EVERYTHING WRONG WITH 13 REASONS WHY - AN OPEN LETTER

Dear 13 Reasons Why,




I think that whilst your show was made with good intentions, it was a mistake. Yes, I watched every episode because I read the book as a young girl and it affected me beyond words, but I am not a fan.

Yes, mental health needs to be talked about more. I think challenging the stigma is so important, and that creating a better world for our generation and future generations to come is so, so important. I understand where you were coming from. I understand you wanted to show that suicide is so raw and painful and that people do it every day, every second...but personally, I don't think you should be trying to convince people to not kill themselves because of the effect it will have on other people.

The effect on other people is massive, and tragic and so heart-breaking, I love that there are so many facilities to help those who are left with a hole in their hearts. It matters, it really does, to prevent others from falling into dark places because of loss. Grief is a horrible thing, but there are people out there that do this because they believe everyone they want to leave behind would be happier without them. And I think we should start with them, so that there aren't people left behind.

We should be changing how people feel about themselves, and showing them that there is so much more that life can offer. We should be teaching people in need what resources there are out there, and that they are worth it...not convincing them that their choice is selfish.

My other issue is, suicide isn't murder, it shouldn't be a chance to seek revenge on the ones who have wronged you, and it definitely should not have been romanticised as much as it was.

As for the suicide scene, I personally couldn't watch. To me it was too painful. Again, I understand your intentions in including this...but there is a difference to a person reading the scene in a book and then actually seeing her do it. How do you think that affects people with pre existing mental health issues? Did anyone ever think hey, a suicidal person will be able to watch this and definitely won't think about the scene for days on end? It definitely wouldn't trigger a vulnerable person to do something? I think this decision was a bad one.

I really do applaud you for tackling such an important, relatable and current problem, I just really think it should've been approached differently. I think that seeing the cast members talk about mental health in interviews is amazing, and they all seem so educated and passionate...the show had so much potential, and for me it fell short.

Sometimes, you can't make it okay before someone is dead. If you've treated someone like shit, bullied them, done something to them...it's likely your words have already had an effect on them. It's so sad that people are only now realising how to treat others because of the show, that was executed quite poorly, in my opinion.

The whole story focused on Clay, who seemed so infatuated with Hannah Baker, that he actually thought he could love her back to life. Making someone want to live does not mean just giving them love. It is a long process, it takes time and persistence and patience. It means getting to the root of the problem, stripping everything bare and tackling the nitty gritty issues. Self esteem, PTSD, and yes, issues like the show raised. But really, you can't love someone back to life. And although suicide is so so haunting, it is in no way beautiful, like the show made it out to be.

It's ugly, and awful and lonely. Nothing about suicide could ever be beautiful. Romanticising mental health happens too often, and I think that needs to change.

At the end of the series, Clay then reaches out to Skye, a girl whom he knows has been cutting her wrists and seems to generally have a negative outlook on life (another issue of mine, the characters were one-dimensional). This was a nice idea, I like that it kind of shows that Clay wants to help her get over her issues, that it could set the ball rolling to get her help.
He asks her to hang out, but I think we are left with the presumption that Clay saves Skye because he was nice. We don't see him help her see someone about it, we just see the implication that he saved Skye, like he couldn't with Hannah. Like he wouldn't have done it if Hannah wasn't dead, and neither would anyone else.

Kindness alone does not fix suicide. I think that kindness can set the ball rolling, but cannot help someone love being alive again.

I really don't think the sequel is a good idea. I think that to be brutally honest, you're making money out of this for no good reason. Hannah's story ended, as it did in the book. There isn't any reason for the sequel series. The whole point is to keep people wondering, to have them make up their own minds as to what happened.

I really understand that this show helped a lot of people, and I can understand why they like it. I even read somewhere that I think Brazil had a huge increase in calls to suicide hotlines, from people seeking help, and they mentioned that the show had motivated them to call. I really really do think that the intentions of the show were good, but in my opinion (just need to stress that) I didn't like it. It's an important issue, but I don't really recall any point at which they actually discussed mental health issues and the help you can get properly. But honestly, I do see how people were helped by this, I just wasn't at all.

I understand that not everyone will share my views, and it's something I'm honestly really passionate about. I think that the young actors and actresses have so much knowledge and the drive to help people with mental health issues, but the show itself was disappointing, and to some people, dangerous. I know that people will not agree with me, and I know some people might even be angry, but as I've stated through the whole post, it's my opinion and I'm completely entitled to that. I hope that the images I included (which are all taken from Google) show you just what I mean. Suicide is never murder, please remember that.

I also think that it is important to note that I myself have suffered. I don't want to go into it in depth, but I have suffered, and still do, and as someone who suffered...it didn't work for me.

Please, be safe and take care of yourselves. You're not alone.

http://www.samaritans.org/ - 116 123
https://www.mind.org.uk/ - 0300 123 3393
https://www.papyrus-uk.org/ - 0800 068 4141

chlo xx