Unfortunate Implications / 13 Reasons Why

13 Reasons Why deals with a number of heavy subjects including mental health, suicide, sexual assault and school shootings. Many of the show's depictions of these subjects have been criticized by both experts and general audiences for the way they're handled and accused of sending the wrong message. Thus, a dedicated page for Unfortunate Implications seemed appropriate.

Season 1

• Listing all the articles describing how the show/book can be construed as "romanticizing suicide" (among other things) would take too long. Many experts advise that parents of young people watching should at least talk about the events in the show. One of the most common criticisms by far is that the story presents Hannah's suicide and the tapes explaining her decision as a way for Hannah to finally gain control, sympathy and understanding from others and making the people who harmed her (regardless of how intentional it was) feel bad and/or reflect upon their actions, thus unintentionally suggesting that suicide was a genuine solution to Hannah's problems and giving her back power over the narrative. An article in Psychology Today argued that the show does not equip people who are seeking help from others well enough. Others note that suicide is represented as a "blame game" driven by external factors rather than underlying mental illness, which gets little mention in Season 1. The worst thing about this is that the mishandling of the subject matter actually caused an increase in teen suicides, with many suicide notes containing direct references to the series. Season 2 opens with a PSA from several of the actors laying out some of the tricky subjects you're about to see, and warn that if you're struggling with them yourself, you might want to turn the show off and have some serious discussions about them first. From then on, every season would begin with a similar PSA.

Season 2

• The way the show handles the school shooting plot attracted some criticism, especially considering the real-life prevalence of such tragedies in the US. Even Dylan Minnette and the show's consultants agreed that Clay trying to talk Tyler down was very dangerous and not at all what he or any friend of someone in that situation should have done. It further carries the implication that simply being "kind" to school shooters can prevent the violence, which unrealistically glosses over the far more complex reasons people commit such crimes. The plotline was also criticized for presenting Tyler sympathetically, with his motives for trying to murder his teachers and classmates being revenge and trauma over being bullied, and the catalyst for the shooting being his sexual assault. This carries the implication that school shooters are just victims pushed too far and that the actual victims of shootings are in some way to blame for the violence inflicted upon them. In real life, the idea that most school shooters are bullied outcasts who eventually snap is actually a myth.
• Some have argued that Clay's "nice guy" tendencies, which ramp up in Season 2, send a bad message. During this season, he expresses an entitlement to Hannah – who has been dead for months – and is furious when he finds out she had sex with someone he feels doesn't "deserve" her (while later rejecting him). Some have pointed out that not only is Clay never corrected or called out for this attitude, but he's also rewarded for it and treated by her parents almost like he was her boyfriend (when they were barely on speaking terms). He also pushes Jessica and Sheri — who he is aware are both survivors of assault — past their comfort zone for his own agenda, and his pushing is subsequently forgiven because of his own trauma (while theirs is brushed aside). Some argue that Clay's ways are presented as objectively good and correct, which sends a negative message to impressionable young viewers – forgive pushy men as long as their heart is in the right place.

Season 3

• Bryce's arc in Season 3 was criticized by many. The show attempts to portray him in a grayer light than previous seasons; he starts to feel some remorse for his crimes while struggling with his personal life. He also pursues a more equal and respectful relationship with Ani. But some feel this undermines the show's message about the seriousness of sexual assault; Bryce is still a serial rapist and bully who traumatized several people and contributed to one of his victims taking her own life. His worst punishment was three months probation and he gets a second chance at life, with his personal struggles getting a lot more screentime than his victims'; Jessica and especially Chloe barely get any focus on how they've moved on or tried to rebuild, and the other girls don't appear at all. His attempts to make amends also seems to be triggered less by a Heel Realization and more by him hating being ostracized by his peers; combined with the fact he continues to treat others poorly throughout the season, it makes his motives come off as rather selfish and Unintentionally Unsympathetic to some viewers, yet the show appears to insist the audience feel sorry for him.
• Bryce's relationship with Ani attracted considerable criticism for coming off as a classic case of I Can Change My Beloved; Ani pursues a relationship with Bryce despite being warned to stay away from him, emotionally supports him, is physically intimate with him and defends him to others even though she knows what he's done because she believes there's good in him no one else can see. On Bryce's side, it can also come off as him being rewarded with sex simply for having the common decency to not rape or abuse Ani. While Ani does end up distancing herself from Bryce after seeing his more unpleasant side firsthand, some have argued that it's never really presented as wrong or misguided of her to have put herself at risk to act as an emotional crutch for a serial rapist, which they argue sends a very unhealthy and dangerous message to viewers.
• Some elements of Tyler's arc in Season 3 were criticized, mainly the treatment plan for his mental problems and how his friends deal with his issues. Although Tyler is in therapy, very little of it is shown, and Clay's plan is to essentially cocoon Tyler in attention from his friends to prevent him from being let out of their sight and committing further violence. As some reviewers have pointed out, even though in-universe some of the characters say Clay's plan is insane, his plan is vindicated in the end because it's what helps Tyler find peace and acceptance. Never mind that Tyler tried to kill people, but even if you believe Tyler deserves a second chance, the fact that he was in such a bad state of mind and his friends thought the solution was to simply surround him like bodyguards 24/7 until they decided he was better had some reviewers having to warn young viewers — no, you should not do that.

Season 4

• The Tragic Aids Story in Season 4 got backlash for this, with viewers expressing concern it would spread misinformation and fear amongst young viewers. Not only is the portrayal of AIDS not all that accurate, many people felt that by 2020 the plotline was severely outdated; being HIV-positive is no longer an immediate death sentence thanks to the development of medication and people with HIV can absolutely live long, fulfilling lives. Even people with AIDS can live several years if they have treatment. The fact that Justin got HIV by having sex with/being raped by other HIV-positive men while he was a prostitute and/or sharing infected drug needles just as he'd managed to turn his life around didn't help, as it's unintentionally reminiscent of harmful myths around HIV such as "only gay men get HIV", "AIDS is a punishment for immorality" etc.
• The series has had bad luck with seasons dropping around the same time as major tragedies – the second season debuted shortly after a mass shooting in high school, and its finale featured a school shooting plot. The final season premiered the week of mass protests against the George Floyd murder and included some anti-policing protests in the plot. But some have pointed out that the show didn't take a strong-enough stance on police brutality and that the racist SRO is never really dealt with. Others pointed out that having Clay, a white guy, heroically lead the protest (despite biracial girl Jessica staging the walkout and Latino boy Diego being the initial target) is problematic, and having Alex and Zach's ransacking of the principal's office be turned into a sort of comedy scene only trivialized a serious matter. Finally, Clay gets away with so much when it comes to his actions with the SROs, both at the riot and in the police station, that it's been difficult for reviewers to not point out what a display of white privilege it is. To add to that strain, Clay says in the final episode that he understood why Sheriff Diaz gave him so much extra attention, and it comes out as fairly pro-cop, which is not considered very sensitive in the cultural context.
• Although nowhere near as prominent as the other examples on this page, season 4 was criticized for showing the students only trying to get into Ivy League schools and implying that not getting accepted would result in the kids being failures. This subplot concluded with almost all the students getting into their dream colleges and the implication that starting college will be their Happily Ever After. In reality, most of the colleges discussed are ‘’incredibly difficult’’ to get into and it’s highly unrealistic that most of them would be accepted based on their on-screen academic performance (Clay is never shown to take any extracurriculars, Justin dropped out for a semester and Jessica had multiple disciplinary issues). There was concern that any High-School student watching the show would be given the false impression that attending Ivy League is easier than reality or that the recruiters in real-life are anywhere near as sympathetic as in the show.
  • Beyond that, due to various post-secondary factors that have come to a head in the past few years- rising tuition costs, over saturation of degree holders in the job market, and stagnating wages- it’s becoming more and more encouraged for prospective college students to start off in Community College or at least state-level universities prior to just attending prestigious universities and incurring hundreds of thousands of dollars in student debt before having a major declared. These issues have caused many to question the notion that college educations automatically lead to better livelihoods, which the show seems to treat as a no-brainer.