13 Reasons Why Semiotic Analysis

Introduction

"13 Reasons Why" is an American Netflix teen theatre web television series established by Brian Yorkey centered on Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why. The series is all about a seventeen years old high school learner Clay Jensen together with his colleague Hannah Baker who committed suicide after going through hard times of gossip and carnal assault at her school without the support of her associates or even the administration of the school. The reason as to why Hannah ended her life is detailed in a box of cassette tapes she recorded. The point after the death of Hannah is the pickup of 13 Reasons Why as her parents and her fellow students try to assess the reasons behind the death of Hannah, from the tapes found at the doorstep of her friend Clay, she blames thirteen people for her fatal decision.

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Some of the ideas that the producer of the show seems to depict include the themes of death, the expression of guilt and blame, high opinion and repute, disloyalty, sex, ferocity, choices together with love. The theme of death slinks into every episode of the TV show which is focused on the cassette tapes records of the suicide message of the young Hannah. The tapes are played by Clay Jensen who was in a plutonic affair with Hannah, and the tapes depict how Hannah touches on her high school moments from the time of her very first kiss to her very final words. Whatever begins as an intermittent intention of committing suicide eventually turns up is a solid plan and ends up in a fatal overdose of pills. The incident of suicide by Hannah teaches Clay a lesson that he has the potential to enhance the wellbeing of other people who seem like to have lost confidence and this aspect is revealed when he reaches out to Sky Miller in the end, a girl perceived to be a potential suicide risk.

The theme of guilt and blame is evident from the audio-tapes recorded by Hannah which are a huge guilt trip where she freely admits it. The point of recording the tapes is that she wanted to depress her listeners by the way she was treated so that they can treat people in a better way in the future. Even though she attempts to make other people guilty, she also feels plenty of guilt herself. Hannah feels guilty for the rape of Jessica and blames herself for the demise of the boy who was killed after Jenny raised a stop sign. It is for this reason that Hannah does not trust herself to take the right course of action more than she entrusts the people she mentions in the tapes. It is the weight of her guilt over her roles in the crimes above that propel Hannah over the edge.

The producer of this TV show seems to support the concept of respect and reputation given the way it is presented in the show. Mongering of rumors is an essential aspect of high school knowledge. However, Hannah does not tend to dwell in her pre-high school history, but she seems to have a problem with her reputation in middle school. Unfortunately, Hannah turns out to be a mark for rumors just about immediately at her different school, and the stories grow relentlessly once they begin. The protagonists of this show, Clay and Hannah rarely get past the reputation and surface attributes of each other. Even though Tony and Clay seem to portray loyalty to Hannah by listening to her tapes, this follows long after Hannah has felt the betrayal of everyone in her society like her peers, teachers and even parents. However, the sense of betrayal is revealed by the actions of Hannah when she had a sexual affair with Bryce, the same man who supposedly raped Jessica and frequently mistreats his peers. This act of self-disloyalty seems even additionally dangerous to Hannah as compared to the disloyalties of others.

The sexual concept of the TV show, 13 Reasons Why is correlated with the themes of violence together with respect and reputation. Unluckily, the concept of sex does not share a significant correlation with the subject of adoration. Rumors mongered about Hannah that she is a slut put her in a challenging situation in regards to her sex life because she does not have the capability of naturally experimenting with sex at her speed. Her reputation also scares guys like Clay who might be caring for her thus the reason when Clay admits to his feelings; the repute of Hannah stops her from moving frontward with him. The sexual experiences of Hannah do not only prohibit positive experiences but also result in negative ones like fierce sexual advances from people who do not care about her.

Conclusion

Every conceptual idea presented in the show has got a vehement agonizing edge to it. This is the reason why 13 Reasons Why cannot be regarded as a romance show in as much as Hannah desires for love because that is what is absent from her life. Her female friends deceive her friendship and males tend to play unkind games with her heart and body. Even though her true love lies with Clay, the gossips about Hannah retain Clay from certainly getting to be acquainted with her. The gossips also prevent her from unveiling the truth to Clay at the time she had the opportunity; this makes the story painful as Clay listens to the story of the life of Hannah and what would have turned to be his love. This makes Clay understand that if in any case, she had acted more affectionately towards Hannah, it could have altered all their lives which is why he extends out to Skye to prove himself to more loving person. Generally, the show has presented a lot of reflection about grief, warning signs and how much ignorance has grown in people in regards to the rebuffs and transgressions they can perpetrate on others. The show presents the reflection of ignorance particularly from the lack of communication among the characters.

Works Cited

Ayers, John W., et al. "Internet searches for suicide following the release of 13 Reasons Why." JAMA internal medicine 177.10 (2017): 1527-1529.

Rosman, Katherine. "Netflix triggers online debate with a show about teen suicide, 13 Reasons Why." New York Times (2017).Stafford, Ned. "German doctors condemn internet TV series depicting teenage suicide." BMJ: British Medical Journal (Online) 358 (2017).