The Parents Television Council earlier this year praised Netflix for editing out Hannah's suicide scene from the first season of 13 Reasons Why, but it still said the show, which deals with a teen suicide and the reasons she left behind, should not air at all.
Netflix added content warnings in response to concerns about the show's content, a move PTC has also praised.
But on the eve of the Aug. 23 release of season three, PTC has called on Netflix Reed Hastings to pull the plug on the show.
In a letter to Hastings, PTC president Tim Winter branded the show "a lengthy tutorial for young viewers on how suicide could be a predictable or even expected consequence of common stressful life events. The show presents suicide as a way to get revenge and sends a message that seeking help is pointless. Removing one shocking scene won’t change that message.”
Pointing to reports that Netflix subs are decreasing while debt it increasing, Winter said: "Maybe it’s not the content that you’re losing -- or about to lose -- that is driving-off subscribers. Maybe it’s the content you choose to hold on to." Winter suggested some strategies for holding on to those subs, including dropping shows that sexualize children and adopt content-filtering.
