The #13Reasons Finale Was Homophobic. It Didn’t Have to Be
Pride month is over, but the series finale of Netflix’s !3 Reasons Why is still streaming, potentially endangering the queer youth and reinforcing stigmas held against LGBTQIA+ people for generations. I watched the Netflix drama since its first season. The show’s progression can only be compared to a nice train ride where the train happened to fall off the rails and wreck everything in its path. Trainwrecks are supposed to be stationary, but 13 Reasons Why was a gift that continued to give and give and give. I couldn’t look away, until the show’s ending, which makes me never want to rewatch the series, even its more enjoyable parts.
No stranger to controversy, #13Reasons has been triggering the nation for four years now, dealing with heavy topics such as suicide, rape, deportation, family separation, divorce, car accident, sports injuries, homophobia school shootings, drug abuse, prostitution, police brutality, child abuse and so many more. Netflix even had to put trigger warnings and resources for help at the beginning and end of every episode. Those involved with the show argue that the show handles difficult topics and helps move along difficult conversations. The series finale is not the first instance the Netflix drama royally dropped the ball, but the depiction of a queer death in the show’s series finale is inexcusable.
As the show approached its ending after four gut-wrenching seasons, perhaps it appeared Brian Yorkey that there was one topic the show had not touched and they wanted to check it off their list of triggers before the show came to a close. Or, maybe they have a dartboard in the writers’ room and the needle happened to land on a word that might cause one to shudder: AIDS.
Defining Pozphobia. The Stigma Around HIV
While HIV/AIDS is not strictly a gay issue, they take the brunt of the blame for the disease. The Red Cross has refused gay male blood outright, and now does not allow gay men to donate blood within 3 months of participating in gay sex. Straight people do not experience that same restriction in this discriminatory process.
Pozphobia, as of this writing, has not entered Standard English Dictionaries just yet, but there are organizations devoted entirely to ending the practice of it and the stigma associated with HIV. People often refer to themselves as “clean” to refer to their status as negative, implying an implicit filth to those who are HIV positive. People often associate being around a positive individual with risk. Positive folks often have to “come out,” before or during dates, risking a negative response from that person, losing contact with that person entirely, or, in some cases, death.
The plus sign in LGBTQIA+ is not just there to infer that there are more identities than the letters that come before it. It’s a reminder that we need to look after our positive siblings and also, that they have been through enough. Not every show can be as excellent as Pose, which depicts some positive people as happy, hard-working, and human, but #13Reasons pretty much went out of their way to be ignorant.
Wait, What actually happened?
The show’s for seasons are structured around untimely deaths. Season 1 and 2 grapple with the suicide of Hannah Baker and the trial that followed. Her strange interactions strengthened and ruined relationships that formed a clique consisting of mostly popular students, jocks, with a few outcasts. The murder of school rapist, bully, and captain of the football team, Bryce Walker, took over season 3, with death of Montgomery de la Cruz ending that season and beginning most of the conflict of season 4, the shows final stretch of episodes.
The final season teases the funeral of a character, of course, not revealed until the end of the season. Minor characters speak at the funeral and once again, which pushed the viewer face-first into a guessing game of who died, and potentially, at whose hand? #13Reasons is masterful when it comes to suspense, but in this go around, I found the butterflies in my stomach saying, “this again?”
In the penultimate episode, titled “Prom,” viewers are treated to one of the most adorable “prom asks” (promposal?) in the history of film. Everything seems to go right. Alex Standall and Charlie St. George are voted prom kings, Jessica Davis and Justin Foley get back together and share a dance, Tony Padilla goes with his boyfriend Caleb (no last name, smh), Clay and Ani share a dance despite being broken up, Tyler Down goes with Estela de la Cruz (the sister of his rapist, Monty, dead at the end of season 3, not awkward at all), and Zack Dempsey decided to not date rape the sex worker he brought as his date while they were both intoxicated (after other characters intervened), so as Far As 13 Reasons Why goes, it went as smoothly as possible. Until the final moments of the episode.
Justin Foley collapses on the dance floor. Of course. Justin was introduced in the pilot episode as having “that damned smile,” the quote/face combo that launched at least a thousand memes. He hurt Hannah Baker in that episode after taking a picture of her in the park on a date which was in an awkward angle, and allowed his fellow jock friends to think that Hannah was “easy” or “a slut,” and also tarnished her friendship with Jessica Davis.
As the show progressed, viewers learned that Justin came from a broken home with abusive stepfathers, a barely coherent mother, and was helped significantly by series villain Bryce Walker and his rich family. Their lifelong friendship collapsed after Jessica Davis got too drunk at a party at her own home and Bryce, using their friendship-defining quote, “what’s yours is mine,” demanded “a turn” with Jessica while she was passed out.
When Justin protested, Bryce physically assaulted him and locked him out of the room. Hannah Baker witnessed the incident from Jessica’s closet (because the show is more trainwreck than soap opera) and recorded her account of the incident on one of the thirteentapes she recorded explaining her suicide. Eventually, Jessica learned the truth and was repulsed by Justin and Bryce and rightfully dumps him.
After the breakup, Justin turned to pills and heroine. The character went missing and went on the run from his abusive stepfather. Clay Jensen, series lead, tracked Justin down in Oakland, CA, where he had been homeless, using, and selling his body, specifically to men, for drugs and drug money. Clay brought Justin into his home, helped him detox, and eventually convinced him to testify against Bryce regarding Jessica’s rape. Rightfully not instantly forgiven by Jessica, Justin continued to use at the end of Season 2 and throughout Season 3, despite being taken in by Clay Jensen’s family and becoming “brothers” with Clay rather than Bryce. He hid the fact that he was using, but the truth came out when his drug use became an alibi for Justin, who was buying and shooting up while three other main characters witness and participated in the murder of Bryce Walker.
In between Seasons 3 and 4, Justin went to rehab and started the final season a new man, college bound and one of the few beacons of positive thinking on the show, especially towards Clay Jensen. Much of the last season was about Clay’s declining mental health, which Justin witnessed first hand because they shared the same room. and Justin takes a lot of abuse due to Clay’s mental state. Shortly after learning that his mother passed, Clay called Justin “a fucking junkie” among other terrible things. Justin eventually relapsed, and him and Clay kept it a secret — like everything else on the show until it’s too late — and Clay left for prom when Justin was sick in bed, experiencing cold sweats.
Turns out those cold sweats were more than symptoms of withdrawal. After collapsing on the dance floor at prom, doctors revealed that, due to some immune issue, that he had contracted HIV at some point during his drug using endeavors, and had, to quote Family Guy, “not HIV but full-blown AIDS.” The characters took this as a death sentence, and it was. They went on to graduate, mourning all the characters the lost along the way.
The Moment Went From Trainwreck to Irredeemable
The show had an ongoing themewith dead characters making “ghostly appearances” to living characters, mostly to Clay Jensen. While grappling with the AIDS announcement, Jessica Davis is visited by the “ghost” of Bryce Walker, who tells her that she probably has it and specifically references “all the men” that Justin did things with for drugs.
Bryce’s ghost declared victory, saying “I win” to Jessica. Having been acquitted of rape charges against her and other girls, Bryce probably represents all the evil in the world.
“You killed him,” were the first words out of Jessica’s mouth as soon as he appeared. Bryce agreed.
“If I don’t rape Hanna, none of us are here. He doesn’t run away. Doesn’t start shooting up. Letting men fuck him.”
Jessica asked the ghost how one person could cause so much pain. The rebuttal does not do enough to destigmatize the homophobia in the statement. Bryce doubled down, saying Jessica probably has “it” too. As has been the case in popular media for forty years, gay sex is a death sentence.
Viewers later see Jessica getting tested with her new romantic interest, Diego Torres, both negative. It’s great that they both get tested, and heartfelt that they go together, but I can’t help but wonder the message people get out of seeing characters getting tested after a friend dies from an STI rather than before. From a modern platform like Netflix, I expect better.
How Could They Have Gotten This Right
Dylan Minette, the actor that played Clay Jensen, has publicly refused to apologize for the death because the show “deals with tough issues all the time.” Minette is right in that Justin’s death is the perfect bookend to the show having such a strong presence in the pilot. The way that the show went about it, however, was disrespectful and ill informed, especially since Brandon Flynn, who plays Justin, is one of the few queer actors on the show, making it all the more heartbreaking.
If AIDS was the hill that they wanted the show and Justin Foley to die on, they could have handled the issue with more care. There were a number of points that could have been articulated to avoid the terrible, terrible mishandling of Justin’s death, and number of sentiments that could have been communicated in order to destigmatized being gay and/or living with HIV.
1. AIDS is not a death sentence. It is unclear how long the virus lived in Justin, but the virus normally lives inside people for years before maturing into AIDS and taking a life. Justin was a healthy athlete, and even with his alleged immune issue, should not have gone down so quickly. The doctor told Clay and his parents that Justin probably contracted the virus during sex work, which Clay was in the dark about. When Clay and his parents asked how he was never tested, because they paid for the best care, she mentioned that a test requires consent. Justin Foley was a victim of stigma, and unfortunately, the show did not do enough to fight that stigma.
People live healthy with HIV all the time. Many HIV positive individuals are undetectable. If they just HAD to kill Justin from this disease, they could have at least used a number of the gay characters on the show to “come out” as HIV positive and destigmatize the disease by showcasing their healthy lifestyle.
Calab, Tony Padilla’s boxing-coach turned boyfriend, one of the few characters on the show without a last name, would have been a great example, and an opportunity to raise awareness for the fact that HIV disproportionally affects black men. Caleb mentioned multiple times that he had no interest in boxing professionally due to homophobia in the boxing community, but being boxed out due to disease would have made an interesting plot point for Calab (who could have at least been given a last name given all of the screen time he received and how important he was to Tony).
Dean Foundry, a villainesque school administrator brought in to cause conflict in Season 4, somewhat randomly came out with his partner to Alex and Charlie during prom (they were chaperones at the dance). Foundry was old enough to be considered a survivor of the AIDS epidemic, when things were at their bleakest. Foundry sympathized with Clay in a scene, and mentioned that he lost friends to it, including “one great friend,” but that language is so held back. Foundry could have “came out” to Clay and showed viewers that you can live a full healthy life living with the disease.
Courtney Crimson, who was basically written off after Season 2, could have been an interesting pathway to showcasing a positive character on the show. Courtney struggled to come out on the show because of her queerness and reputation. She had two gay dads, and felt like, since they went through so much being gay parents, that having her turn out as queer would make them look like bad parents. Her dads were proud of their daughter after her coming out, and having one or both of those dads introduced as HIV positive, being successful professionally, and having a brilliant daughter would have contributed to the reduction of HIV stigma.
2. The show could have taken one small, small moment to talk about PrEP (pre-exposure Prophylaxis). We have Truvada, Descovy, and generic versions of that drug on the way. With so many characters coming out as queer and participating in queer relationships, not one of them mentions that there is a way to protect themselves that does not involve abstinence or wearing a condom. PrEP significantly reduces the chances of HIV transmission, and the characters could even learn along about the use of the medication and include it in their storyline.
A character on PrEP could have skipped taking their for a few days and learn that it significantly reduces the chance of making the drug work, and maybe had a light hearted moment that compares the PrEP process to taking birth control. A character could have learned not to eat grapefruit while taking the drug, because, like other drugs, it can cause the medication not to work. A character could have received more advice to drink more water and learn more about the potential liver or bone density damage sometimes associated with the drug. Such a missed opportunity.
They could have even mentioned PEP (post exposure prophylaxis), which would have educated thousands of people on what happens after someone is potentially exposed to HIV. It could have been revealed that Justin and Jessica had recently been intimate, and Jessica could have gone through the PEP process. Doing so would add to the suspense of the show, because a character would have an extended amount of time to wonder if they had or had not been infected and come to terms with either outcome before learning their fate.
3. Gay Men did not have to be Justin’s killer. Neither did Oakland.
Aside from Bryce trolling Jessica, there is no other blame for Justin’s infection and subsequent death. Instead of turning gay sex into a punishment, which The Red Cross already does, but plenty of HIV-related cases are caused from drug abuse, the sharing of needles. Just ask Mike Pence, who failed at praying away a rise of HIV cases in his own state while governor of his state.
It’s beyond shady that #13Reasons used Oakland as a venue for“the streets,” homelessness, a place to perform sex work, and the place to contract HIV. Yes, it shows that men that use underage boys for sex and give them drugs are bad, closeted villains, but it disrespects the decades of activism in Oakland and San Francisco. Most gay men are regularly tested, many are on prep, and most positive individuals are aware of their status, do not want to spread it, and the path to becoming undetectable is clearer than ever and full of hope.
Yes, this is an extreme situation, but why Oakland? Why not San Francisco, Sacremento, Fresno, LA, literally anywhere else? Oakland has an incredible arts scene and a beautiful community. It also has a reputation for blackness, home of Maya Angelou, The Black Panthers, and so many more important historical figures, so the use of Oakland in the show’s writing as a scapegoat for Justin’s falling out is stomach-churningly bad. 13 Reasons Why let down the region it filmed in for four years with its homophobic stigma, ignoring the history and activism that makes it such a desirable location to live in.
4. Show Regular Testing
With over ten gay characters on the show and since the show takes place in the Bay Area, testing accessibility has never been easier and the fact that it never comes up in alllllll four of the seasons is not representative of modern gay life. Why was Justin not tested in rehab after probably disclosing what he did for drugs? Why did Clay’s parents test Clay and Justin for drugs and not STDs? I wanted to rip my hair out.
Testing is a normal, regular part of gay life, and should be a regular, destigmatized practice for everyone, not just gay men.
The Final F%#$ You
The show concluded after a graduation ceremony. The main cast got together with some minor characters on a trail to bury Hannah’s tapes, the #13Reasons why she killed herself. All the surviving characters join in on this venture, including Courney Crimson, who only appears in a few scenes in Season 3, and Ryan Shraver, who’s never really mentioned at all after the last episode of season 2. Courtney hugged her two dads at graduation, which reminded me of her arc and her place in the show, but watching this final scene, I had forgotten about both of the characters, even though the actor that played Ryan, Tommy Dorfman,was honored by GLAAD.
Hopefully Brandon Flynn, one of the few gay actors on the cast, is honored for his amazing portrayal as Justin and that the show opens up doors for him
In a show that did way too much to try and unpack issues that are hard to talk about, this was a casual reminder that LGBTQIA+ characters and identities don’t always matter. A little remorse from Brian Yorkey, Selena Gomez, or Netflix would be nice for the poorly handled, homophobic ending of 13 Reasons Why, which left such a bad taste in my mouth that I had to unpack it. The show did not have to end in a way stigmatized its queer characters and viewers, but, like Hannah’s suicide, it’s the ending we’re stuck with and we have to deal with it. Like the show’s survivors, we can also seek justice, and maybe, instead of watching or rewatching the show, you could watch Trolls instead.
