T H I RT EE N R 3 AS O N S WH Y - Lucia Niland
“Hey, It’s Hannah Baker. That’s right. Don’t adjust your…. whatever device you’re hearing this on. It’s me, live and in stereo.”
I
f you’ve glanced at your social media feed at all in the past month or so, you'll most probably have heard of Netflix’s most recent series that has taken the world by storm, ‘Thirteen Reasons Why’. The drama-mystery series is based on the book by Jay Asher, which was published in 2007, and follows high school student, Clay Jensen (Dylan Minnette) who finds a mysterious package left at his door. In the box are 7 double-sided cassette tapes, together revealing why Hannah Baker (Katherine Langford), his classmate and unrequited love, took her life.
Her instructions are clear. Each person who receives a package is one of the reasons why she killed herself. After each person has completed listening to the tapes, they must pass the package on to the next person. If anyone decides to break the chain, a separate set of tapes will be released to the public. All thirteen episodes are narrated by Hannah, and each explore a different person or event that lead her to ultimately commit suicide. The show has received both praise and critique for addressing controversial topics that many teenagers have to deal with, such as depression, underage drinking, sexual assault, body shaming and finally, bullying. Directed by Selena Gomez, and starring Dylan Minnette (Don't Breathe), Katherine Langford, Alisha Boe (Paranormal Activity 4) and Ross Butler (Riverdale), the show has managed to generate an impressive 8,7/10 rating on IMDb and 86% on Rotten Tomatoes. It is rare for something to speak to so many different people at once and rarer yet for them to be able to relate to it so deeply. If we can learn anything from Thirteen Reasons Why, it's that the little things really do matter. Things you think mean nothing could be the sun, the moon, and all the stars for someone else, and also: You never really know the impact you have on someone else's life.
You can't stop the future. You can't rewind the past. The only way to learn the secret is to
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