What’s Wrong with “13 Reasons Why” The First Season of Netflix’s

“13 Reasons Why” is the original Netflix series about a schoolgirl who committed suicide, Hannah Baker, who pre-recorded 13 reasons for her actions on tapes, and sent them in a chain to all those who, in her opinion, pushed her to this decision. A similar concept, although not entirely original, interested many viewers, which was the reason for the appearance of the second and third seasons. Moreover, the series is based on the novel of the same name by Jay Asher, and despite the fact that the book is really good, there are a couple of significant remarks about the series itself. Go.

See also: What’s Wrong with Rosemary’s Baby: Full Review and Spoiler-Reward

Briefly about the plot

As it was written above, the plot of the series revolves around the suicide of the schoolgirl Hannah Baker, but since the narrative covers two timelines: before and after the death of the girl. Then in the “after” line, the main character is Hannah’s friend and classmate, Clay. Having received and listened to all the tapes, he, unlike all the other “offenders”, will make them public by handing them over to the school psychologist, who is the final one on Hannah’s list.

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pros

Despite all the obvious disadvantages (about which, of course, below), we still want to start with the pros.

Idea

The main idea of ​​the series, twisted around seven mysterious cassettes with the recorded voice of an already dead girl, who talks about the reasons for her act, is conceptually very attractive. And the point is not how important a problem is raised in this way, but how skillfully it can be played around by hiding really scary things on these tapes, the disclosure of which will stir up the whole city.

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Visual and atmosphere

The visual side of any Netflix original is always a good and higher mark. Remember the same “Crown” or, what is already there, the insanely ridiculous “Matryoshka”, which, despite all the obvious holes in the plot, pulled the visual out one hundred percent. 13 Reasons Why was no exception.

The overall picture of the series is nice and tidy. The idea with a montage transition from the present to the past or vice versa, within the framework of one scene, causes genuine admiration. This also includes a technique with color correction, where warm shades are the “past” and “cold” ones are the present. This was done, of course, not only so that the viewer would not lose the narrative line in an abundance of identical characters. But also in order to emphasize the transition from a “warm” atmosphere with Hannah still alive, to a “cold” one in which the girl has already died.

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See also: What’s wrong with the TV series “Crown”: review and review of the first two seasons

Minuses

main character

Obviously, according to the scriptwriters’ idea, the main character Hannah is a girl who decided to commit suicide, and as the series assures, not from a good life, she is an unequivocal protagonist. She is the first person to whom we should direct all our sympathy and compassion. Right behind her is Clay. Well, then on a first-come, first-served basis. But whatever one may say, somewhere in the third or fourth episode, Hannah’s behavior and motivation begin to lose all meaning. She gradually turns into a faint-hearted, egocentric and narcissistic schoolgirl, who from series to series only does that continues to eat her cactus, calling anyone who speaks to her – the best friend.

She tries to gain universal respect and love from completely caricatured American teens who drink from red plastic cups, have a common school chat for several hundred people, and always have a great haircut. But that’s not even the point, because replacing them with real ones – nothing really changes. It is impossible to please everyone. This obvious fact is like a huge red rag that looms in front of the main character throughout the entire series, but does not prevent her from accusing everyone and everything, even after her death.

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Far-fetched reasons for suicide

Writing down 13 reasons why, Hannah veiledly accuses 13 people of the fact that they, through their bad deeds, forced her to commit suicide. For example, a failed boyfriend photographed her from the “slightly spread legs” angle in her panties, and this photo was seen by the whole school. The act is vile, we do not deny it. By the way, this “humiliation” technique is one of the most common in teenage literature or cinema. What he forgot in a serious Netflix series is a mystery. But whether it is worth dying because of him is a rhetorical question.

Someone called her fifth point – “best in class”, and someone even pinched her for it. And no, this is not a joke. All the reasons recorded on the cassette are naturally “sucked from the finger.” If you think about it and isolate them in one short sentence, it turns out that Hannah committed suicide due to her unpopularity in high school. Which is certainly scary, because the school, especially the older one, is exactly the place where popularity is needed like air.

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See also: What’s Wrong with Rosemary’s Baby: Full Review and Spoiler-Reward

Cardboard characters

As it was written above, all the characters from the series are caricatures of modern American teenagers. And no, it’s not about meaningless and often inappropriate dialogues. Not in how poorly and tediously the plot develops, but with it and its heroes. And in that – how clumsily and artificially they are connected with the main character, and later – with the reasons for which she commits suicide.

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Outcome

13 Reasons Why is the average teen drama that could have been better, but it hasn’t. The main character Hannah is an example of a completely spoiled and cut off from this world of a girl, whom everyone “should”. All other characters are a beautiful background. The main idea of ​​the series, according to its creators, is a couple of rude words and actions, which most people either pass by, or perceive with humor, or, if it’s really bad, they are going through some time, for someone they can become a reason for suicide.

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