The suicide scene is now significantly censored compared to the original.
Here’s the movie-censorship report - note that it has screenshots of both versions, and the original version is quite graphic.
Netflix’s statement:
We’ve heard from many young people that ’13 Reasons Why’ encouraged them to start conversations about difficult issues like depression and suicide and get help—often for the first time. As we prepare to launch season three later this summer, we’ve been mindful about the ongoing debate around the show. So on the advice of medical experts, including Dr. Christine Moutier, Chief Medical Officer at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, we’ve decided with creator Brian Yorkey and the producers to edit the scene in which Hannah takes her own life from season one.
Ah yes, they should have consulted the suicide prevention people before allowing that scene in the show. That should kind of be the industry standard, don’t you think?
This does set up a poor precedent, but ultimately, I think we can let this one slide as long as the uncensored version is out there and people know that the alteration happened. I can see the point of the original’s graphicness, but I’m not sure it’s that great a deterrent for youth suicides.
Yeah, I wasn’t trying to pass judgment on which version is more responsible, just to say that the precedent for a streaming service “patching an update” to their content and no longer making the original version available has already been set.