Monday, Dec 23rd

13 Reasons Why in 2 Days

13-reasons-whyI just spent the last two rainy days watching the entire series of " 13 Reasons Why" on Netflix.

It's intriguing, frustrating, very dark, and yet... highly entertaining!

Wouldn't recording a shoe box full of A and B side audio tapes that place the blame on 13 others for one's suicide contribute to signs of psychopathic behavior ... not to mention being excessively time consuming? I ask because all the while Hannah, the suicidal character, shows no signs of distress, withdrawal from high school party life or her parents, or even a lapse in great hair and make up.

Not only that, but frankly, Hannah is confronted with solid opportunities to confidentially emote to a great friend in addition to her school psychologist, but instead, she makes the choice to withhold all the physical and emotional stuff that's contributing to her depression. She instead remains calm, cool and collected as she continues to record her" blame tapes" and travel her narcissistic path to suicide. How annoying and frustrating, yet incredibly suspenseful and yes. ... admittedly fun to watch!

In my opinion the series isn't really taboo for teens and some tweens to watch aside from three minutes each in episodes 12 and 13 because each of those episodes contain the scenes that are most disturbing.

My 11 year-old has recently informed me that she's on episode seven so I thought I'd head her off at the pass, which is the real reason I've holed myself up in my home office watching this series for the past two days. That being said, I now have the insight to disallow her to watch episodes 12 and 13, at least without me by her side to cover her eyes and maybe even my own.

The characters in this series are supposed to be high school students, but in my opinion are way more mature in behavior and far more collegiate in mentality. But in the casts' defense it all works well because the show is very well acted and the screenplay is unique in subject matter even if it was a book first.

In the end, I think it makes for a really great conversation piece, not just with my kids, but also with my friends, all whom I consider to be trustworthy in a hot tub.