13 Reasons Why is all the heat office / anyone with a Netflix account / basically everyone in the world is talking about right now, and we’re pretty much addicted.
But the show has been subject to a great deal of criticism from a few sectors of society, including mental health charities, for its depiction of suicide and sexual assault.
Netflix recently came out in defence of the show, saying in a statement: "From the onset of work on 13 Reasons Why, we have been mindful both of the show's intense themes and the intended audience. We support the unflinching vision of the show’s creators, who engaged the careful advice of medical professionals in the scriptwriting process".
And now they’ve added extra graphic warnings to each episode, meaning that each episode will now carry a content warning and link to a resource centre with details of support organisations.
In a statement issued to The Hollywood Reporter, a spokesperson for the Netflix show said: “There has been a tremendous amount of discussion about our series 13 Reasons Why.
“While many of our members find the show to be a valuable driver for starting important conversation with their families, we have also heard concern from those who feel the series should carry additional advisories.
“Currently the episodes that carry graphic content are identified as such and the series overall carries a TV-MA rating. Moving forward, we will add an additional viewer warning card before the first episode as an extra precaution for those about to start the series…”
This comes after a mental health organisation, Headspace, condemned the use of shocking graphic imagery as “risky”.
"There is a responsibility for broadcasters to know what they are showing and the impact that certain content can have on an audience – and on a young audience in particular," Headspace boss Dr. Steven Leicester said.
And Kristen Douglas, national manager of Headspace school support, added that "harmful suicide exposure" leads to "increased risk and possible suicide contagion".
She continued to Huffington Post Australia: "It's not like car crashes or cancer. Irresponsible reporting of suicide can lead to further death.
"We need to talk more about youth suicide, but there's a way of doing that and a way we can raise those concerns and have a range of awareness.
"But we need to steer clear of really dangerous things like method, or oversimplifying it to one thing like bullying."
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