A decade after the release of the novel “Thirteen Reasons Why,” the Jay Asher television adaptation premiered as a Netflix original series, and the next season is expected to air soon as they cast new characters. Widely criticized for its romanticization of suicide, the show tackles a variety of taboo subjects throughout its 13 episodes.
Some will argue that the story of main character, Hannah Baker, will harm lives; however, telling her story can also be helpful to those struggling with their own demons. The series serves as an important reminder to seek help and also to be more aware of how someone’s actions can affect other people, even if that’s not the intention.
Hannah’s story is also a relatable one for some people, as she suffered through repeated traumatic situations, such as witnessing a rape and, subsequently, being raped by the same man herself. In a time where teens struggle to find themselves, while also enduring the scrutiny and judgment of their peers, some can crack under the stress.
Each episode represents a two-sided tape, containing a reason why she committed suicide. Each reason is attached to a person. One individual, Justin Foley, makes an appearance twice.
Forced to reflect on and confront their actions, or lack of action, the students who caused Hannah to take her life try to cover up the tapes she left behind. However, her co-worker and crush, Clay Jensen, has a different agenda, as he sets out to seek revenge on those who wronged Hannah, while also trying to process her death.
In a self-curated order, Hannah gave the box of tapes she recorded to a classmate, Tony, to pass along to those who disregarded her pained experiences.
First is Justin Foley, who was her first kiss. He showed a promiscuous photo he took of her to his friends, let them share it and ultimately started her “easy” reputation, which was the beginning of the end. His name appears in a later tape as reason 11, where she exposes him for allowing his best friend Bryce to rape his girlfriend Jessica.
Second is her former friend, Jessica, who she met through a staff member at their school; they were both new and Hannah thought they would make good friends. Hannah, Jessica and their newfound friend Alex, would congregate at the local coffee shop, Monet’s Café.
The friendship soon dissipated when Alex and Jessica began to date, and ended for good when Hannah was put on a list deeming her “best ass” by Alex, while dating Jessica. Alex was then third on the list because, following the circulation of the list, it declared “open season” on her body.
These actions started a chain reaction, as Hannah’s body continued to be disrespected by her peers. This includes Tyler, who was fourth for stalking Hannah, and Marcus, the school’s student body president, who tried to inappropriately touch Hannah after showing up an hour late to their date.
Asher’s story of teen tragedy also portrays the idea of regret, wishing to go back and change the past. Hannah offered many cries for help, all of which fell on deaf ears, as her teachers, school counselor and peers all pushed her aside.
An example of this would be Zach, the school’s basketball star, who is seventh, for inciting his revenge on her by taking away the compliments being put in her “compliment basket” in their communications class after she rejects him.
Hannah had sent him a note after catching him steal them to explain why these compliments were so important to her and how it hurt her in painful, graphic detail. Despite this, he never told anyone how much she was suffering.
Ryan, reason eight, had a similar responsibility to help Hannah. After both joining a poetry group, he anonymously published a deep poem that Hannah had written in the school magazine, which was later made fun of by their classmates. This further isolated Hannah, as she thought she had finally found a place she could feel accepted and express her thoughts.
As the series progresses, viewers also realize that Clay has been dealing with the sudden death of his former tutee, Jeff, who died in a car accident. Viewers also learn that Hannah was involved with this, as Sheri, a cheerleader who drove her home from a party, crashed into a stop sign earlier that night and didn’t call the cops. This led to Jeff being killed at the intersection later that night.
After this, Clay finally learns the reason he’s on the tapes, after feeling immense guilt for being a bystander through all her pain; she wanted to give him an explanation as to why she died.
The 12th reason belongs to Bryce, a senior who felt Hannah up and later raped her in his hot tub, fully breaking her soul. The 13th reason leads into her final plea for help and last shot at life, as her suicidal thoughts come to the forefront.
She turned to the school’s guidance counselor, Mr. Porter, who arguably failed her the most. After confessing that she was raped, Mr. Porter brushed it off and told her the only realistic option was to “move on” if she refused to name her attacker.
Hannah actually recorded their conversation and his appalling response to expose him for the callous assistance he provided.
Leading up to her death, Hannah was betrayed, slandered, scapegoated and failed by everyone in her life. Over her short year at Liberty High School, her worth was diminished until she felt worthless and ultimately took her life.
