Revue Rant: The Template for Rom-Coms | 10 Things I Hate About You by Gil Junger (1999)

Sitting on the weekend with nothing better to do, trying to recall the last movie or TV series I saw that didn’t end with a high school prom, and miserably failing. And so to put something out there into the void of the world, here's me wording my thoughts in a blog (newsletter?), much like a rom-com protagonist who writes about failed romances until she finds her own;)

And so, I introduce to you "Revue Rant", my attempt at an outlet of expression being juggled with the ever-growing burdens of corporate world, academia, and the drama of the raging 20s!

To start us off, December reminds me of romantic films and this one has been my comfort movie for the longest time. The high school romance genre has become so popular that it’s running short on new ideas and so, has very conveniently taken to recycling classic literature. The film is a classic teen comedy that launched the careers of Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles. It offers up a million things to love while putting a 90’s spin on the work of William Shakespeare (The Taming of the Shrew). '10 Things I Hate About You' is absolutely magical, much like Heath Ledger’s face…yum.

The movie opens with a divorced dad Walter Stratford (Larry Miller) who won’t let his younger daughter, Bianca (Larisa Oleynik), date until his eldest one, Kat (Julia Stiles), finds a date as well, apparently because, as a doctor he’s seen far too many unwanted teen pregnancies.

Everyone, literally everyone wants to date sophomore Bianca, because she’s pretty and all that…DuH! Kat has, however, zero suitors and no interest — she’s into girl rock, feminism and other interests that, in the movie’s strained reasoning, somehow repel the hormonal urges. New kid in school, Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), is smitten with the beautiful Bianca and takes the responsibility of finding Kat a beau. Ergo Bianca’s two could-be boyfriends — noxiously vain Joey (Andrew Keegan) and nerdy guy Cameron each plot to fix up the standoffish sister with WhOeVeR is willing. *Enter Heath Ledger<3*

Patrick is reputedly a very bad boy. Bribed by both Cameron and Joey, he finds himself taking a shine to independent-minded Kat. She returns the favor after a fashion, and, naturally, it turns out Patrick is in fact a gentleman and a scholar after all.

Three words: Bogey. Lowenstein’s. Party.

Kat dances on a table to “Hypnotize”; Joey mansplains modeling; Cameron gets “back in the game” when Bianca, who had come to the party with Joey, who by the end of the night has hooked up with Bianca’s girlfriend, decides to ride home in Cameron’s car and give him the ‘I-had-a-great-time’ peck ; Patrick Verona and the now very hungover Kat Stratford have ‘oh-so-romantic’ moments, where she tries to kiss him and he turns her down, added to the fact that he is being paid to date her so that two other guys can attempt to date her sister…”You’re 18. You don’t know what you want”, as Mr.Stratford would say.

The plot predictably thickens as Kat and Patrick get close and eventually she gets to know about the bribery…at prom. To which Joey punches Cameron, to which Bianca punches him back, for Cameron, Kat and herself. After a few gloomy days, Mr.Stratford tells Kat she can go to Sarah Lawrence because a) He’s a grown man (now) and can manage without feeling the constant need of a female presence (his elder daughter since his wife) and b) Hurtful break up matured Kat. This feeling of overwhelming joy and heartbreak comes over Kat and…she decides to finish an assignment? Because, ofcourse!

For the class presentation, she reads out '10 Things I Hate About You', confessing her love for Patrick. She then breaks down and runs away. Patrick buys her a new guitar and they (probably) continue to love each other without bribes.

This movie might be the most authentic and humorous high school movie ever made. The template for all rom-coms that came next, it is not too raunchy, neither is it too sweet, and they know where to stop. The movie has also tastefully, yet subtly satirized a society that doesn’t seem to know what to do with a strong woman.