Trigger warning: The following post contains reference to sexual assault.
While fans of Netflix’s original series 13 Reasons Why are waiting with baited breath for the show’s second season, others are criticising the controversial show and the streaming service for an insensitive Tweet that went out earlier this month.
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(Warning: Spoilers ahead.)
The Tweet has since been deleted, but originally showed a photo of the characters Justin and Jessica embracing, with the words “I’m enough,” above their heads. The Tweet was captioned, “Always.”
Many would say that Justin and Jessica’s relationship was disturbing, especially when it was revealed that Justin let his friend sexually assault Jessica while she was drunk and unconscious — and later lied about it. So it’s completely understandable that promoting a positive image of the couple could be seen as glorifying an unhealthy relationship.
Twitter users fired back at the show’s account.
I can’t believe you’re promoting this “couple”, he let his friend to rape her while being unconscious and then lied about it. This is toxic pic.twitter.com/dfvWMMrQri
— Clau #Sense8IsBack (@RSense8) July 18, 2017
stop 👏 glorifying 👏 unhealthy 👏 relationships
— || sky || (@anihilisticmess) July 17, 2017
This isn’t the first time that 13 Reasons Why has come under fire for its portrayal of controversial topics like teen suicide and sexual assault. Last month, two separate San Francisco families claimed that their teen daughters’ suicides were spurred by the show.
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One of the teenage suicide victim’s fathers, John Herndon, expressed his feelings for the show and its crew.
“There are no words that describe my contempt for the people who did this. You can’t convince me that they were trying to attract attention to the issue of teen suicide by showing a little girl killing herself. There’s nothing positive about that.”
In a statement to KTVU, Netflix responded to the tragedy: “Our hearts go out to these families during this difficult time. We have heard from many viewers that 13 Reasons Why has opened up a dialogue among parents, teens, schools and mental health advocates around the difficult topics depicted in the show.”
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Selena Gomez, who is one of the show’s producers, says season two is going to be “really encouraging and empowering,” so many are hoping the show covers the tricky issues in a different manner.
Photo Credit: Netflix
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