Why Would a Dead Girl Lie?

Well these reviews are long overdue but I wanted to wait before season 2 of this series started before I posted my reviews up. Unfortunately Netflix is taking forever to announce when the next season will air so fuck it let me drop my reviews and opinions now, If you haven’t figured out by now I’m talking about the surprise hit of 2017… the series known as Thirteen Reasons Why. The series was a hit book written and published back in 2007 only for singer and actress turned producer Selena Gomez (aka that Wizard from the Waverly Place) decided to make a television series out of the story through Netflix. I’m going to write 16 reviews and opinions of: each of the 13 tapes, opinions of some of the side characters, a wish list of what I want to see in season 2, and this review of the main character… Hannah Baker.

The story revolves around a high school girl named Hannah Baker who at the start of the series has already committed suicide but left no suicide note so it’s a big mystery to most on why she decided to take her own life. SUPRISE SURPRISE before she died Hannah actually did left a suicide note of sorts in the form of 7 audio cassette tapes with each side dedicated to a person that she felt was a major reason why she committed suicide. There are 13 sides with 13 different stories for 13 different people to listen to and they better listen to the tapes and pass them on to the next person quietly because if each person doesn’t listen to the tapes then the tapes will be released publically and that could lead to tons of trouble to many of the 13 chosen ones on the tapes. We see the story through Clay’s perspective but I’ll talk about him on another review… this review is about Hannah.

Now I’ve read the book and watched the show so I can say both sources are similar in the portrayal of Hannah as just a girl who transferred from another school that wanted to fit in, make friends and date boys like a normal girl….  but a series of unfortunate event derailed that dream into a constantly living nightmare. WIth each person Hannah tried to be friends with or date she was the victim of a betrayal of some sorts and in certain incidents was a victim of harassment, privacy invasion, violent attacks, and involuntary sexual misconduct. I gotta say that’s a lot for a person to mentally and physically deal with and I’m not saying that suicide was the right answer but I can understand why she decided to go down that route after the rough journey she had to endure. Hannah was a bright example of how constant bullying and no one helping out the situation can turn to something deadly that everyone has to deal with.

One thing that I don’t like is how there are many people that watched the show that is very unsympathetic towards Hannah and even go so far as to blame her for everything that has happened to her and even call her a vengeful spirit taking out her revenge beyond the grave and I must say I DISAGREE with everyone that believes that line of thinking. FIrst of all NOBODY deserves to be bullied or harassed, NOBODY deserves to have their private business shown to the public without consent. Secondly NO MEAN NO…. if a woman says NO then you back away NO EXCEPTIONS! Thirdly I never thought of Hannah “getting her revenge from the grave” because she could have easily mailed the cassette tapes to the police or a news station if she wanted to get revenge on the 13 individuals she blames. Instead she created to tapes to mainly explain her side of view of the previous events and to hopefully have these individuals change their ways so that what happened to her never happens to anyone ever again.

I see Hannah and her journey throughout the book and show in multiple different ways. In one way I compare Hannah to the comic book character The Spirit. The Spirit was a detective that got murder but his spirit was imbued with magic that allowed him to become an being that purges the evils from the world. In another way I look at her cassette tapes as her “horcruxes” just like in Harry Potter: she left pieces of her spirit on those tapes that allow her soul to stay alive among the living. I kinda see Hannah just like the Jigsaw Killer as in… she found out the way to beat death is immortality. I mainly compare Hannah’s journey with rapper Ghostface Killer with his cd Twelve Reasons To Die. On that cd Ghostface told a story on how he was murdered by mobsters who melted him in wax and use that way to press 12 music albums but unknown to them by doing that his soul was pressed on the album and by playing the album he was able to be reborned to the legendary “Ghostface Killah” Very far fetched but that’s how I see her.

In the end as descriptive as Hannah was on the tapes there was a lot of holes that she left unfilled which is why I hope they show more of Hannah’s backstory to fill those holes and unanswered questions. I don’t blame Hannah because she was a naive teenager that made typical mistakes that teenages make. Still I hope season 2 brings total closure to Hannah’s story so everyone involved can fully move on and become better people. Now why would a dead girl lie? Well maybe it’s because she can’t stand up.