Current Events > Just watched 13 reasons why

(+) Yeah! (+)

At first my wife put it on and it was annoying AF but towards the end I started following and its a pretty touching story.

Gotta say I like the message and it was a very unique story. Poor girl :(
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My wife starting watching it too and I thought the same. I didn't watch that much, but I'd come home and watch with her. It was a good show though, and I'll go back one day and watch it from start to end.
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i watched it with my fiancee and i did not like it at all
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Poor girl was responsible for escalating all her own problems.
even the main problem with the situation with Bryce, which he dispicably took advantage of. She stupidly went here and got in his hot tub in underwear knowing he was there and after witnessing him raping her friend, which she also did absolutely nothing about

I understand how serious depression can be and how it manifests itself even without reasons that people would typically consider "real problems", but in the context of a show it helps to have the tragic character, even if they cause their own downfall, be likable enough for you to root for their survival/success.

Also the show was 5 or so episodes too long. Hopefully the second season detailing a school shooting will be much more thoroughly compelling

I've heard so many mixed things about this show. I don't know if I care enough to watch it though. Maybe.
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_RETS_ posted...

Poor girl was responsible for escalating all her own problems.
even the main problem with the situation with Bryce, which he dispicably took advantage of. She stupidly went here and got in his hot tub in underwear knowing he was there and after witnessing him raping her friend, which she also did absolutely nothing about

I understand how serious depression can be and how it manifests itself even without reasons that people would typically consider "real problems", but in the context of a show it helps to have the tragic character, even if they cause their own downfall, be likable enough for you to root for their survival/success.

Also the show was 5 or so episodes too long. Hopefully the second season detailing a school shooting will be much more thoroughly compelling

I thought it was just the right length. I agree that she caused a lot of her own problems

Highwind07 posted...

I feel bad for saying this but Hannah annoys me.

I agree. I don't feel bad for saying it though
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Yaaaa I kinda feel like Hannah could have done a lot too but I saw in the behind the scenes that she is imperfect too just like all of us and it hit home.

Ive been in that spot before, where on the inside you have suicidal thoughts yet its so hard to ask for help. That scene with the counselor I was yelling at the screen for her to tell him who did it but I know in reality its not that easy.

Thats what made it powerful. Hannah wasnt perfect and she couldve done things different, but that doesnt excuse everyone else.
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_RETS_ posted...

Poor girl was responsible for escalating all her own problems.
even the main problem with the situation with Bryce, which he dispicably took advantage of. She stupidly went here and got in his hot tub in underwear knowing he was there and after witnessing him raping her friend, which she also did absolutely nothing about

I understand how serious depression can be and how it manifests itself even without reasons that people would typically consider "real problems", but in the context of a show it helps to have the tragic character, even if they cause their own downfall, be likable enough for you to root for their survival/success.

Also the show was 5 or so episodes too long. Hopefully the second season detailing a school shooting will be much more thoroughly compelling

13 Reasons is kind of in this weird place because it tackles serious teen issues but takes place in "High School Land."

You know what I'm talking about - High School Land is that mythical place where all the kids look like fashionable 20 year olds, cliques are everything and the school ends up looking like a prison block, homework and tests are implied but never seen, all drama is the most important drama in the world, etc. Think Degrassi, Mean Girls, etc.

So on the one hand you see Hannah trying to be a real person but on the other hand, the show follows the same conventions of pretty much every other teen show (i.e. Jocks are basically untouchable gods in the school, and they are all universally assholes), so it's hard to view her as a person when, for example, she keeps trying to interact with these Evil Jocks and expecting a different outcome each time.

Just one of my many problems with the show
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_RETS_ posted...

Poor girl was responsible for escalating all her own problems.
even the main problem with the situation with Bryce, which he dispicably took advantage of. She stupidly went here and got in his hot tub in underwear knowing he was there and after witnessing him raping her friend, which she also did absolutely nothing about

I understand how serious depression can be and how it manifests itself even without reasons that people would typically consider "real problems", but in the context of a show it helps to have the tragic character, even if they cause their own downfall, be likable enough for you to root for their survival/success.

Also the show was 5 or so episodes too long. Hopefully the second season detailing a school shooting will be much more thoroughly compelling

I thought her making bad decisions was kind of the point. Every character was an emotional teenager who constantly did stupid shit. Pretty true to life.
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MrPeppers posted...

_RETS_ posted...

Poor girl was responsible for escalating all her own problems.
even the main problem with the situation with Bryce, which he dispicably took advantage of. She stupidly went here and got in his hot tub in underwear knowing he was there and after witnessing him raping her friend, which she also did absolutely nothing about

I understand how serious depression can be and how it manifests itself even without reasons that people would typically consider "real problems", but in the context of a show it helps to have the tragic character, even if they cause their own downfall, be likable enough for you to root for their survival/success.

Also the show was 5 or so episodes too long. Hopefully the second season detailing a school shooting will be much more thoroughly compelling

I thought her making bad decisions was kind of the point. Every character was an emotional teenager who constantly did stupid shit. Pretty true to life.

Absolutely. But if they want to make a point about suicide, I'm not sure that's how you go about it. It is made for awareness for teens who may be contemplating suicide. They see Hannah, in control of all of her blown-out-of-proportion non-issues (barring THAT one in regards to being a non issue), and see that she doesn't have it so bad and she still killed herself. Then they look at their own life, perhaps plagued by abject poverty, actual bullying, physical abuse from parents, etc and the perspective of the show just seems so insignificant.

If it as just a movie/show made to tell a tragic story, Hannah frustratingly exacerbating all her own shit would have been fine. But one that is made with the pretense of being a voice for struggling teens and a guide for them should take a little more care in the narrative approach to getting that message across.

I've not watched the Netflix adaptation, but I read the novel years ago and can see why it was so popular when it was released. Thing is, it's always been a mixed bag for both for the lit critics of the early aughts and for me. Even if you ignore the diagetic reasons surrounding the rash decisions leading up to Hannah's suicide, on the whole the novel itself doesn't really seem to understand mental illness, sensationalizes teen suicide, and never seems aware of all the ways it irresponsibly handles its subject matter. From what I understand, the Netflix adaptation follows the novel pretty closely and falls into many of the same issues.
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