13 Reasons Why is a show that follows Clay Jensen, a misfit boy who just lost one of his only friends: Hannah Baker. Hannah took her own life and before she did that, she recorded 13 tapes explaining the 13 reasons that led her to do it. Each reason is a person, those who are mentioned on the tapes are supposed to listen to them and pass them on to the next name, until they’ve all found out what they did to this girl’s life.
Besides being really annoyed with Clay for taking soooo long (13 episodes) to get through all the tapes, the show gives you a lot of mixed feelings, making it impossible for you not to binge watch everything in a crazy fast marathon.
Here are some essentials things about the show:
1. It’s not a show for depressive people.
There are actually lots scenes that could trigger emotional crisis, especially from episode 9 on. The show is meant for those who think depression is not a real disease and suicide is for weak people. These people get to see how their attitudes can have a huge impact on someone else’s life. Therefore we realize how important it is to have empathy, treat each other better, have more responsibility concerning our actions and always remember to be kind because you have no idea of what’s going on in other people’s lives.
2. The series shows how we actually live in a men’s world.
Pretty much all the problem in Hannah’s life are caused by slut shamming, rumors that follow her everywhere she goes, all of these because boys decided to make up stories and treat her in a nasty way. It’s important for boys to see how girls are not their property and to know that they can’t touch them, talk about them or do whatever they want to do with them without their permission. On the other hand, girls shouldn’t treat each other in a bad way because of rumors, when you see that another girl is being slut shammed, you should stick with her, help her get through it.
3. It also helps us to start noticing what’s going on with people around us.
Sometimes it just takes a friendly smile and supportive words to change someone else’s day. Don’t let anyone be alone, be there for those who are next to you. You may be saving a life without even noticing it.
The show is also very fun to watch. Every episode ends with a huge cliffhanger and you just CAN’T STOP WATCHING IT. You want to know what happened to Hannah, why is everyone so worried about being caught, what could Clay have possibly done and what’s Tony’s role in all of this mess.
****** WARNING *********
I just advise you to be cautious in case you are dealing with some emotional crisis of your own. I almost passed out during the last episode (the bathtub scene), which was very difficult to me because of my own experience with hurting myself and suicide. Just be careful and remember not to push your limits. Your mental health needs to come first.
Author: Gabrielle Vianna
Editor: Bárbara Muniz