The Official Television Thread

[Rev. Rye]

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Starting my binge of 13 Reasons Why since I've finally finished Invader Zim.

And now I see this at the beginning of Episode 1.





I just hope I don't have to deal with this at the beginning of EVERY SINGLE EPISODE. The series can be pretty preachy and the backlash that says it glamorises suicide has been pretty vocal, but the prospect of having to deal with this 26 times before I move on to my next series makes it all seem pretty frustrating.

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Then don't watch the show, unless it's for your column. I heard it's a dumb show anyway.

Honestly, I liked this show when it first came out. As invested as I was at the time, (I still waited for the prospect of Tyler shooting up the school from the moment I saw him with those Ammo crates in Episode 13) I haven't revisited it since. The first time I watched the show, around the middle of the series, there was an announcement that the show was going to start including trigger warnings (specifically during some of the later episodes). I rolled my eyes at that, but it was just an unobtrusive card at the beginning of some episodes. And for the record, after reading your post, I fast forwarded to the second episode and it did not begin with that PSA. Apparently, it's going to just be at the beginning of each season, so it won't be this intrusive. The show can be a harrowing experience for someone who was bullied in school, but, really, at this point I'm just glad I'll only have to bother with it twice.

Honestly, the PSA is annoying, but I understand why Netflix needs to include it (blatantly explaining that they shouldn't do what Hannah Baker did because the target audience is liable to actually do it; if inventors WITH DOCTORATES can watch Black Mirror and still think it's a good idea make the fucked-up inventions within a reality, teens in a toxic high school environment are liable to kill themselves), but I know for a fact I've been a part of movie experiences with more repetitive PSAs as a prelude. When I went to see Gravity, I had to deal with a PSA about the chemicals in cigarettes that played over and over several times before the movie actually started. The movie, of course, was great. And, at any rate, I've sat through even more infuriating series, like The L Word.

Also, since 13 Reasons Why is not British, it cannot be part of my column.