10 Things I Hate About You movie review- A cultural reset

Dear men, what is stopping you from being like Patrick Verona? 

Director: Gil Junger

Writer: Kristen Smith, Karen McCullah  

Cinematographer: Mark Irwin

Cast: Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon Levitt, David Krumholtz, Gabrielle Union

Year: 1999

Kat Stratford (the stunning Julia stiles) is smart, beautiful, and a "heinous bitch" to pretty much all of her fellow teens. This cold and distant exterior means she doesn't attract many guys. Unfortunately for her younger sister, Bianca, (the wonderful Larisa Oleynik), the house rules say that she can't date anyone until Kat does. In order to bend the rules a little to her advantage, Bianca employs awestruck Cameron (the amazing Joseph Gordon Levitt) to get her sister a date. Who better to set her up with than the handsome new arrival Patrick Verona (the breathtaking Heath Ledger). Will Kat let her guard down for the effortlessly charming Patrick? I know I would. 

Here's the truth: high school teen comedies are one of the superior and freshest genres of cinema. If I were to look through my collection of movies, I would have to say that about over 50% of them are from that genre. There's just something about a 90s romantic comedy that just sucks you right in, maybe it's the fashion or the music, or maybe it's having Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles play the main characters. *Bi panic*. All I have to say is that 10 Things I Hate About You makes me want to play paintball and punch a wannabe model in the face. I think it's safe to say that no other movie will ever bring me as much joy and happiness as this one does. This movie was and still is the blueprint of the 'enemies to lovers' trope, which I have a very soft spot in my heart for and no one, not a single person, could've serenaded someone with Frankie Valli's 'I Love You Baby' quite like Heath Ledger did. I swear.  Any movie that opens with 'one week' by Barenaked Ladies and then follows up with 'Bad Reputation' by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts gets an automatic 5 stars from me, I'm sorry, but I don't make it the rules. The only modern adaptation of a William Shakespeare play we should be talking about and praising is 10 Things I Hate About You, based on The Taming of the Shrew. It's smart and funny, both being unselfconscious and charming at the same time. Making a Shakespeare play relatable seems like the hardest thing ever, but connecting it to somewhat modern American society and capitalising on both the struggles of being of a teenager and love seems to make it that much more relatable. This film has given me such ridiculously high standards for men; I mean, if you don't find out from my friends that I like "Thai food, feminist prose and angry girl music", then what's the point? Now, I'm not expecting men to start serenading me because, in this day and age, I'd probably just bully you for it, but I am expecting some effort to be put in. Now that I've briefly explained my new boyfriend's application, let's get back to the film. 

10 Things I Hate About You is and will always be one of my biggest guilty pleasures and one of my favourite films. Maybe it's because I wish it was my life.  Now that it's streaming on Disney+, it only seems like I'm religiously watching it every single day. This script is my bible, and Heath Ledger is my Jesus. I'm a sucker for classic literature, but films based on classic literature are even better: Clueless was based on Emma, She's All That was inspired by Pygmalion, and Cruel Intentions was recycled from Les Liaisons Dangereuses. All the best and most pivotal teen films of the 90s. I don't really know what else this film needed; it has the crazy house party, the cute date sequence, the high school cliques and cliches, HEATH LEDGER SINGING, feminism and classic literature, amazing 90s fashion and music and finally, a band performing on the roof of the high school for the end credits. I mean, what else do we need? A highly underrated scene is where Bianca finally realises men are trash and beats the shit out of Joey after he tries to take advantage of her and for beating up her prom date as well as taking advantage of Kat. This was the poetic cinema that was very much needed. Also, everyone spoke about how Cameron learnt french for Bianca, but no one brought up the fact that Patrick quit smoking for Kat; what a man! There's really not much I can criticise about this movie, yeah maybe the plot isn't that original, but it encapsulates the vibrant and lively energy of the late 90s, and I guess that forcing Kat into some sort of manipulative relationship with bad boy Patrick is a little questionable (after all a woman doesn't always have to end up with a guy, or anyone in that matter). Maybe it would have been more impactful to see Kat reject Patrick, but a woman can still be independent in a relationship, and there is quite a lot of evidence to prove this within the ending of the film. This film is the reason I'm a 'heinous bitch' who reads the Bell Jar and listens to 'angry girl music'. I don't have an original personality; it was stolen from Kat Stratford. But I'm gonna keep pretending I'm the main character. 

"I guess in society being male, and an asshole makes you worthy of our time."- feminist icon Kat Stratford who started the #menaretrash movement. 

Its sharp screenplay offers a ton of endlessly quotable dialogue capturing the real essence of angsty cheesy teenage antics of the 90s. Although I very much dislike William Shakespeare, I will never stop thanking him for him being the reason this film exists. No matter how many times I watch this film, I can watch it over and over and still fall in love with it again and again. This film is really the only film I have ever talked about. This film is my personality. I cannot recommend or praise it enough! This film is probably the reason I'm going to stay single for the rest of my life. 

Rating: 5/5

Favourite quotes:

"What is it, Asshole day?" 

"The shit hath hitith the fan...ith" 

"Mr Stratford, It's just a party." 

"And hell is just a sauna." 

"She likes Thai food, feminist prose and angry girl music of the indie-rock persuasion."