Fans of the popular series 13 Reasons Why are hooked to their seats as the third season of the show is currently streaming on Netflix. With our beloved characters back on screen, it is hard to put the phone or the laptop aside.
All our precious characters are back. Except for our dearest Hannah Baker.
For those who are not familiar with Jay Asher’s story, which was later adapted into a TV series, let us talk a little about Hannah.
Who Is Hannah Baker?
A series of traumatic events in Hannah’s life pushes her to commit suicide. Hannah was a troubled girl dealing with rumours, bullying and disappointment in relationships. High school took a toll on her mental well-being with a number of events directly affecting her, including sexual abuse.
Hannah Baker, towards the end of season 1, is raped by her senior, Bryce Walker.
When she approaches her school counsellor Kevin Porter, he fails to extend the help she needed. Unable to carry the load of hopelessness on her shoulders, Hannah kills herself.
Before she dies, she leaves behind 13 audio tapes for a number of her classmates, stating 13 reasons why she killed herself.
But while netizens, on one hand, were obsessed with the show and loved how it started a conversation around a topic that is stigmatised by society, there was another group of people who were deeply annoyed with the show.
Why?
Hannah Baker’s Suicide Scene
There is a little bit of Hannah Baker in all of us. She specifically represents people battling depression and other mental illnesses, and are unable to talk about it or seek help.
However, the reason for concern among a lot of people was the suicide scene, and without a doubt, it was extremely graphic. Hannah slitting her wrists was difficult to watch and even more difficult to forget.
It was a reminder of the extreme pain that Hannah had to go through that prompted her to take such a drastic step. In fact, research found a sharp rise in suicide rates among children and teens in the month after the show was released in 2017.
More than two years after the show aired online, after the scene was met with a strong backlash from mental health experts, Netflix finally deleted the scene a few months ago.
With September 10, World Suicide Prevention Day just gone by, The Logical Indian spoke to a number of people to understand the impact of sensitive content in pop culture on viewers.
What Are Viewers Saying?
25-year-old Ahana Bose, a journalist from a media house in Kolkata, says, “From Jay Asher’s book to the Netflix adaptation, 13 Reasons Why always depicted how far-fetching the consequences of a mental wound can be. Hannah’s suicide scene was definitely uncomfortable, but that’s the reality. If we go through the chain of events that Hannah had to go through, the ultimate suicide scene in fact portrayed the intensity of her pain – a saturation point from where there’s no coming back.”
“Well, about deleting the scene, I am saying this despite battling mental health issues myself, it is uncomfortable but that’s the point. We all should feel uncomfortable before pushing someone to the edge of the abyss, and we should all concentrate on how we can stop attending the funerals of real Hannah Bakers,” she adds.
30-year-old Bill Denn from the US believes that there was no point removing the scene as people can always choose to watch or not watch what is about to come. “I think each individual has had different experiences in their lives, and that makes scenes like the one with Hannah’s suicide affect everyone differently,” he says.
“People knew what they were getting into when they clicked the play button. The scene, as graphic as it was, is nothing compared to scenes of gore that can be found in other movies on Netflix right now. People need to realize they have the option to not watch the series and they have the option to control what their children watch,” he adds.
On the other hand, there are people who believe that the scene was unnecessary.
“There is no need to portray suicide graphically. Youngsters have the tendency to imitate whatever is shown to them packaged as entertainment. It can become risky for people who are suicidal or people who suffer from anxiety, depression, PTSD, or have a vulnerable state of mind. What we need to focus on are the causes and issues that are forcing more and more people to take their lives,” says Adrija Bose, 31, SRF, ISI Giridih.
Ronit Chowdhury, a student studying chartered accountancy in Kolkata, thinks otherwise. “I don’t think deleting the scene was the right decision as it took away a bit of the reality from the show. The scene was very important to inflict Hannah’s pain in the mind of the audience. By taking it down, the impact that the scene is supposed to create on people for them to understand the importance of dealing with mental health issues got diminished,” he says.
Nelson Vinod Moses, the founder at Suicide Prevention India Foundation, believes that the scene should not…
