CN: Bullying, suicide, sexism, slut-shaming, sexual assault, rape
Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why arrived with the promise of tackling difficult issues faced by teenage girls, including bullying and sexual assault. While the series sparked crucial conversations, particularly around teenage mental health, a closer examination reveals a more nuanced picture, especially when focusing on the character of Jessica Davis. The show, aiming for raw honesty, unfortunately falls short in fully realizing the complexities of its female characters, often overshadowing crucial narratives like Jessica’s in favor of a more palatable, albeit less impactful, central story.
Many critiques of 13 Reasons Why have centered on whether bullying directly causes suicide, or the perceived selfishness of Hannah Baker’s actions. However, reducing the series to these points misses a larger, more pertinent issue: the show’s portrayal of its world and characters, particularly its female characters beyond the protagonist. While Hannah’s narrative drives the plot, Jessica’s journey offers a starkly different, and arguably more realistic, depiction of trauma and its aftermath.
Hannah Baker, the central figure, is presented as almost flawlessly perfect. She is depicted as beautiful, intelligent, and seemingly confident, possessing the right style and social graces. This idealized image, while intended to highlight the tragedy of her experiences, inadvertently sets her apart from many real teenage girls who grapple with bullying and social isolation. As an autistic reviewer noted regarding Hannah, navigating adolescence with such apparent ease feels detached from the experiences of those who genuinely struggle with social norms and expectations. This idealized victim narrative, while emotionally resonant, risks alienating viewers who don’t see themselves in such a polished portrayal of a “social outcast.”
Hannah Baker, portrayed as the ‘weird’ girl, embodies conventional beauty standards, a point of contention for some viewers.
13 Reasons Why also engages with problematic aspects of conventional femininity, often contrasting Hannah with cheerleaders like Jessica and Sheri. The narrative sometimes positions cheerleading as inherently shallow or negative. This is evident in lines like “A cheerleader? I thought you were better than that,” reflecting a subtle disdain for traditionally feminine pursuits. Furthermore, Jessica and Sheri, portrayed as cheerleaders, are Black women, whose bodies are already often hypersexualized and denied agency in media. This racial dimension adds another layer to the problematic contrasting of their characters with Hannah’s perceived “purity.”
While the show touches upon victim-blaming, its message becomes muddled by emphasizing Hannah’s “innocence” as the primary reason her experiences are unacceptable. The outrage over incidents like the upskirt photo or rumors is heightened because of Hannah’s portrayal as inherently innocent. But this raises a critical question: Would the audience’s sympathy be diminished if Hannah, like many real girls who experience sexual harassment or assault, was not portrayed as perfectly innocent? What if she had made different choices, experimented with her sexuality, or didn’t fit the mold of the “pure” victim?
This question gains further weight when considering Jessica’s storyline. Both Jessica and Hannah are victims of rape by the same perpetrator, Bryce Walker. However, their experiences and the show’s treatment of their narratives diverge significantly. Hannah, even after death, retains a level of narrative control through her tapes. In stark contrast, Jessica, a cheerleader who is shown as exploring her sexuality and making mistakes, is initially unaware of her own rape and spirals into trauma without understanding its source. Hannah’s decision to not intervene in Jessica’s rape, and to instead reveal it as collateral damage in her own story, is arguably one of the most ethically questionable actions in the show. Yet, it’s rarely framed as such, highlighting a disturbing lack of agency afforded to Jessica. This contrast underscores a subtle but pervasive bias within the narrative – a preference for the “pure” victim over the “imperfect” one. Even Clay, the male protagonist, while ostensibly sympathetic to Hannah, objectifies another girl labeled “Best Lips,” suggesting a continued adherence to superficial judgments even while condemning slut-shaming.
The series often juxtaposes ‘innocence,’ embodied by Hannah, against ‘impurity,’ implicitly associated with characters like Jessica, creating a problematic dichotomy.
This underlying misogyny becomes more apparent when considering the show’s narrative perspective. 13 Reasons Why is filtered through the male gaze, literally embodied by Clay Jensen. Clay’s infatuation with Hannah and his judgmental view of other girls shape the audience’s experience of her story. Even flashbacks are presented through Clay’s memory, colored by his romanticized and possessive perception of Hannah. This is highlighted in a scene where Clay and Tyler, another boy infatuated with Hannah, discuss her, reinforcing the idea that “girls like that don’t go for guys like us.” Tyler’s description of Hannah as simply “being there” in contrast to other girls who “pose” for the camera, encapsulates Clay’s, and arguably the show’s, romanticized and ultimately reductive view of Hannah.
While the show critiques overt sexism, it struggles with more subtle forms of male entitlement – the way boys like Clay and Tyler feel entitled to observe, fantasize about, and possess girls like Hannah. Clay’s sense of ownership over Hannah’s narrative is evident in his actions; he controls the pace of listening to the tapes, disregards her wishes, and directs his “revenge” more towards those who dared to show interest in Hannah than those who committed the most harmful acts. Zach Dempsey, whose “mistake” was relatively minor, becomes a target of Clay’s aggression, perhaps because he represents a romantic rival. Clay’s reactions to Hannah’s flashbacks often overshadow her own story, reinforcing his perspective as dominant and central.
Jessica’s character, in contrast, is often relegated to the periphery of Hannah’s narrative. Her struggles with the aftermath of sexual assault, her journey through denial and eventual confrontation with her trauma, are crucial aspects of the series, yet they are often overshadowed by Hannah’s tapes and Clay’s reactions. Jessica’s experience offers a powerful, albeit often under-explored, storyline about the complexities of trauma, particularly for young women who don’t fit the mold of the “perfect victim.” Actress Alisha Boe delivers a compelling performance, portraying Jessica’s vulnerability and resilience with depth and nuance, yet the narrative framework sometimes limits the full impact of her character’s journey.
Hannah’s narrative, while central, is often filtered and dictated by Clay’s perspective, limiting the exploration of other female characters like Jessica.
Despite its flaws, 13 Reasons Why does manage to highlight the lasting impact of slut-shaming and objectification, linking them to sexual assault. This is a significant and rarely seen positive aspect. The portrayal of how seemingly small actions can cumulatively devastate a person’s world is also compelling and relatable. Many viewers, especially teenagers, can identify with the feeling of being unable to articulate the complex web of social dynamics and seemingly minor incidents that contribute to larger problems. 13 Reasons Why attempts to unravel these complexities, showing how devastating these cumulative experiences can be.
The diverse cast, representing various ethnicities, sexualities, and family backgrounds, is another strength. However, this diversity often serves to emphasize the relative blandness of the central narrative, with hints of richer, underrepresented stories frustratingly sidelined. Jessica’s narrative, for instance, about grappling with rape and its public revelation, holds immense potential for deeper exploration. Similarly, Justin Foley’s background and Courtney Crimson’s internal conflict offer glimpses into complex characters whose stories are only superficially touched upon in favor of Clay’s more straightforward, and less nuanced, journey.
Ultimately, 13 Reasons Why, in its attempt to be broadly accessible, simplifies complex realities. It prioritizes palatability over depth, resulting in a somewhat constructed and less authentic portrayal of teenage girlhood. While the series opened dialogues about crucial issues and brought needed attention to teen mental health, focusing on characters like Jessica Davis reveals missed opportunities. Her story, though present, often remains secondary to Hannah’s, and is viewed through the lens of Hannah’s tragedy.
In conclusion, while 13 Reasons Why aimed to explore the intricate inner worlds of teenage girls, it ultimately falls into some of the very traps it attempts to critique. By centering the narrative on an idealized victim and filtering it through a male gaze, the show inadvertently diminishes the potential for truly nuanced and representative storytelling. Jessica Davis’s character, with her complex journey through trauma and recovery, offers a glimpse of what could have been – a deeper, more challenging, and ultimately more impactful exploration of the realities faced by teenage girls. Focusing on Jessica’s story allows for a more profound understanding of the show’s strengths and, more importantly, its significant limitations in portraying the multifaceted experiences of young women.
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