13 Reasons Why/same old crybaby crap

[Pervertedneighbor]

What a disappointment!

Here I thought it might try to go deeper/go beyond idea of "you made me do it"/look into the mysterious workings of a mentally ill/depressed person's mind before she killed herself.  Instead, we have a book/movie that glorifies suicide and the reasons are given as vengeance.  "Aha! I did it because of you!"

No, I don't buy it.  Will never buy that crap.  I grew up being bullied.  Never once did I consider suicide.  I wished death on the bullies. 

When I was lonely and friendless, when I didn't have a girlfriend, I lived with it. 

I have been married to a mentally ill person for nearly 30 years.  She has attempted suicide on more than one occasion.  You can call the reason PTSD, but usually her attempts come when she has been outwardly  happy and there are no triggers going on, so go figure.

I think when these sorts of movies are made, the message is that "suicide is an option".

[MintJulie]

I disagree.   I was incredibly saddened watching this movie.

I cried on more than one occasion.   I wasn't bullied in high school.  I had a couple of girls that I wasn't friends with, but we also didn't bully each other, we just didn't like each other and had harsh words with one another.   I saw bullying.   I felt bad for those being bullied.  I never said anything to stand up for them.   I wish I had the courage then, that I have now.

(without divulging too much or spoilers)
I can see how Hannah Baker felt the way she did.   A girl at that age, going thru the things she did, you don't have to be mentally ill to commit suicide.   She was at wit's end and she tried battling through it.   What happened on tape 12 (Bryce), if you're not prepared for it as Hannah was not, I could feel her distress and could understand why she did what she did.   She went to her counselor, her 'one last chance', and she didn't get the answers she wanted.   You don't need to just be bullied, as you mentioned, to consider suicide.   Consider what she went through.     The suicide wasn't vengeance, the cassette tapes were.   

The movie doesn't glorify suicide.   How you can view it in that light has me baffled.   

I also don't think the message is "suicide is an option."      It's saying you don't know what goes on in the life of a kid and as a last resort, when they think there are no other options, suicide is a possibility.   

The world is a f'd up place and it's harder on kids these days.    I thought the pressure on me was great, but it's much harder on them now.   With GPA's, Sports, striving for scholarships......The pressures weigh on them massively.

[MissBarbara]

I haven't watched the TV series, but I read the book.

The thing is, Julie, you're an adult, and you're watching it with an adult's insight, sophistication, and life experience. The target audience for the book, and a major audience for the book, is teenagers, including kids as young as 11 or 12.

I found the book very disturbing, and for the reasons PervertedNeighbor outlines. He is correct: It DOES glorify suicide, and it DOES present suicide as a form of vengeance or payback. Worst of all, again as PN states, it prevents suicide as a viable and acceptable option to personal struggles and difficulties.

Are all of these things we should be teaching out children?