Annie Walton Doyle
Netflix is under fire and being asked to remove a controversial series from its platform.
Trigger warnings can be a useful way to help viewers ensure they don’t accidentally encounter any content they may find distressing.
But if a TV show features them at the start of every single episode, it begs the question as to whether it exists purely as a form of traumatic voyeurism.
Such is the issue facing one major Netflix hit, as fans are calling on the platform to remove the programme entirely to protect vulnerable viewers.
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The series in question is being criticised for having ‘every single trigger’ imaginable.
It first hit our screens in 2017, but remains controversial to this day, with some campaigning for it to be permanently removed from the platform.
Throughout its four-season run, it has contained some truly harrowing scenes, some of which have since been cut from the original episodes.
After the first season aired, the Parents Television Council shared a statement speaking out against it.
“Netflix has delivered a ticking time bomb to teens and children,” the council said to Deadline.
The organisation’s President, Tim Winters, added: “The content and thematic elements of the second season are even worse than we expected.
“The company already potentially has the blood of children on their hands from keeping this series – with its graphic suicide scene, its s***misation of a teen boy and a potential school shooting, among other adult content – on its platform for children to view.”
Winters also claimed at the time that the platform ‘is ostensibly proclaiming that financial gain for Netflix trumps the real-life consequences of his programming’.
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Many social media users agree that the programme should be removed from the platform, and some have taken to X (formerly known as Twitter) to share their thoughts.
One writes: “Something like this can make someone hurt themselves, it shouldn’t be on Netflix.”
Another agrees: “Remove the entire series! It’s such a horrible heartless show.”
“I think one day Netflix should just remove the show from their selection and let it forever disappear into the ether and we will never hear about it again,” adds a third.
The series’ creator, Brian Yorke, addressed the concerns to Vulture, explaining: “We fully understand that that means some of the scenes in the show will be difficult to watch.
“I think Netflix has helped provide viewers with lots of resources for understanding that this may not be the show for everybody, and also resources for people who do watch it and are troubled and need help.
“But the fact is that, as intense as that scene is, and as strong as the reactions to it may be, it doesn’t even come close to the pain experienced by the people who actually go through these things.”
The TV show in question is 13 Reasons Why.
It’s centred around 17-year-old Hannah Baker (played by Katherine Langford) and the 13 reasons why she decides to end her own life.
The show had already been edited down, with the hugely divisive suicide scene cut from the end of series one in 2019, two years after it aired, as per the BBC.
Netflix said in a statement at the time: “As we prepare to launch season three later this summer, we’ve been mindful about the ongoing debate around the show.
“So on the advice of medical experts, including Dr Christine Moutier, Chief Medical Officer at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, we’ve decided with creator Brian Yorkey and the producers to edit the scene in which Hannah takes her own life from season one.”
13 Reasons Why concluded in 2020, and, despite all the controversy, it still holds a 7.5 rating on IMDb.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in the US at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.
In the UK, the Samaritans is available 24/7 if you need to talk. You can contact them for free by calling 116 123, emailing [email protected] or heading to the website to find your nearest branch.
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