13RW is very well made. But you still don't see how S1's overall narrative may have been bit of a problem? The series ends with H's mother discovering she has been bullied, and how toxic high school can be, and she fights to change it. And it kind of starts to work. This all happens because of H killing herself and leaving the tapes as sort of revenge. You don't see how someone who has been bullied and with no one to turn to might get the idea that they can get 'justice' by doing what she did?
I definitely am willing to admit there were flaws in the narrative as far as potentially giving already troubled kids bad ideas.
With that said, anytime you are going to attempt to attack such difficult and immense issues in an entertainment context, youâre going to run into a few issues, and thereâs always going to be a flaw. Something will always be problematic. However, itâs how you handle the self awareness of those flaws that matters in my eyes.
The creators of 13RW heard the criticisms from parents after S1 and decided to do extensive sociological research on the true impact of their series. They found that although as assumed, many parental figures were upset at how suicide was portrayed, the focus groups of teens and young adults were wildly affected in positive ways, and what most took away was the message of how much better we need to treat people, because we never know whatâs going on in someoneâs life.
Now is that to say itâs impacted positively for everyone? No. But again, 13RW made sure to not only give trigger warnings before every episode that depicted violence/rape/suicide, but made a PSA video in the beginning that very directly said: if you are struggling, this show might not be for you, and maybe you shouldnât watch it. In an entertainment scenario, making a series and putting a video that tells viewers not to watch is a pretty valuable move.
On top of that, they added âBeyond 13RWâ (I think thatâs the name) where experts, therapists, survivors, the creators and actors all talk about the hard topics and provide a plethora of outreach opportunities. Focus groups responded very well to âBeyondâ, including adults, and they are going to do that again for S2, as well as double their provided resources on the website for troubled individuals to seek help.
To me, thatâs the best you can do. Making a series built for entertainment so people will watch, while also doing everything you absolutely can to protect your viewers and make a positive difference.
Would I have liked a little more dialogue stressed on âyea maybe Hannah is getting justice but sheâs still dead. Sheâs DEAD. Gone forever nowâ? Yea, I would have, because with so many flashback sequences I think that maybe there was so much of Hannahâs presence that message got lost in translation a bit. But i also think that in order to balance that, they did an excellent job of showing Alexâs deterioration (and Clays as well, when he was going to jump off the ledge and Tony stopped him). I even thought it was highlighted in the juxtaposition of Hannah and Jessica, who WILL get justice for what Bryce did to herâŚbut Hannah never will. All Hannah did with those tapes, really, was get justice for Jessica. Hannah will never know that peace. Thereâs something so tragic in that. I also think that S2 will have the âHannah is gone foreverâ message hit a lot harder, now that the tapes are gone and life is moving forward. Without her.
So yes I get where your coming from and I donât disagree there were some flaws in the narrative but I also thing they are doing what they can to fill those holes and I definitely donât think the way they depicted the suicide itself was romanticized. It was legitimately one of the hardest things I have ever had to watch on screen.
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