“13 Reasons Why” is not a movie but instead a 13 episode series streaming on Netflix about a young teenager who enters high school with all the expectations of a student with their whole life ahead of them. The series focuses on a female who happens to be very pretty with no visible sign of deformities, always trendily fashioned and no brain malfunctions. In other words, she seems quite normal. For some reason, she was taken advantaged of via a form of bullying over the years, which caused her reputation to take a roller coaster ride during her time in high school while her self esteem plummeted as well. After committing suicide, 7 double sided tapes, that she made for the students who contributed to her demise were allocated for each one, which made for a brilliant series everyone should see.
The series starts with Clay Jensen (Dylan Minnette), who returns home from school and finds a mysterious box of seven double sided cassette tapes laying on his porch. The tapes are recorded by Hannah Baker (Katherine Langford), his classmate and unrequited love, who tragically committed suicide two weeks earlier. These 7 double sided tapes reveal an emotional audio diary, detailing the 13 reasons why she decided to end her life. With each package of tapes, Hannah instructed the following: each person who receives a package is one of the reasons why I killed myself, so 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.
NOTE: Each tape is addressed to a select person in her school and details their involvement in her inevitable suicide. Responsibility for the separate set of tapes was given to Tony Padilla (Christian Navarro), who is Clay’s best friend.
These are the school members who Hannah held responsible:
Episode 1 Tape 1 Side a
Justin Foley (Brandon Flynn) – Jessica’s boyfriend and Bryce’s best friend
Episode 2 Tape 1 Side b
Jessica Davis (Alisha Boe) – was Hannah’s best friend
Episode 3 Tape 2 Side a
Alex Standall (Miles Heizer) – Jessica’s boyfriend
Episode 4 Tape 2 Side b
Tyler Down (Devin Druid) – School photographer
Episode 5 Tape 3 Side a
Courtney Crimsen (Michele Selene Ang) – Most popular girl in school
Episode 6 Tape 3 Side b
Marcus Cole (Steven Silver) – Basketball team player
Episode 7 Tape 4 Side a
Zach Dempsey (Ross Butler) – Basketball team player
Episode 8 Tape 4 Side b
Ryan Shaver (Tommy Dorfman) – School poetry curator
Episode 9 Tape 5 Side a
Justin Foley (Brandon Flynn) – Jessica’s boyfriend and Bryce’s best friend
Episode 10 Tape 5 Side b
Sheri Holland (Ajiona Alexus) – Cheerleader
Episode 11 Tape 6 Side a
Clay Jensen (Dylan Minnette) – Hannah’s true love interest
Episode 12 Tape 6 Side b
Bryce Walker (Justin Prentice) – Justin’s best friend
Episode 13 Tape 7 Side a
Kevin Porter (Derek Luke) School guidance counselor
In addtion, Lainie Jensen (Amy Hargreaves), was Clay’s mom, Olivia Baker (Kate Walsh), was Hannah’s mom, Andrew “Andy” Baker (Brian d’Arcy James), was Hannah’s dad and Matt Jensen (Josh Hamilton), was Clay’s father.
If you subscribe to Netflix, you merely have to choose “13 Reasons Why” to experience this incredible story that could change the way one looks at what bullying can cause. This is a life changing look at a very serious problem. Many schools are viewing the series as a possible standard for their students. I think it’s a must see for everyone!
CAROL's WORLDS 