Popular media as a double-edged sword: An entertainment narrative analysis of the controversial Netflix series 13 Reasons Why

Abstract

13 Reasons Why is a Netflix original series adapted from Jay Asher’s 2007 young adult novel with the same title. Season 1 premiered on March 31, 2017 and featured the sensitive issue of teen suicide along with bullying, substance use, depression, and sexual assault. Unlike the typical teen dramas on popular streaming platforms, this show was created not only for entertainment, but also to stimulate conversations about taboo topics that people often shy away from. However, it also caused significant controversy, especially criticism around the main character Hannah’s suicide scene. More than three years into the initial controversy and at least two dozen scholarly publications later, this study is the first to examine the entertainment narrative content of 13 Reasons Why Season 1 to better understand how these health and social issues were portrayed in the show, what specific examples we could identify as potential behavioral modeling, and to what degree it complied with the 2017 WHO guidelines for media professionals. We used the framing theory and social cognitive theory in communication research and media studies as our guiding conceptual frameworks and a narrative analysis approach to investigate a total of 660 cut scenes in all 13 episodes. Our findings provided empirical evidence, along with contextual information and detailed examples, to demonstrate that a popular entertainment program like the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why serves as a double-edged sword. The production team’s good will and due diligence are commendable. Yet, additional steps can be taken in the future to effectively promote professional resources and reduce viewers’ risks, especially the most vulnerable groups.

How sex is referenced in Netflix original, adolescent-directed series: A content analysis of subtitles.

“…The majority of sex content analyses on adolescent-directed content in previous research (e.g., Malacane & Martins, 2017; Signorielli & Bievenour, 2015) mainly focused on traditional television, thus excluding a key part of media content among contemporary adolescents (e.g., Netflix). The few exceptions are a study by Wang and Parris (2021) and a study by Maes and Vandenbosch (2022a). In Wang and Parris (2021), portrayals of sexual assault in the 13 episodes of season one of 13 Reasons Why were content analyzed.…”

“…In recent years, adolescents are increasingly attracted to streaming services (also known as Over-The-Top media services [OTT]) and Netflix is one of the most popular streaming services among adolescents (Rideout & Robb, 2019; Stoll, 2022). Netflix has also produced original series that are targeted to adolescents and depict adolescent lives (e.g., 13 Reasons Why , Sex Education ) and topics related to sex have been important parts of these series (e.g., Lauricella et al, 2018; Wang & Parris, 2021). Research has shown that for adolescents, exposure to sex content in the media can relate to several negative outcomes, such as earlier age of having first sexual intercourse (a risk factor of STD, Kaestle et al, 2005) and teen pregnancy (Collins et al, 2011; Martino et al, 2005).…”

“…Maes and Vandenbosch (2022a) analyzed the sex portrayals in six popular adolescent-directed series on Netflix, five of which were originally produced by Netflix. Similar to Wang and Parris (2021), however, the scope of focus was somewhat limited-for each Netflix original series, only one season was content analyzed. This is a common limitation of content analysis research, as findings are generally based on a selective sample of episodes, sometimes from a particular season, or from a particular series or genre.…”

“…The few exceptions are a study by Wang and Parris (2021) and a study by Maes and Vandenbosch (2022a). In Wang and Parris (2021), portrayals of sexual assault in the 13 episodes of season one of 13 Reasons Why were content analyzed. However, this study only focused on one season of one series.…”

Telling the story of the opioid crisis: A narrative analysis of the TV series Dopesick

“…The methodology within this framework has yet to be fully standardized [ 47 ]. Health communication studies have applied media framing through diverse methodologies: for example, Wang and Parris [ 48 ] combined framing theory with narrative analysis to examine the risks associated with the depiction of teenage suicide in the TV series 13 reasons why . Framing theory was combined with quantitative content analysis by Kim and Willis to analyze the American news media’s portrayal of individual and societal responsibility in obesity [ 49 ] and by Van den Bulck et al [ 50 ] to analyze the use of alcohol in the prime-time American youth TV series The OC .…”