Touchstone Pictures presents yet another rom-com film.
“10 Things I Hate About You” is a one hour and thirty-seven minute long movie that dives into the experience of a complicated high school girl, Kat Stratford (Julia Stiles), living with her dad and her younger sister Bianca Stratford (Larisa Oleynik) living in Seattle, Washington. The movie starts off with Kat being a troubled girl at school, standing her ground with her peers at school. She doesn’t have a lot of friends since she’s considered stubborn, a bright-minded girl who’s full of multiple opinions on men and the world. The film is filled with drama and witty jokes. The multiple reactions of others around them make the film more interesting and draws the viewers attention. As Kat takes on her senior year in high school, things start to take a turn throughout the movie, making her not be considered the school’s ‘headache.’
Something that can be gathered from watching this film is how expressing yourself is important even when it’s hard. As the movie dives in, it shows the complication of Kat’s life; she’s problem free, only taking on the world until she meets Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger), the most rebellious boy in the school, as he’s used as a pawn so that Cameron James (Joseph Gordon Levitt) can get with Kat’s sister, Bianca. This is because she can’t start dating until Kat starts dating. This was seen as a joke throughout the movie since no one in the entire school would go out with Kat, which is why Cameron and Joey (Andrew Keegan) convince Patrick. The movie is complex, but towards the end of the film, expressing yourself plays a huge part. After Kat finds out she’s being used so a guy can go out with her sister, Kat confesses her heartbreak. She expresses her hatred towards him as she says the famous poem and the sensitive side that she hides behind her tough persona.
Another thing that can be gathered from this film is how first impressions can be misleading. Bianca struggles with finding herself through love, finding what she truly wants. At first she thought she wanted Joey; he was a model and had his eye on her, trying everything in her power to get with her. That’s when she realized he wasn’t at all as he seemed; he was self absorbed, more obsessed with himself than anything else. That’s when she realized how much she liked Cameron; he was exactly what she dreamed of in a guy. H did everything to get with her, and went through more of a struggle than Joey did. Even when she didn’t think of him as a guy she could find herself with at first, she slowly realized through the store how different he was. Another great example of this is how Kat judged Patrick at first, just another guy who was bored, she didn’t fall for it at first. But, as the movie dives deeper, she slowly starts to fall in love with him. His impressions were misleading; he was everything that she didn’t want in a guy. He was a bad boy who smoked, etc. Then, she realized that things like those didn’t matter, as she realized how much they had in common.
All and all, “10 Things I Hate About You,” is recommended for those who enjoy a good rom-com film. It’s mainly for teens as it is rated PG-13 .
