The book and now Netflix series “13 Reasons Why” glorified suicide and the way people can torture the living after they take their own lives. 

“13 Reasons Why” shows a dramatic version of one person wanting others to feel their pain and understand what part they played in the decision to take their life. After seeing the show, there were reports of teens copying Hannah Baker’s approach to suicide and Google searches of “suicide” jumped 20 percent in the first 19 days the show aired on Netflix. 

However, suicide is not the way to leave this world and definitely not the best way to get revenge on those who have hurt you.

In “13 Reasons Why,” we see the struggle Clay Jensen goes through as he is forced to listen to the reasons why Baker killed herself. This was, of course, extremely dramatic, theatrical and creative. The three of those combined make the show more interesting to watch and the book more captivating to read.

Also, the producers made the show slightly more dramatic by having Baker kill herself via slitting her wrists in the bathtub. In the book, Baker kills herself with pills. Somehow, taking pills and falling asleep seems like a much less dramatic way to take one’s life than slitting one’s wrists in a bathtub. Either way, the writers and producers wanted to make her death as dramatic as the day she decided she wanted to die and all days after that.

Moral of the story is that the writers and producers of “13 Reasons Why” wanted to make a statement through Baker’s death to convey a message about people and their suffering. This was not meant to be repeated, it was just meant to be read, watched and respected.