Not beginning a blogpost with a creative fun title today and I have my reasons for that.
I just ended watching the Netflix series '13 reasons why'. And I had this gut feeling I needed to talk about this.
I'm a grown up woman of 22 years old and I know I have to be critical about what I see and what I read.
And I also need to be critical when watching a series like '13 reasons why'.
But however critical or grown up I am, this series was hurting me emotionally.
All thirteen episodes just took me on an emotional rollercoaster which made me cry, dream about it, pity Clay Jensen as if it was my friend until I realised this is not healthy.
Okay, I also need to add maybe that I am a very emotional person who sympathizes with others easily.
But still, at the end of the series I realized this series could damage a young person completely.
As an adult we can put those things in perspective and not take everything so seriously.
But, imagine a 15 year old? They watch Netflix too, you know.
My mind started making a chaos of thoughts after the last episode and I just needed to write it down.
One of those thoughts was linked to me becoming a teacher.
I would be heartbroken and blaming myself if I heard a pupil in school would be going though something like Hannah Baker.
But what can you do? Honestly I would react like Clay. When she is pushing you out of her personal space, you are feeling offended while deep down we know we have to force her to talk about it. But that's hard, very hard to do so.
Okay, it's maybe a good thing the producers wanted to put suicide out there, no longer a taboo.
But sorry, a sensitive subject as suicide doesn't need to be pictured literally.
I didn't need nor wanted to see Hannah cutting her wrists. I couldn't handle to watch that and that's not because I'm being lame.
What would be the impact of that scene on a young person?
I have mixed feelings about this. The series was good! So good I started binge-watching the whole thing with even ignoring my sleep.
That again is dangerous.
I also know some people would think 'damn, those things that happened to Hannah weren't that bad, why is she making all that drama?'.
Well, when you are a person who says such a thing, you definitely never dealed with bullying. It has a larger impact on you than everyone around you can imagine.
And not even bullying, just feeling emotionally broken. I've been there once. So I could understand what Hannah was going through.
From feeling alone in the world, to needing everything to stop. The feeling you have when you think you will never again be happy. Yep, I get it.
For me personally, I was lucky I had the strength to pull myself out of this well of negativity. I had courage. I really needed to force myself to fight against this black period. It was so tempting to stay in it, but in my head I knew it was the worst thing to do. But some people don't have that and especially young people in high school are extremely vulnerable since they do not know how to pull themselves out yet.
Inside I'm a bit afraid to read the news (especially in America) the coming months. Will there something happen as a consequence of this series?
I profoundly hope not. But still, and I think we all know that, there is chance to it.
'13 reasons why' is a good series and talks about a subject no one really can talk about. And that's positive to bring it out in the open.
It's also a dangerous series and for that reason I follow the opinions of all those psychologists who are alarming us.
I would say, if you haven't seen it yet, watch it, but be careful for the impact it can have on you.
And maybe don't watch it when you are home alone during the night. That made it worse for me.
What are your thoughts about this series? Do you think it's dangerous or do you think everyone is exaggerating?
Let me know!
LotsOfLove,
MJ