13RW Creator Responds to Season 2's Rape Scene
This post contains spoilers about 13 Reasons Why season two.
Following season one’s backlash over how Hannah’s suicide played out on screen, 13 Reasons Why is facing similar outrage following season two’s release last Friday. The scene in question is in the finale, “Bye,” involving high schooler Tyler, who’s just returned to Liberty High after spending one month at a diversion program. In the boys’ bathroom, he’s sexually assaulted by Bryce’s fellow jock friends, including Monty, who beats up Tyler, pushes his head into a toilet, and sodomizes Tyler with the end of a mop. In a subsequent scene, Tyler is at home, still bleeding. The experience presumably inspires him to go forward with his plans for a shooting at the school dance, plans that are stopped by Clay in the episode’s final minutes.
On Tuesday, showrunner Brian Yorkey released a statement to Vulture in wake of the season two controversy. According to Yorkey, the scene, no matter how graphic, “doesn’t even come close to the pain experienced by the people who actually go through these things.” He added that by deeming any scene “disgusting,” viewers are “attaching shame to the experience.” His full statement is as follows:
We’re committed on this show to telling truthful stories about things that young people go through in as unflinching a way as we can. 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 are or reactions to it may be, it doesn’t even come close to the pain experienced by the people who actually go through these things. When we talk about something being “disgusting” or hard to watch, often that means we are attaching shame to the experience. We would rather not be confronted with it. We would rather it stay out of our consciousness. This is why these kinds of assaults are underreported. This is why victims have a hard time seeking help. We believe that talking about it is so much better than silence.
Yorkey told Vulture that the scene was included following extensive discussions with Netflix and Paramount, which produces the show, along with research on “how many times this happened” in real life. He added that the reaction to Tyler’s rape scene, compared to Hannah and Jessica’s rape scenes in season one, has been telling. “The very, very intense scene of Hannah’s suicide seemed to overshadow the fact that Hannah and one other girl were violently raped in season one… If there’s a greater sense of backlash about this scene, especially it being hard to watch, ‘disgusting,’ or inappropriate, that goes to the point that we need to be talking about the fact that things like this happen. The fact that this would be somehow more disgusting than what happened to Hannah and Jessica, I’m shocked but not surprised.”
Tim Winter, president of the Parents Television Council, issued an appeal this week for Netflix to cancel the series, which has yet to be renewed for a third season.
Netflix has delivered a ticking time bomb to teens and children who watch ’13 Reasons Why.’ The content and thematic elements of the second season are even worse than we expected. We would have liked to have 13 reasons for hope and redemption following the graphic suicide of the lead female teen character, but rather than providing a path forward, the season only provides cause for despondency.
Viewers on Twitter have been having a heated debate over the inclusion of Tyler’s sodomy scene.
AFTER THAT BRUTAL SCENE WITH THE MOP AND TYLER, THIS SHOW NEEDS TO BE CANCELLED. Obviously the people behind this show only gives a fuck about shock value and not about rape or suicide. #13ReasonsWhySeason2 #13reasonswhy
- Callie ✨ (@CallieCalburn) May 19, 2018
All of y'all are pissed because Tyler got sodimized in with a broom #13ReasonsWhy2 .. but this happened at my former school to a kid I know. Multiple football players raped a 15-year-old boy with a broomstick. I heard about it I almost threw up. #13ReasonsWhy needed to show this.
- brae alnett.🌼 (@awkwardlybrae) May 19, 2018
13 reasons why speaks on REAL topics and REAL issues in society and gets slammed for romanticizing it? How?! How is showing GRAPHIC images of rape and intense bullying “making something seem more appealing than it really is”. @13ReasonsWhy
- Kaylen 🥀 (@kaylenjowitt99) May 21, 2018
Started #13ReasonsWhy and really don’t understand how some people can say the show “this show shouldn’t have been made” - this is real, suicide is real, shootings are real, RAPE is real. Reality isn’t for everyone I guess.
- Daniel Preda (@MisterPreda) May 21, 2018
THAT WHOLE MONTY/TYLER SCENE ON THE LAST EPISODE OF #13 reasons why season 2 episode 13 MADE ME SO UNCOMFORTABLE MY HANDS WERE ALL SWEATY AND SHAKY AND MY HEART WAS RACING AND FUCK. THAT SHIT JUST BROKE MY HEART
- azua (@slayajian__) May 21, 2018
AND I GET IT LIKE IT MUSTVE TRUGGERED AND MADE EVERYONE FEEL SO UNCOMFORTABLE BUT IVE NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY THAT THIS HAS BEEN SHOWN! IT RAISED AWARENESS ON MORE THAN THE WHOLE SEXUAL ASSUALT AGAINST GIRL. AND HOW IT HAPPENS WITH BOYS TOO YOU KNOW
- azua (@slayajian__) May 21, 2018
For season two, Netflix added a full PSA to the first episode, along with written warnings that play before specific episodes if they include depictions of sexual assault, drug abuse, or other content that’s not suitable for all viewers. After every episode, a different cast member’s voice can also be heard as the credits roll, pointing viewers to 13ReasonsWhy.info for help finding crisis resources.
If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The Crisis Text Line is also available; text REASON to 741741. You can find additional support, services, and resources at 13ReasonsWhy.info.
You Might Also Like
