13 perspectives on Selena Gomez's hit Netflix series '13 Reasons Why'

By now you’ve likely heard of the Selena Gomez-produced Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. Its raw portrayal of high school life has made it a breakout teen drama, but it’s also getting widespread criticism for its depiction of suicide, as well as its explicit content addressing topics like rape and bullying.

The fictional show, based on Jay Asher’s 2007 young adult novel of the same name, tells the story — in graphic detail — of teenager Hannah Baker and the series of events that led up to her suicide. Hannah, played by actress Katherine Langford, leaves behind a box of taped cassettes created for those she believes wronged her and contributed to her decision to take her own life.

While there are mixed opinions on the content and production style of the show, one thing is for sure: it has got people talking. In fact, it’s officially the most tweeted about show of 2017, thus far. Here are 13 perspectives on 13 Reasons Why.

1. Selena Gomez

The singer/actress and her mother, Mandy Teefey, are the executive producers of 13 Reasons Why. Gomez is standing behind the series amid claims that it glamorizes teen suicide.

“I just wanted it to come across in a way that kids would be frightened, but confused — in a way that they would talk about it because it’s something that’s happening all the time,” she told E! News, noting that she is “overwhelmed and very surprised” at the success of the project.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Gomez said the series “stayed very true to the book and that’s initially what Jay Asher created was a beautifully tragic, complicated yet suspenseful story and I think that’s what we wanted to do.”

Gomez is also not surprised the series has stirred up controversy. “We wanted to do it justice and, yeah, [the backlash is] gonna come no matter what,” she said. “It’s not an easy subject to talk about.”

2. Canada

Since its March release on Netflix, educators and mental health professionals across Canada have expressed concern that 13 Reasons Why could glorify suicide if taken out of context.

Many Canadian school boards have distributed memos to teachers warning 13 Reasons Why shouldn’t be used as a teaching tool in classrooms. And according to CBC News, students at an elementary school in Edmonton have been ordered not to talk about the series. In an email to parents, the school’s principal wrote: “The discussion that is unfolding at school is troubling.”

Meanwhile, the Community Suicide Prevention Network of Ottawa doesn’t believe the series should be a taboo subject. Rather than avoiding the series altogether, the group recommends that parents use 13 Reasons Why as a “springboard for discussion” with their children. It even lists conversations points on its website, encouraging open and honest discussion about suicide.

3. The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA National)

In a statement, CMHA says it is concerned that 13 Reasons Why may glamorize suicide, and that some content may lead to distress in viewers, and, particularly, in younger viewers. It goes on further to add that “a large and growing body of Canadian and international research has found clear links between increases in suicide rates and harmful media portrayals of suicide.”

Mark Henick, an advocate with CMHA and past TED Talk speaker, understands why young people consider suicide better than most. More than a decade ago, he tried to take his own life on bridge, until a stranger intervened. While he has no doubt that 13 Reasons Why had good intentions to start a conversation about mental health, he believes the suicide episode “is the most dangerous decision they made in the production of the show.”

Henick noted that the portrayal does not follow media guidelines around the world for reporting on suicide, primarily that you don’t show the suicide on camera or describe it in graphic detail. “Suicide is messy. It’s sad. It’s not something you can easily pack into a Hollywood plot line,” he said.

Another interesting point Henick made is that Hannah narrates her own series after her death, through the cassette tapes. According to him, this glamorizes death and sends a potentially dangerous message to viewers. “Her revenge narrative is very present in this show,” Henick told Yahoo Canada News. “But the reality is that people don’t kill themselves to spite others. There’s usually an underlining mental health issue, with depression being the most common one.”

Henick encourages parents to talk to their children about suicide, regardless of whether they have seen the show or not. And his message to teenagers contemplating suicide is rather simple, yet reassuring: “Don’t give up. I know it’s hard to believe right now, and you’ve probably heard it before, but it will get better.”

4. Nic Sheff (Show Writer, 13 Reasons Why)

Interestingly, Hannah’s suicide is not depicted in Jay Asher’s book. Instead, readers learn from the book’s narrator, Clay Jensen, that Hannah killed herself by intentionally swallowing a handful of pills. But the suicide method was altered for the Netflix adaptation — a choice that one of the show’s writers, Nic Sheff, strongly defends.

“It overwhelmingly seems to me that the most irresponsible thing we could’ve done would have been not to show the death at all,” Sheff said in op-ed for Vanity Fair. “In AA, they call it playing the tape: encouraging alcoholics to really think through in detail the exact sequence of events that will occur after relapse. It’s the same thing with suicide. To play the tape through is to see the ultimate reality that suicide is not a relief at all — it’s a screaming, agonizing horror.”

Sheff added that he is “proud to be a part of a television series that is forcing us to have these conversations, because silence really does equal death. We need to keep talking, keep sharing, and keep showing the realities of what teens in our society are dealing with every day.”

5. Paris Jackson

The show’s storyline hits close to home for Michael Jackson’s 19-year-old daughter, who made multiple suicide attempts as a teenager.

In a recent Instagram post, the model/actress called 13 Reasons Why an important show but also offered a note of caution. “This show was an amazing way to get the message across to bullies that they need to stop doing what they are doing,” she wrote. “It really did a good job of showing how impactful words and actions can be to other human beings. You can’t just do or say things to people without thinking about how it will affect them.”

Paris’ post continued, “But at the same time, it is also an extremely triggering thing to watch…keep in mind that it may put you in a dark place. If you are struggling, please do not watch it.”

6. Alisha Boe (“Jessica” on 13 Reasons Why)

“It shouldn’t be censored at all,” Alisha Boe, who plays Jessica on the show, told The Hollywood Reporter. “If you just brush over the suicide scene, the audience will think that it was easy…we really have to show how ugly it is and how much it can affect a person’s life. It’s not easy and it shouldn’t be easy to watch.”

She went on to add that she believes the show is helping teenagers talk about mental health issues. “I was just in Brazil and the suicide hotline went up 100 per cent,” she said. “It is helping people more than it’s hurting people.”

7. Carol Todd (Founder, “Amanda Todd Legacy Society”)

The topics addressed on the show are difficult for Carol Todd, the mother of B.C. teen Amanda Todd who took her own life in 2012. Todd said that she first heard about Jay Asher’s book about six months ago from another parent who lost his daughter to suicide. “His daughter had read the book,” Todd told Yahoo Canada News.

But Todd noted “reading books is a different experience than watching something on a screen. We know that visual images can cement themselves in one’s mind for a very long time, if not forever.”

While she watched most of the series, Todd said she couldn’t bear to watch the suicide episode, especially after receiving warnings from others who said “the images won’t go away.”

“I am fearful that if I watched to the end, the trauma of the visuals would bring back the trauma I experienced with the suicide of my daughter.”

And while Todd thinks the show did something right by sparking “much needed discussion,” she said the criticisms about the show’s suicide scene are justified because they can have a lasting impact. “Often, we don’t know how something is going to affect us until after the fact.”

8. Brandon Flynn (“Justin” on 13 Reasons Why)

Brandon Flynn, who plays Justin on 13 Reasons Why, recently spoke to The Hollywood Reporter to defend the show’s graphic content.

“Television is meant for entertainment, but I don’t think suicide is glorified. I’m not sure what they see in someone cutting their wrists as glorification,” he said.

“People are talking about it because it’s something that isn’t talked about. Suicide is a taboo subject, especially suicide among youth. Everyone thinks that their kid lives these quaint and normal lives in school. What I hope people come to realize is that the show is much more than just that one scene. [Hannah’s suicide] scene is so graphic, but what the show deals with leads up to that scene — which is really important to talk about.”

9. Kiran Pure (Child Psychologist)

In an interview with CBC News, Kiran Pure, a prominent Halifax-area child psychologist, said 13 Reasons Why is a “very good depiction of a lot of issues that can lead up to suicide for kids.”

“The conversation has become daily where teens are saying it’s very relatable,” said Pure, who has watched the entire series herself. “That it’s a sad truth — what they face every day. There are certainly some teens who don’t relate to it, but the majority of the teenagers that ask the question in the clinic find it very relatable.”

According to her, the show is an opportunity for parents to start a difficult dialogue with their kids.

“It’s very important to ask, ‘Do you see this happening? How often does this happen? Does it happen to you? Does it happen to somebody close to you?'” Pure said.

10. Kate Walsh (“Mrs. Baker” on 13 Reasons Why)

In an interview with Huffington Post, Kate Walsh, who plays Hannah’s distraught mother on 13 Reasons Why, supports the way the series depicted suicide.

“I think there’s a lot of this idea in the mystery and the shame and the secrecy of suicide that no one talks about, that you can project this idea that it’s all going to be peaceful and blissed-out … [but] to really deal with depression and mental illness and these huge issues and show what it really looks like if someone tries to take their life ― it’s ugly and it’s really hard and it should be seen.”

Walsh went on to say there is no doubt 13 Reasons Why is tough to watch, but it tackles so many important issues that teenagers cope with in high school.

“I think [parents] should watch it with their kids and I really do think it should be mandatory in schools to watch this and talk about it and have education around it,” she concluded.

11. New Zealand

Teenagers in New Zealand who want to watch 13 Reasons Why will have to do so with their parents.

New Zealand’s office of Film & Literature Classification created a new rating prohibiting anyone under the age of 18 from watching the series without adult supervision after it classified the show’s depiction of suicide and rape as problematic.

“The show ignores the relationship between suicide and the mental illness that often accompanies it,” New Zealand’s government said. “People often commit suicide because they are unwell, not simply because people have been cruel to them.”

12. Ellen DeGeneres

“I think it’s amazing,” said Ellen DeGeneres, who revealed she was a big fan of the show during a recent interview with 13 Reasons Why stars Dylan Minnette and Katherine Langford.

The talk show host weighed in on the controversy in the wake of their show’s sudden popularity. “People say there’s a lot of heaviness in this show,” DeGeneres said. “And there is heaviness, but in high school right now — and even in younger (grades) — kids are experiencing this kind of bullying, and all the different things.”

13. Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE)

Dan Reidenberg, executive director of Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE), said he has heard from countless people across the U.S. about 13 Reasons Why.

“The show actually doesn’t present a viable alternative to suicide. [It] doesn’t talk about mental illness or depression, doesn’t name those words,” he told ABC News.

“There is a great concern that I have … that young people are going to overidentify with Hannah in the series and we actually may see more suicides as a result of this television series,” he added.

“There should be no reason, no justification whatsoever, why any kind of production — entertainment or news — would be so descriptive and so graphic.”

HELP IS AVAILABLE:
Kids Help Phone is a free, 24-hour phone and web counselling service that’s anonymous and confidential: 1-800-668-6868. Other general crisis lines in Canada and around the world can be found here: http://www.yourlifecounts.org/need-help/crisis-lines