![]() ![]() ![]() He is very likable precisely because his motivations are straightforward - his decisions don’t depend on anyone else nor on any social category. Cameron is arguably the most rational character of the movie. Having a character like Cameron as a common thread of the narrative makes these situations feel closer to the audience. The dualism between Bianca and Kat is a way in which the movie creates its own depth and subverts expectations.īut the film doesn’t only focus on the dynamic of the sisters. Still, in doing so, she is caught in a paradoxical cycle of, again, aligning to people’s perceptions of her. Kat wants to maintain the image of someone who is not bothered by others’ opinions in order to feel that she’s in control of her own behavior. Her struggle with vulnerability is relatable and human. Kat is recognized as the intellectual sister who seems to not really care about others, but she does care - a lot. She won’t stay with an uninteresting guy just because he’s handsome, and she will openly challenge her dad’s (and the audience’s) idea of her naivety. Bianca is put straight into the superficial girl stereotype, but she is quite smart and independent. She actually does what she wants to do more often than people realize. But this sounds almost hypocritical because it doesn’t seem like Bianca is playing a role, while Kat is.īianca, on the other hand, is perceived as the unattainable, cool girl - but maintaining status is not necessarily her motivation. As a word of advice, Kat tells her little sister that she doesn’t have to be what others want her to be. Kat says it herself: “The only thing people know about me is that I’m scary.” She is so scared of being vulnerable and acknowledging the trauma of her past, related to her mother and previous relationships, that perfectly fitting into the box people have placed her in is a much more comfortable option. Others, including her family, expect her to be mean, so she makes it a part of her personality. ![]() Kat argues that she acts rebellious because she doesn’t want to adhere to other people’s expectations of her, but people specifically expect her to be rebellious. When she says, “Why should I live up to other people’s expectations instead of my own?” it shows the irony of her character. To start, Kat herself presents a complex contradiction. Perky, the counselor, are often portrayed in an even more ridiculous light than the teenagers. In fact, the few adults in the movie, such as the father of the Stratford sisters and Ms. The film, however, is able to laugh at itself and use these elements to show how the main characters are actually much more nuanced than what you would initially expect. After all, the movie’s first scene is dedicated to describing the different stereotypical groups in Padua High School and right away uses a cheesy slow-motion shot to show Cameron’s instant crush on Bianca. The movie is very self-aware of the absurdities of the scenarios these teenagers find themselves in. The characters ultimately arrive at the idea of doing things because they want to and not because of what other people expect. But the movie explores the factors behind these characters’ decision-making and goes beyond the surface of these archetypes. The two sisters are characters who seem to have a well-defined, hard-set identity - one formed from what other people see. Bianca, on the other hand, appears to be a shallow, naïve girl everybody has a crush on. She seems to just want to be an opinionated feminist. Kat, for instance, appears to be an “untamable” woman who doesn’t care at all about men - or anyone for that matter. Exploring the motivations of characters like Kat (Julia Stiles), Bianca (Larisa Oleynik), and Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and the things that make them complex is the movie’s greatest success. What makes this movie charming is that the characters themselves are extremely charming. Stories are driven by character and the ones in 10 Things I Hate About You are so well-constructed that they are the reason this movie holds its spot not only in the realm of high school movies but in film history. But what exactly is it that makes the film not only a fan favorite but an icon that transcended the 2000s? Inspired by Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, the film follows two teenage sisters, Bianca and Kat Stratford, as they deal with the former’s desire to date and the latter’s refusal to do so. ![]() Every time Gil Junger’s 10 Things I Hate About You is mentioned in conversation, it gets praised - and I, too, have always remembered it as a great movie, even years after watching it for the first time. ![]()
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