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Responce to the blog 'Why a Show “Discouraging” Suicide Caused Suicides"


siddhu

for the final overall grade


While I agree to most the arguments, I do have a differing view to a few mentioned in the article.

The article is correct in mentioning that in the clutter of TV programs, movies, social media, everyone and especially content creators are fighting a battle for views. Hence, there is a huge pressure for any new show to create a ‘shock value’ to gain high viewership. ‘13 reason why’ was no different and it was pretty successful in this aspect as it was one of the most tweeted shows in 2017. Also, the producers are working on the 2nd season of the program indicating the reasonably good viewership for season 1.

The article mentions that the “The overall negative impact of the show overshadows the minimal positive effects, rendering it entirely counterproductive to its goals.” While it true that the online searches for suicide mentions went up significantly during and after the show, but the show created awareness about the causes leading to suicide. It is important to note that the show is not a documentary on various issues which could possibly lead to suicide or suicidal thoughts and hence the need to create a shock value. Had it been a staid documentary, I am sure we would not have been talking about the series.
It is important to mention an key point that in today’s time, despite all the progress in healthcare, we are still not comfortable to talk about mental wellbeing related topics like depression, slut shaming, bullying, etc openly. It might seem obvious that after an accident, you go to a doctor to get treated for the wounds but if you require mental support after an incident, it continues to be a big no-no. Even today, going to a psychotherapist is still seen as a stigma or mental imbalance. Also, it is not that there is ample evidence that shows like ‘13 reason why’ did result in a sharp increase in suicide rates. However, suicide rates have been on the increase in various countries and one of the key reasons is that we don’t have enough conversation to understand the underlying issues. Good or bad, shows like ‘13 reasons why’ force the various parties – parents, educators, friends to take notice of the issues and hopefully start talking. I think that the show gave us a ‘wake-up call’ and forced us to look at the ugly issues which completely destroy a teen. As there is stigma attached to talk about mental wellbeing, only a higher level of conversations can prepare the teens to be ready and handle various issues.

While I am not in favour of showing graphic details of the suicide as it might ‘inspire’ impressionable minds, but accordingly to the writers and I hesitatingly accept the logic, showcasing such graphic details was important to break the impression that suicide is about popping a pill and having a peaceful death but the whole process can be an extremely painful affair. There are now stories on few news portal which mentions about teens turning away from suicide after seeing the pain involved. In fact one of the writers changed his mind about committing suicide once he got to know how painful the whole process could beThe other important aspect that has been overlooked about the show is a Netflix commissioned study done by Northwestern University’s Center on Media and Human Development. The purpose of the survey was to understand how young adults watching the streaming show felt about what is depicted in Hannah's story.
Some of the insight makes for an interesting argument against the article. According to the study, 78% of viewers believed that the series helped them understand that their actions can have an impact on others. 73% decided to be more considerate about how they treated other people following their view of season 1. 51% percent said they reached out to someone they hurt after being inspired by Hannah and Clay's story.
To conclude, I am divided about the impact the show has created but I am glad that any conversations sparked will only help in creating more awareness and help in dealing with the issues and hopefully resulting in saving of more lives in the future.



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