Netflix's 13 Reasons Why became a global phenomenon last year, when it opened up the conversation on suicide, depression, and sexual assault among teenagers and young adults. The show, based on the novel of the same name by Jay Asher, will soon have a second season.
In a 2016 study by the American Academy of Pediatrics, suicide was named the second leading cause of death in young adults between the ages of 15 and 19. When 13 Reasons Why originally aired, there were concerns that the show could have a harmful effect on young people. One year after the show's March 2017 premiere, new research explores whether the Netflix series was actually beneficial to teens and parents.
Vice-President of Original Series at Netflix, Brian Wright, joined 13 Reasons Why executive producer and showrunner, Brian Yorkey, and a panel of experts to discuss the findings of a global study conducted by Northwestern University's Center on Media and Human Development and presented on Wednesday by Dr. Ellen Wartella, and how the streaming service is preparing to launch season 2 amid the growing discussions about suicide, bullying, and sexual assault.
Data showed that viewers thought 13 Reasons Why was an accurate portrayal high school life, that it sparked educational conversations between parents and their children, and that it encouraged viewers to seek information on depression, suicide, bullying, and sexual assault. Forty-five to 60 percent of teens and young adults reported apologizing to someone they had mistreated after watching the series.
"I think it says that the program, as we said, was relatable," Wartella said. "But it also tapped into the reality of teens' lives today. It tapped into issues that they are coping with, and not just in the United States, but elsewhere." Here are six of the main points the panel discussed about the forthcoming season 2 and the show's impact.
Netflix is taking three steps to promote safe conversations about suicide and depression.
One of the biggest initiatives the service has pursued is producing a new clip that features the cast announcing the nature of the show and sharing advice with viewers before they start watching. The informational warning card is now live on Netflix for season 1.
"When you press play on the series, that will be the first thing that everybody will see." Wright said. "And so, if someone is feeling like that might be too intense for them right now, they can opt out. If someone's feeling like they want to watch it, it also directs them to a place that they need help and [if] they may need that help, then they can go there."
The clip currently directs viewers to 13reasonswhy.info, which features resources and information on topics like anxiety, substance abuse, bullying, and sexual assault. Wright is also working to add more tools to the site, such as a downloadable discussion guide.
Netflix produced a behind-the-scenes show, 13 Reasons Why: Beyond the Reasons, which followed the first season and featured the cast speaking directly to viewers about the show and its impact. The streaming service will be producing another episode of it to go along with the release of the second season.
Finally, Netflix has worked directly with school counselors around the world to set them up for the response to season 2. "So they can get a head of the conversation," Wright said. "And they can be prepared for all of the dialogue that will probably flow from watching."
The novel ends where season 1 left off, but Netflix has big plans for the continuation of the story.
"We explore how these characters deal with the aftermath of what happened to Hannah," Yorkey said. Netflix originally planned to keep the show to one season, but the team decided to continue the series after hearing Yorkey's vision for the storyline.
"It continues the characters' journeys," Wright said. "It continues this dialogue and these conversations and the exploration of some of these super tough topics, but in a way that's always wrapped in a very entertaining and propulsive thread and story."
"We realized at a certain point that we would end season 1 with a young woman who was just beginning to come to terms with the fact that she was a victim of sexual assault; with a young man who was suffering from severe social isolation and thinking of making a pretty tragic choice in response to that; with a character, Clay, who was really just beginning to grieve a girl that he loved and to understand what that grieving process was; and a whole community that had been traumatized in a number of specific ways, most centrally by Hannah's suicide," Yorkey said. "In a way it felt that to leave them there would be unfair to the characters and also to the viewers who really had come to care about them."
Sexual assault and the conversation surrounding it will be a big part of season 2.
Sexual assault was a big part of the plot in season 1, for both Hannah and her friend Jessica, who tells her father about the incident at the end of the last episode. "Jessica in particular, her experience continues to be a central part of season 2," Yorkey said. "We wanted very much to look at her recovery. To look at what it is to go from being a victim of sexual assault to being a survivor of sexual assault."
Season 2 will also feature a storyline about sexual assault in connection to one of the high school athletic teams, which was inspired partly by real events.
"We look at the ways that that sexual assault has been perpetrated over a number of years, has been in fact documented, and also the ways in which the institutions, the athletics department, Liberty High School itself, are in some ways complicit in letting that happen," Yorkey said. "And it was a storyline that we developed many, many months ago, based on quite a bit of research we had done. But at the time we first developed it, we had these discussions about whether it was realistic to think that serial sexual abuse could be kept secret by so many people for so long. And then over the course of the summer we watched events unfold in our culture that confirmed to all of us that, yes, unfortunately, it is possible for severe sexual abuse at a very high and consistent level to be kept secret by many many people, and for institutions to be complicit in it."
Mr. Porter will face his mistakes.
At the end of season 1, we saw Hannah tell Mr. Porter, the school counselor, about her sexual assault, only to have him question her story. After the conversation she goes home and commits suicide.
"Mr. Porter, in particular, will be coming to terms with the mistakes that he made, with the ways that he let her down, and will be, I think, very determined not to let any kids down in the future," Yorkey said. "In fact, I think that his story is, I think, one of the most sort of compelling to me in season 2. And we'll see a man who is determined to reach every kid who needs to be reached and help every kid who needs to be helped. Whatever it takes."
Selena Gomez is still involved in production.
Gomez, along with her mother Mandy Teefey, was an executive producer on season 1 and Yorkey sat down with her to go over plans for the next installment of the series.
"I often call her sort of our guardian angel or our inspiration, because we have a fan base that we care very much about," Yorkey said. "She has a much larger fan base that she cares passionately about. Many of her fans are adolescent girls, and she cares about their health and their mental health and their well-being. And it's that passion and attention to that important and vulnerable group of people that really inspires us."
Season 2 is coming soon.
Wright wouldn't give an exact date for when the next season will finally air, but he did confirm that it will be some time this year.
