Netflix Originals has been spitting out movies, TV shows and documentaries for the last few years, gaining popularity among adults, children and, most importantly, teens. Shows such as “13 Reasons Why” and “Insatiable” are exposing teens to harmful content by depicting unnecessarily graphic content, romanticizing unhealthy relationships and normalizing a flawed conception of consent.

  The producers and writers of “13 Reasons Why” promoted their show as a courageous exposure of mental health and sexual assault, but severely missed the point, demonstrating complete insensitivity in their writing. After previewing the series, the director of Suicide Awareness Voices of Education, Dan Reidenberg, advised Netflix to remove the show due to its overly-realistic depiction of a teenager’s attempt on her own life and multiple graphic assault scenes. While it is important for society to gain a greater understanding of these issues, it is important that the goal is to create empathy and support for teens going through these struggles. “13 Reasons Why” creator Brian Yorkey defended his depiction of the events because according to him, the uncomfortable experience of watching the graphic scenes “ doesn’t even come close to the pain experienced by the people who actually go through these things.” Therein lies the problem; the goal should not be to traumatize viewers into understanding what survivors have gone through. That pain cannot and should not be replicated. The fact that the creator has defended his action with that comment demonstrates his lack of care for and understanding of his audience.

  “Insatiable” contains a heavy load of inappropriate material from fatphobia to statutory rape. The 12-episode series, which has been renewed for a second season, follows the life of Patty Bladell, a formerly overweight teen who loses her “fat-girl” status after having her jaw wired shut for months due to an accident. Already, the producers of this show have insulted overweight people by showing them that it is beneficial to lose weight by any means possible, even if the process is unhealthy. The plot then moves to a revenge story as Patty joins a beauty pageant, under the wing of her mentor, Bob Armstrong, who has been falsely accused of assaulting a minor. The accuser, the mother of another girl he was coaching, has also been in a romantic relationship with a minor, Armstrong’s son. Not only are two statutory rape storylines introduced and never acknowledged as wrong unless in a punchline, there is the matter of a character making false rape claims just to ruin a man’s career. In the past year, an increased number of survivors have been telling their stories and demanding justice. Only two to six percent of sexual assault allegations are false but because people are not comfortable telling their stories, the rising numbers cause people to believe that many are lying. One of the last things that society needs is another false rape claim punchline.

  The problem with these types of shows is not their provocative content, but their ignorance towards the realities of the situations that they are trying to represent. Their approach to sensitive material only serves to make a spectacle of those who are already disenfranchised. Both “Insatiable” and “13 Reasons Why” could have made a positive impact had the writers and producers follow through with the feedback they received from the professionals and specialists in applicable fields. Unfortunately, this did not happen, creating issues for both Netflix and its audience.