A questionable scene in Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why in which a teenage girl commits suicide has been removed after two years. Netflix removed the scene “on the advice of medical experts”. The scene will now just show when she was found.
Samaritans has welcomed the removal of the scene. Netflix announced the removal of the scene to Twitter but many people have said it should have been done when the show was aired as many people had raised concerns.
An update on 13 Reasons Why
If you or someone you know needs help finding crisis resources please visit https://t.co/cNtjtuNG1p pic.twitter.com/SxGjbYpZF6
— Netflix US (@netflix) July 16, 2019
In its statement, Netflix said: “We’ve heard from many young people that 13 Reasons Why encouraged them to start conversations about difficult issues like depression and suicide.”
When 13 Reasons Why was aired in 2017 it was praised for the awareness of many issues such as bullying, self harm and rape. However, people thought the show went into too much detail on the suicide.
Netflix
Producer Brian Yorkey said: “It was our hope, in making 13 Reasons Why into a television show, to tell a story that would help young viewers feel seen and heard, and encourage empathy in all who viewed it, much as the bestselling book did before us.
“Our creative intent in portraying the ugly, painful reality of suicide in such graphic detail in season one was to tell the truth about the horror of such an act, and make sure no-one would ever wish to emulate it.
“But as we [get] ready to launch season three, we have heard concerns about the scene from Dr Christine Moutier at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and others, and have agreed with Netflix to re-edit it.
“No one scene is more important than the life of the show, and its message that we must take better care of each other. We believe this edit will help the show do the most good for the most people while mitigating any risk for especially vulnerable young viewers.”
Lewis Walker
