10 Things I Hate About You is a beloved 1999 film, directed by Gil Junger. The movie follows many actors who were on the cusp of the height of their careers, with Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing the main characters. This story follows two sisters, one who is keen on dating, Bianca, and the other, Kat, who is not. Their father tells Bianca that if she wants to date, her sister must as well. Cameron, a new kid with a huge crush on Bianca is determined to get the guy everyone is scared of, Patrick, to date Kat, so he can date Bianca. In honor of the 25th anniversary of the movie, I wanted to share my 10 favorite moments in the movie.
Bianca’s best friend, Chastity, poses the question, “I know you can be underwhelmed, and you can be overwhelmed, but can you ever just be, like, whelmed?” Bianca luckily has an answer, and lets the viewer, and Chastity know, “I think you can in Europe.”
Patrick tells Kat that she must really like him, even though she acts like she detests him. All of Kat’s actions and sarcasm have been pointing towards hate, so Kat quips back in a monotone voice, “Am I that transparent? I want you. I need you. Oh, baby. Oh, baby.”
In another moment between Bianca and Chastity, Bianca shares her perspective on like vs love. “There’s a difference between like and love. Because, I like my Skechers, but I love my Prada backpack.” Chastity responds with, “But I love my Skechers.” To which Bianca ends the conversation with the iconic, “That’s because you don’t have a Prada backpack.”
The fashion in 10 Things I Hate About You is completely unmatched, good and bad. One of my favorite examples of this is the scene where everyone goes to Prom. Late 90s and Early 2000s fashion is something so unique, so looking at everyone’s outfits is my favorite part.
Another moment where characters dress to the nines is the big party scene. What starts with an iconic scene of Cameron throwing posters advertising the party from the top of a large twisting stairwell results in an even more iconic scene of Kat dancing on top of a table because she had too much to drink. Once she gets drunk we can see her true feelings for Patrick and how he handles this shares a lot about his character.
After Cameron takes Bianca home from the party, she kisses him, and after she gets out of the car, he gets a grin on his face and says “And I’m back in the game!”
Just as you think the movie is going to end, Patrick and Kat go play some romantic form of paintball that ends with them kissing while covered in paint. There’s a pull-away shot of the two of them that I think about once a week.
Then obviously the most iconic scene in the movie is Patrick serenading Kat, which has completely changed my standards for love. He starts by hiring the marching band to play for him, then runs from security just to keep singing to Kat, which is a favorite scene for everyone.
