Determined to find ten things to like about 10 Things I Hate About You, I found that the first was that it's less than 100 minutes long.
Bianca Stratford (Larisa Oleynik) is all saccharine and vanity. The high school boys know she's off limits because her father (Larry Miller) doesn't trust his daughters enough to date. He makes them wear a pregnancy harness to remind them what it'll be like if they get pregnant. When Bianca whines that his no-dating rule is unfair, dad modifies the law so she can start dating as soon as her older sister Kat (Julia Stiles) dates. Kat has already been established as the school "bitch," and everyone from her schoolmates to her guidance counsellor tells her so. Of course, we know Kat is a sensitive teenager who's misunderstood.
With this new dating edict in place, the guys set to work finding a way to pursue Bianca. Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and his wisecracking pal Eckman (David Krumholtz) persuade the school hunk (Andrew Keegan) to pay the local miscreant (Heath Ledger) to take out Kat, thereby making Bianca available. From there, we sit back to watch the inevitable unfold.
Despite a tinny script, the cast puts in fine performances in what is a very unfunny movie. But the praise stops there.
It would be easy to listen things I hate about his movie, starting with its misogyny, poor taste, objectionable stereotyping and faltering jokes. Granted, this is a comedy, but none of the characters have any depth and this film undermines the integrity of all teenagers. Students are categorised as simply belonging to one or another clique, such as the coffee crowd, cowboys and nerds; this is a scenario that's been done to death, and it's been done far better. All boys are wimpy simpletons or macho bullies; of course, they're all horny. All girls are ninnies or hostile, and any bad behaviour is attributed to their bitchiness. When Kat drives into another car, her father's response is that his "insurance doesn't cover PMS." Of course, all authority figures in the film are domineering and apathetic.
10 Things I Hate About You is a mean and irresponsible movie that insults its target teenage audience. One doesn't need to look past its first ten minutes to find ten things to dislike.
Elspeth Haughton
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10 Things I Hate About You
