” word, but I wasn’t sure about the suicide portion myself. What message was being sent here. Is this piece sending a message glorifying suicide. I hoped not. I hope that any young person watching this series looks at it and feels they can talk to adults about issues, and any adult watching realizes they can talk to there young children about serious situations they may be put in.
People can be really be cruel and some (not just kids) get caught in traps where they feel hopeless and helpless. But I think a major point of this series is maybe its better to have that difficult conversation with someone rather then keep your mouth closed. The show does bring us to an understanding though how a normal level headed, strong willed, pretty, and popular person could come to think this was the only way out if they were driven to it over a long period of time and experienced some sort of traumatic experience such as rape, which was the last straw that made the main character Hanna Baker loose interest in life and ultimately lead to here taking her own life. The racial gap seems to be closing as depicted in this series, but the show does cover a number of other social issues that have existed for many years in this country and how the rumor mill is now wider and faster with the advancements of IPhones and social media. One of the largest statements made near the end of the series though was, that money doesn’t solve all problems.
The parents had moved to a richer part of the city to give their daughter a better way of life. My kids go to a city school, and every time something bad happens in the city everyone is always asking us why we don’t move to the suburbs. There are problems in society on all economic plateaus. You might be digging through the dumpster for dinner or driving an expensive car to school, but everyone has problems they have to face and just because you have money doesn’t make those problems go away. All and all the show does pose a number of issues our kids are facing today, so the show is definitely worth checking out especially if you have kids.
What is your opinion of ‘Thirteen Reasons Why‘? Let us know AFTER THE JUMP!
