10 Things I Hate About You

April 11, 1999

10 Things I Hate About You…The Taming of the Shrew – how hard was it to come up with a title that not only rhymes with the original Shakespearean one, but conveys the theme of the film as well?

I had to go see this film by myself, because I didn’t know anyone who would go with me. I wasn’t sure what to expect either. At 23, I am a bit too old to enjoy mindless teen cinema…which I stopped doing at about the age of 14. Despite fairly good reviews, I had misgivings about cutting out of work to see it…but I wasn’t entirely surprised when it turned out to be really good…even though I am fairly bitter on the subject of The Taming of the Shrew since doing it in high school and not being cast as Katarina…but that is a story for a different time.

10 Things followed the original plot of Shrew fairly closely. The motivations were pretty believable. I understood the reason Kat was so hateful – a small penis can mess you up for years. For real though, I found the characters to be compelling and I really wanted Patrick and Kat to get together – way more than Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton anyway. Cameron and Bianca were an adequate couple, but no sparks. I think Cameron should have dumped Bianca and went after Mandella…

One thing that bothered me – 10 Things must have taken place at the same high school as in JawBreaker – the school of no dress codes. If I was Bianca’s father, I would be more concerned with the shit she was wearing to school, then who she was dating. In all the teen movies that come out these days, the characters are just absurdly dressed. There is no high school anywhere that would let kids dress like this! If I had a nickel for every time I was sent to the office for skirt-too-short or tits-hanging-out when I was in high school a mere 5 years ago, I would be dead. John Hughes, the master of teen cinema, never made this mistake. His teens were all dressed appropriately dorky – even the cool kids were fully clothed at all times. So, pretty please, with sugar on top, will filmmakers be realistic in portraying what teenagers wear to school?