(There are some minor spoilers for Fahrenheit 451 in this post, but you won't find any spoilers for 13 Reasons Why here because I didn't want to watch it.)
In class we touched on the possibility of art being used to convey a principle rather than a narrative or image. While some works clearly announce their intent to persuade or inform their consumers, others may do so naturally through a compelling narrative or developed techniques. One relevant example of a piece that I believe subtly conveys its message through its narrative is Farenheit 451, which demonstrates the value of nontraditional thinkers by showing its readers a world where any eccentricity or doubt is treated as an indication of criminality. Still, despite what I believe to be the major theme of the book, other readers may hold opinions that place more emphasis on other aspects of the text, some of which would contradict Bradbury's intent. For example, a reader might induce that in their own lives it is permissible to possess contraband (such as illegal firearms and drugs) due to Guy Montag's harboring of an illegal object, a book. Although this example may seem extreme, it demonstrates the point that consumers may receive different messages from the same piece of media. Unfortunately, not all examples of a consumer finding an unintended meaning in a piece of art seem so far-fetched, as is the case with 13 Reasons Why.
I have not watched 13 Reasons Why, but I found its potential impact too interesting to forgo writing about it. I'm referring to the fact that its debut (at least according to a study which can be found at https://www.jaacap.org/article/S0890-8567(19)30288-6/fulltext) correlates with a 28.9 percent increase in suicide among Americans aged ten to seventeen. While the relationship between the television program and American suicide rates is technically correlational, I believe it is worth considering how a show that tackles the subject matter of suicide could relate to the unprecedented increase in suicides the month after its release. For the sake of argument, let's say that 13 Reasons Why caused the increased suicide rate.
If we can believe that 13 Reasons Why increased the rate of suicide among Americans aged ten to seventeen, then it still seems improbable that the show's creators (or the author of the book it was based on) intended to promote or romanticize suicide. One would expect that its audience saw a glamorized perspective on suicide where there wasn't an intent to glorify the act. What does this conclusion, that art can carry different meanings for different consumers, suggest about the subjectivity involved when a consumer forms an opinion about a message? And specifically for our class, how can a measure of tolerable speech be created when people may insert or remove the messages of a piece of art?
This is an extremely interesting blog post! I've had several discussions with friends about the subject matter of 13 Reasons Why and the uptick in suicide for American teenagers, and it's pretty clear that the show (and book) had some sort of hand in it. I've read the book, I have not seen the show, but the plot as a whole essentially romanticizes committing suicide. From what we've discussed in class, particularly Mill's theory about no censorship unless the words/actions can physically harm someone else, wouldn't this be considered harmful? While there are a lot of graphic tv shows, books, movies, I think this show is particularly harmful because it is geared towards younger teens. In the issue of free speech, I think a lot comes down to subjectivity and morals, which is what makes it such an interesting and difficult subject to examine.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for writing about this. I do believe that 13 Reasons Why romanticizes suicide and mental illness. Your point on intention is interesting- just because something has good intentions does not mean in is guaranteed to yield good implications. Although the author of 13 Reasons Why may have intended to spread awareness of mental illness and suicidal ideation in teens, the implications of this work are that mental illness and suicide are not to be taken seriously. Although I truly have a great appreciation of art and the freedom of artistic expression, we cannot overlook how certain forms of art affect certain audiences, especially those that are acutely vulnerable and impressionable, like teenagers and developing young adults.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting topic to focus on. I love the connection to pop culture of the modern day, especially with a piece of work that relates so much to our age group and demographic, being college students. The studies do give interesting points that merit important discussion, but I think it would be helpful to dive more in-depth into this study and possibly more topics surrounding this. Considering this is such a difficult topic to pinpoint and find information about, since there are many people who watch the show and have not reported as well as many people situations that take into consideration other factors, it would be valuable to delve more into these studies.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you combined ideas from Fahrenheit 451 and 13 reasons why to make your case in this blog book. I think the film is very interesting, but I do believe how things are difficult to pinpoint. There is a lot of grey area but I do believe film ratings are very important. But for books it can be very difficult to censor what is available to people. I would love to see you go more in depth and break this down into a book. Wouldn't that be ironic??
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting because the book was also really popular when it came out, though admittedly less popular than the movie, or at least less well-known. However, the book did not increase rates of suicide in its viewers. I think the show did because it literally showed how Hannah Baker committed suicide. Netflix has since taken that scene out, but everyone saw it before they did this, while it was trending. The reason it increased suicide is because it was visual and because young kids and teenagers may have watched it because it was popular, not because they had the stomach for it. For the book, you could read the back cover and decide it wasn't the book for you. The show was mainstream, and many people watched it without preparing themselves for the content. And yes, the show did romanticize suicide more than the book, because Hannah seems content as she's dying (if I recall correctly). She has said all she needed to and affected the whole school. A lot of people want to make a mark on their school, so they may have thought "well, the way Hannah did it was successful, why can't it be for me?" There was even a meme going around at the time that would include someone saying something mildly offensive and it would be a picture of Hannah being like "this is your tape." that doesn't make sense if you haven't seen the show, but to those who have watched it, you can see the influence that this show had on the mindsets of young teenagers and kids, because keep in mind, this book was youth fiction (YA). The movie definitely took it up a couple notches and made it more dark.
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