Marion McKeone: Off Message

Netflix’s new drama 13 Reasons Why is an uncomfortable mirroring of some pernicious trends in modern society – but not in the way it imagines itself to be

13 Reasons Why: neither courageous nor groundbreaking, the Netflix series is demeaning and sensationalist

Last week, Netflix announced some good news for its shareholders. It added 5.2 million new viewers in its second quarter, pushing its subscriber list comfortably past the 100 million mark. And even better for Netflix, the number of international subscribers – 52.03 million – now exceeds the number in the US. Which adds up to around $12.5 billion for Mr Netflix, Reed Hastings, to play around with.

Netflix is investing $6 billion this ...