“13 Reasons Why” doesn’t get it right

“13 Reasons Why” is the television adaptation of the book written by Jay Asher. The story follows Hannah Baker, a high school student who faces bullying both online and in person.

Hannah decides that it’s all too much to take, so she commits suicide. However, she leaves tapes for the 13 people in her life who made life unbearable for her.

In my opinion, this new Netflix original series is awful and here the reasons why. (Let us know if you disagree in the comments!)

1.Insults teens.

This show insults teens by making them seem stupid for not knowing why Hannah killed herself. It shows them hiding their emotions and making the whole school of teens seem inconsiderate.

2. Too much background information

I feel like we got way too much background information on the other students and the lawsuit. It made the episodes boring and annoying, because they would say or do the same thing repeatedly.

3. Episodes are too long

Too much information leads up to super long episodes (in this case 50 minute episodes that could’ve been cut down to about 30 minutes). I just wanted to hear Hannah’s story and her truths but when you have a cast this big, I guess everyone has to have a chance, unfortunately.

4. He said – She Said

There is entirely too much of this along with the “Shh, don’t tell and don’t talk too loud.”  People know and will figure it out. The teens in this show are acting like word won’t get out about the fact that the tapes exist and that they are in them.

5. The F word

“13 Reasons Why” is about teen angst. I get it, but enough already with the F word. It gets annoying when everyone says it constantly and in no certain context.

    6.Unrealistic teens

The teens in this show seem like adults not teens. They have piercing and tattoos.  Most of them drink alcohol and get high in every episode, which isn’t normal for many teens, especially in their sophomore year of high school. I also had a hard time believing the story because of the sexual content in the show.

7. Bad acting

Many of the characters were not great at acting and it showed. I think the worst character was Jessica, because I didn’t believe her as a character. The only two characters I could really believe were Clay and Hannah.

8. Not like the book

In the book, the events that happen throughout the 13 episodes are supposed to happen in one night. Along with that, Alex doesn’t get shot, Courtney isn’t gay—plus a ton of other stuff that wasn't like the book.

9. Season two. Please NO.

There were many chapters left unturned at the end of season.  I felt that the end of this season could only lead to a season two and if the producers and directors don’t change things, I won’t be watching.

With that being said, the moral of the story is so important for everyone to learn. People feel empty and alone every day, and sometimes we are the ones making it worse and don’t even know. Even though the show isn’t great, it tells a story of something very real and that if we tackle things differently as a society, this could happen less. If you know someone in need of help or you need help yourself call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

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