The Ten Things I hate about you - Movie Review Example

Critical Essay on “The Ten Things I Hate About You” “The Ten Things I hate about you” was directed by Gil Junger in 1999 (Teese 2005). The film was an interpretation of Shakespeare’s play, “The Taming of the Shrew” as the story line was inspired by the play. The female protagonist of the movie is Katerina Stratford known as Kat while the male protagonist is Patrick Verona. Kat is the shrew of Shakespeare’s play while Patrick is responsible for taming the shrew (Schneider 2009). Patrick reaches Kat as a result of an agreement but falls in love with her due to which, the plan of other characters such as Cameron, Joey and Michael gets destructed. The ten things that Kat informs about Patrick that she hates includes that she is unable to hate him due to which, Patrick realizes her love for him and the story has a happy ending. Patrick and Kat are in love with one another but they take time in realizing about it. The characters of the story are made to do what they do not like such as Kat has to have sex with Joey because everyone else is doing it. Kat is pressed to do this act. Similarly, Bianca cannot go for a date because Kat cannot have it; therefore, Bianca is restricted to have a date. Bianca is pressed to act according to her father’s will. Patrick is pressed to make Kat go for a date with him. Initially Patrick has no liking for Kat. Teen peer pressure is quite dominant theme of the movie as the youngsters face a pressure due to which, they act accordingly. All the characters are made to act because of the pressure by their peers such as Bianca is pressurized because of her sister Kat and later on by Joey, Kat is pressurized because of Joey. Patrick is pressurized by Cameron and Joey and so on. The story circulates around the characters of Kat, Patrick, Joey, Bianca, Cameron, Michael and Walter Stratford. Cameron feels interested towards Bianca and wants to ask her for a date but he is informed by Michael that Bianca has a domineering father who controls his daughters tremendously (Teese 2005). He also informs Cameron that he would not be able to date Bianca (CO’Su 2009). However, Cameron reaches Bianca’s home as a French teacher. He asks her for a date many times after which, he is informed that Bianca will not be allowed to have a date until and unless Kat has a date. With this revelation, Cameron starts his planning for making Kat to date with someone. He and Michael choose Patrick in order to date Kat because they see Patrick containing the qualities that Kat also has. Patrick is paid by Joey too in order to date Kat because Joey also wants to date Bianca. Bianca enjoys a sound reputation in the movie as she is liked by many boys because of her being tempting attitude for the boys. Kat is regarded as from a “Loser” planet while Bianca is regarded as from “Look at me” planet (Teese 2005). Kat gets in physical interaction with Joey after which, she draws herself from any further dating with men. Joey also challenges Kat that he can date Bianca similarly as Kat due to which, Kat makes her father to inform Bianca that she cannot go on a date until Kat does. Bianca initially shows liking for Joey but when she realizes his evil nature, she draws away from him and is attracted towards Cameron. Kat informs her sister about her sex with Joey due to which, Bianca also feels distracted from Joey. Kat starts showing interest towards Patrick but when she is informed that Patrick was tempting her as a plan, she is heartbroken and breaks of with Patrick. After this incident, Bianca hits Joey thrice for hitting Cameron, for hurting her sister, Kat and lastly for hurting her. Kat, after this happening, reads a poem written by her in her English Literature Class which is entitled as “The Ten Things I Hate about you”. In this poem, she makes Patrick know that she loves him and Patrick is also touched by her feelings due to which, they unite at the end. Kat is shown in the movie as a strong character but it is shown that she was unable to fight of Joey’s unending charms. It can be said that Kat was a strong person only in appearance and internally, she was very weak and susceptible to outward dangers. She used to show her as a strong person in order to scare away people from her. Patrick is also known as a bad person as many stories are attached with him but it appears that he is manly and has a soft heart (Schneider 2009). Joey who appears to be outwardly attractive pays Patrick for alluring Kat for his own benefit and that is making Kat realize her worth. Joey is portrayed as a greedy and wicked person because first he shows greed for Kat and then for Bianca and wants to have no long-lasting relationship with any of the sister. As far as Cameron is concerned, Cameron wants Patrick to date Kat so that he can be allowed to date Bianca. Cameron shows real interest towards Bianca. Kat’s heart is won by Patrick who is portrayed as a rough and rebellious character (Teese 2005). Kat’s father, My Walter Stratford is also shown as an overly authoritative person but he is always ready to accept Kat’s desires and imposes them on Bianca (CO’Su 2009). In spite of his being overly defensive for his daughters, Kat gets engaged in a sexual relationship with Joey, which she hides from her sister for a long time and which, restricts her to have further dates with any other person. She wants to safeguard her sister from Joey due to which, she announces that she will not date any man and so, her sister cannot date any person. Works Cited CO’Su. 10 Things I Hate About You, Movie Review. Accessed on 30th September 2009 from http://www.webcitation.org/5jxwfJltm Schneider, Jason. Review: 10 Things I Hate About You on ABC Family. Suite101.com, 2009. Accessed on 30th September 2009 from http://prime-time-sitcoms.suite101.com/article.cfm/review_10_things_i_hate_about_you_on_abc_family Teese, Bettie. A masterpiece that leaves you with a warm fuzzy feeling! 10 out of 10 for 10 Things. 2005. Accessed on 30th September 2009 from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0147800/ Read More