’13 Reasons Why:’ Band Featured on Soundtrack Speaks Out Against the Netflix Teen Suicide Drama
Since its premiere in March, Netflix‘s teen drama “13 Reasons Why” has received great reviews, as well as faced criticism for the graphic way the show depicts suicide. The most recent critique of the show comes from indie rock band Car Seat Headrest, which was featured on the series’ soundtrack.
“As someone who contributed to the soundtrack for ’13 Reasons Why,’ I am obliged to tell you all that it’s kind of fucked,” the band tweeted on April 29. “Writers: please don’t tell kids how to turn their miserable and hopeless lives into a thrilling and cathartic suicide mission.” In a third tweet, the band added, “Kids: this is not a narrative you need to subscribe to. Go watch ‘Spring Breakers’ instead.”
READ MORE: ’13 Reasons Why’ Banned From Being Discussed in Canadian Elementary School
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Based on the 2007 bestselling young adult novel by Jay Asher, “13 Reasons Why” tells the story of a teenage girl named Hannah Baker (played by Katherine Langford) who commits suicide, leaving behind a box full of cassette tapes listing the 13 reasons why she did it, each addressed to a person she feels is responsible. Recently, the show’s executive producer Selena Gomez, who has been involved in its development for years, addressed the controversy.
READ MORE: ’13 Reasons Why’: If Season 2 Happens, That Could Be Good News
“We stayed very true to the book and that’s initially what [author] Jay Asher created was a beautifully tragic, complicated yet suspenseful story and I think that’s what we wanted to do,” she told the Associated Press. “We wanted to do it justice and, yeah, [the backlash is] gonna come no matter what. It’s not an easy subject to talk about, but I’m very fortunate with how it’s doing.”
In a recent essay for Vanity Fair, one of the show’s writers, Nic Sheff, defended the graphic depiction of suicide on the show. “It overwhelmingly seems to me that the most irresponsible thing we could’ve done would have not to show the death at all,” he wrote.
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