The Butterfly Effect…if a butterfly flaps its wings in just
the right direction, at just the right time, it can cause a hurricane on the
other side of the world. The chaos
theory…a tiny change in a big system can affect everything. Open episode 3. Justin’s broken mother is revealed, as is her
abusive boyfriend, when Jess is looking for him. Seth, the guy at Justin’s house, the one that
threatened him, seems to be the reason for Justin’s demise. Bryce is taking close care of Justin as he
wakes Justin up from the couch at his house.
He gives Justin a pep talk, reminding him that he can count on him as
long as Justin keeps him clean. Bryce,
the rich jock that has it all together while everyone around him is falling
apart, continuously takes care of his friend.
Marcus
tries to recruit Clay to help put up suicide awareness posters when Hannah
reveals the subject of tape 2, side B, Alex Standall. As Hannah discusses the idea that she is just
a little girl that gets upset over trivial things, she claims that the little
things matter. A meeting between
Hannah’s mother and the school principle reveal that Hannah went from being
overly excited and happy to being moody and withdrawn when she was at home. This suggests an emotional disorder. Then, her mother finds profanity in the
school bathroom. As she seeks blame for
Hannah’s death, she finds something that is in school bathrooms all over the
country. The other students seem unaffected by the profanity.
Although
Justin is not the subject of this tape, the show takes the time to reveal quite
a bit about him. The episode reveals
that Justin has lived with his mother and a string of step-fathers who may have
been abusive. As Justin's story is narrated
by the principle and counselor of the school’s dialogue, the scene shows Justin
walking around Bryce’s house and looking at all the family photos, trophies,
and love displayed throughout the home. Jess
walks in to Justin breaking down in tears.
From what I have learned about trauma and resilience in my Dev Psych
class, I believe these two subjects are the background for this scene. Hannah had two loving parents and a healthy
home life, but went through some traumatic experiences in her social life. Justin also has issues in his social life,
but his home life was filled with one trauma after another. In my own personal life, I have experienced
some of the same traumas that Hannah faced, as well as many of the traumas that
Justin faced. Yet, I did not resort to
suicide or blaming the world for my unhappiness. Instead, I drowned my pain in drugs and
alcohol, as did Justin. Scenes like this
are why I believe that the show tries to expose every side of every story. The show gives the audience a full
understanding of situations like this that transpire all over the world, and shows
us how to look for the people whose resilience is lacking. The empty locker, the mood swings at home and
with Clay, the haircut, these are signs that the person is fading away. We can call it a butterfly that causes a
hurricane, or we can understand that some people can handle these situations
with resilience, and some people cannot.
Hannah could not handle the butterfly, or the hurricane.
The butterfly rants about suicide
awareness posters and being a jerk. Again,
Hannah considers whether she is overreacting, but Alex never went through the
stigma he placed on her, the eyes walking down the hall, the whispers in the
bathroom. As Angie Romero brags about
her placement on the list, a profound lesson, social learning theory, is
presented in a class. What does this
mean? It means that we learn by
observing the behavior of those around us.
Although the show suggests that the scene is drawing attention to the
list and the string of events that follow, I believe there is an underlying
lesson here as well. The audience can
learn from the reactions that each character displays to each of the
incidents. An interaction between Clay
and Tony ends with Tony explaining that, “Hannah got hurt. It happens.
You never really know what’s gonna hit how. You really don’t know what’s going on in
someone else’s life.” This is the point,
right?
The
rest of the episode focuses on how Alex accepts the blame for Hannah’s
death. He explains why he put Hannah and
Jessica on the list, and how that decision lead to all the events
afterward. Then, Bryce’s true colors are
revealed when he grabs Hannah’s…she tells Alex that he put a target on her and
made it open season on Hannah Baker. The
hurricane. Alex begins to disintegrate,
even quitting the jazz band, throughout the rest of the episode, and he and
Clay get drunk in a 40-drinking competition encouraged by Bryce, Justin, and
the rest of the gang. Clay watches Tony
and his brothers beating a kid up, throws up on his parents’ dinner, and
changes tapes. As Bryce and the gang
hang out playing video games, Alex walks out to the pool and crumbles in,
making you wonder if he will come back up.
He does, barely. Hannah reveals
that the next tape requires you to do something very wrong. Clay clips the recorder to his hip and climbs
out the window as Hannah says, “Be careful, and don’t get caught.” Close episode 3.
I
believe that this is one of the most important episodes of the series. The social and psychological questions and
theories that the episode discusses calls the audience to contemplate each
concept. If they take the time to
present each of these concepts, the idea that Hannah just lacked resilience,
the idea that we never know what is going to hit how, then how can we say that
the show is glorifying suicide, vengeance, or Hannah Baker. Understanding that each member of the
audience is going to experience the show differently, and bringing that to
attention, is part of the art revealed.
It is powerful and beautiful. Suicide
is real. It has impacted my life and
many others. Those of us left behind
struggle, each in our own way, to recover from the most devastating blow we
have ever taken. It hits you in the gut,
and takes your breathe away. It
paralyzes you. It leaves you wondering
if the other people left in the wake are going to be okay, or if they are going
to follow suit. This show represents the
reality of suicide in every way. If it
scares you, good, it should.
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