I Burn, I Pine, I Perish...
It's amazing how easily our thoughts on romance are shaped not through experience, but through media depictions of what romance should be.
Especially when you're a teenager and (probably) clueless about how everyone's sexy parts even work, often the easiest place to turn for guidance is fiction. Yeah, our parents and teachers can tell us stuff, but they're old and don't understand our feelings. Not like the suit-wearing, mostly male ad-men who carefully craft the adolescent fantasy for the casual consumer. They get us. They care.
Cynical ramblings aside, teen romance comedies are a dime a dozen, and their heyday in the late 1990's brought some of the best and worst in the genre. "10 Things", based of Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew" (a problematic play in itself) is one of the few that seems to get teen romance right. It's been fifteen years since this movie premiered, so it seems fair to ask: does this love story still hold up?
Especially when you're a teenager and (probably) clueless about how everyone's sexy parts even work, often the easiest place to turn for guidance is fiction. Yeah, our parents and teachers can tell us stuff, but they're old and don't understand our feelings. Not like the suit-wearing, mostly male ad-men who carefully craft the adolescent fantasy for the casual consumer. They get us. They care.
Cynical ramblings aside, teen romance comedies are a dime a dozen, and their heyday in the late 1990's brought some of the best and worst in the genre. "10 Things", based of Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew" (a problematic play in itself) is one of the few that seems to get teen romance right. It's been fifteen years since this movie premiered, so it seems fair to ask: does this love story still hold up?
"10 Things I Love About Brew": The Rules
When playing this game, we chose to cuddle up close to our good buddy Jose. Cuervo, that is. Go with God and tequila for this one.
I wish I could quit you.
Easy Mode
1. Drink for title drops. That's the full title for Easy Mode.
2. Drink when they drink. As per usual, there's a party scene in this wacky teen comedy.
3. Drink for Daddy Issues. When your dad's a gynecologist whose wife has just left him, you've got those in spades.
4. Drink when Kat is called a bitch.
5. Drink when a reference is made to Shakespeare or one of his plays.
Medium Mode
All the above rules apply. Also...
1. Title drops: Drink when someone says the word "hate".
2. Drink for comical accidents. Like someone getting hit with an arrow.
3. Drink for SAT words. Stick to the kids with this rule, the adults like to pretend that they're smarter.
4. Drink for penis references.
Hard Mode
All the above rules apply. Also...
1. Drink when someone tries to be hip.
2. Drink for moments of "genuine human connection".
3. Drink for inappropriate teacher/student behavior.
1. Drink for title drops. That's the full title for Easy Mode.
2. Drink when they drink. As per usual, there's a party scene in this wacky teen comedy.
3. Drink for Daddy Issues. When your dad's a gynecologist whose wife has just left him, you've got those in spades.
4. Drink when Kat is called a bitch.
5. Drink when a reference is made to Shakespeare or one of his plays.
Medium Mode
All the above rules apply. Also...
1. Title drops: Drink when someone says the word "hate".
2. Drink for comical accidents. Like someone getting hit with an arrow.
3. Drink for SAT words. Stick to the kids with this rule, the adults like to pretend that they're smarter.
4. Drink for penis references.
Hard Mode
All the above rules apply. Also...
1. Drink when someone tries to be hip.
2. Drink for moments of "genuine human connection".
3. Drink for inappropriate teacher/student behavior.
Usually, this lady is involved.
The Players
The players for this game are...
Krissy Pappau: Hopeless romantic (Medium)
Sandy B'Drinkin: Felt weird inside her shirt watching this movie (Easy)
Dame Poppy Middleton: Doesn't believe in love (Easy)
Some Guy: Wishes real high school drama was accompanied by catchy tunes (Medium)
Champjagne Austgin: Noticed the costume design was highly inaccurate (Medium)
Big Moose: Wants to spend a day on rowboating and paintball (Hard)
Velma Jinkies: Led a 20 minute conversation about Batman before the game started (Hard)
Krissy Pappau: Hopeless romantic (Medium)
Sandy B'Drinkin: Felt weird inside her shirt watching this movie (Easy)
Dame Poppy Middleton: Doesn't believe in love (Easy)
Some Guy: Wishes real high school drama was accompanied by catchy tunes (Medium)
Champjagne Austgin: Noticed the costume design was highly inaccurate (Medium)
Big Moose: Wants to spend a day on rowboating and paintball (Hard)
Velma Jinkies: Led a 20 minute conversation about Batman before the game started (Hard)
Hippest High School in the Pacific Northwest
This movie takes place in Seattle, which maybe accounts for some of its weirdness, content-wise. We quickly realized as we were playing the game that the biggest offender of the "trying to be hip" rule wasn't any member of this late 90's cast, but the film itself.
As the film illustrates later when the kids' English teacher turns one of Shakespeare's sonnets into a rap (drink), getting teenagers interested in the Bard is no easy task. There's so much dense text using words that nobody's even heard of for centuries (even most actors need a frickin dictionary to read his plays), the plots are outdated ("Taming of the Shrew" is about, among other things, how marital abuse leads to marital happiness) and the costumes are...pretty dorky.
As the film illustrates later when the kids' English teacher turns one of Shakespeare's sonnets into a rap (drink), getting teenagers interested in the Bard is no easy task. There's so much dense text using words that nobody's even heard of for centuries (even most actors need a frickin dictionary to read his plays), the plots are outdated ("Taming of the Shrew" is about, among other things, how marital abuse leads to marital happiness) and the costumes are...pretty dorky.
Case in point.
So what is there to do but try to jazz up the story a little bit? The film does so, but some of its efforts on this front are a little misguided.
In the opening scene, we see a group of teenagers bopping along to the Barenaked Ladies' mega-hit "One Week" (trite compared to their other songs, but I digress). They are rudely interrupted by our heroine Kat Stratford as she pulls up alongside in her own car, blasting Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation." This scene elegently sets up Kat's deviation from the high school norm. Except, hold on now...
"Guys," Sandy drawled, "this song is so done. They just used it in Freaks and Geeks".
In the opening scene, we see a group of teenagers bopping along to the Barenaked Ladies' mega-hit "One Week" (trite compared to their other songs, but I digress). They are rudely interrupted by our heroine Kat Stratford as she pulls up alongside in her own car, blasting Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation." This scene elegently sets up Kat's deviation from the high school norm. Except, hold on now...
"Guys," Sandy drawled, "this song is so done. They just used it in Freaks and Geeks".
Well, I'll be.
It's true: cult classic "Freaks and Geeks" came out the YEAR BEFORE "10 Things" was released in theatres, and even though few people were watching it at the time, it did influence how we think of the stereotypical "bad kid". Not to say that this movie steals from "Freaks and Geeks", but the creators couldn't have been unaware of the choice they were making by using this song. And that makes them lazy.
The film's laziness comes in fits and starts. Later it does truly appear that they're doing their research on some fronts: Kat is an avid fan of Bikini Kill and The Raincoats, two Grrrrl punk groups from the Seattle area that a real girl like Kat would have been all over. But then you delve into the high school politics and some things come off strange. Not only does the movie contain a classic "this is where you sit" montage where a character lists the different cliques present at Padua High, those cliques are so off-the-charts goofy that they border on unbelievable.
See, you have your coffee-heads (because Seattle, am I right?), your white Rastas (sure, I could see that), and your...cowboys.
It's true: cult classic "Freaks and Geeks" came out the YEAR BEFORE "10 Things" was released in theatres, and even though few people were watching it at the time, it did influence how we think of the stereotypical "bad kid". Not to say that this movie steals from "Freaks and Geeks", but the creators couldn't have been unaware of the choice they were making by using this song. And that makes them lazy.
The film's laziness comes in fits and starts. Later it does truly appear that they're doing their research on some fronts: Kat is an avid fan of Bikini Kill and The Raincoats, two Grrrrl punk groups from the Seattle area that a real girl like Kat would have been all over. But then you delve into the high school politics and some things come off strange. Not only does the movie contain a classic "this is where you sit" montage where a character lists the different cliques present at Padua High, those cliques are so off-the-charts goofy that they border on unbelievable.
See, you have your coffee-heads (because Seattle, am I right?), your white Rastas (sure, I could see that), and your...cowboys.
Goddammit, white people, get your shit together.
Hand to God, I will never understand the Cowboy clique in this movie. They are there to make their school seem more than a little weird. Thing is, high school doesn't need any more weirding. It's plenty strange and horrifying already. These throwaway cliques add little to the film, because what the audience really wants to see is some loose portrayal of what high school was like for them, but heightened. This movie tries too hard in some places, and at the same time not hard enough.
Luckily, our main cast is plenty cool. That's why Heath Ledger's outrageous behavior doesn't get a drink during this game. He's not trying to be cool. He just is.
Luckily, our main cast is plenty cool. That's why Heath Ledger's outrageous behavior doesn't get a drink during this game. He's not trying to be cool. He just is.
"I'm drinking anyway." -Velma Jinkies
Sister, Sister
As mentioned previously, "Taming of the Shrew" isn't exactly the most pro-woman play Shakespeare ever wrote. One of the problematic things about staging it post-feminist revolution is dealing with the idea that the main relationship is built on a foundation of violence and lies. Kate, the shrew in question, is abused by her husband Petruchio until every ounce of fight in her is either ground out or suppressed (you can interpret it a couple different ways) and she becomes an ideal wife: loving, devoted, and obedient.
So setting this in a high school is a weird enough concept to begin with, but it works because if there's ever a group of people filled with misguided opinions and beliefs, it's teenagers. You can keep the main events of the play intact (with some tweaking) because teenagers are stupid and it's totally plausible that a boy would accept money to go out with an unpopular girl. Still, the creators changed the tone and many of the characters drastically, which is fine because nobody wants to see abusive high school relationships in a motion picture.
The characters who got the least development in the play, Kate and Bianca, are reinvented in the movie in completely genius ways. First, there's Kat. What did the filmmakers do to convey her utter sense of unlikability? They made her a very outspoken feminist.
So setting this in a high school is a weird enough concept to begin with, but it works because if there's ever a group of people filled with misguided opinions and beliefs, it's teenagers. You can keep the main events of the play intact (with some tweaking) because teenagers are stupid and it's totally plausible that a boy would accept money to go out with an unpopular girl. Still, the creators changed the tone and many of the characters drastically, which is fine because nobody wants to see abusive high school relationships in a motion picture.
The characters who got the least development in the play, Kate and Bianca, are reinvented in the movie in completely genius ways. First, there's Kat. What did the filmmakers do to convey her utter sense of unlikability? They made her a very outspoken feminist.
"But The Bell Jar's a really good book." -Dame Poppy
The more I watch this film, the more I realize what a great move this was, and the worse I feel for Kat and her position. We know girls like Kat. We possible WERE girls like Kat in high school. Once the girl gets to college, she's going to meet a whole host of people who are going to be able to talk very articulately about the things she's interested in and the issues she finds important. But as it is, she's surrounded by people who willfully do NOT understand her positions. She's highly intelligent, and this paired with her strong set of beliefs works against her. We feel for Kat and we like her because not only is she smart, and thoughtful and RIGHT about pretty much everything she says, she is trapped in a period of life where being socially conscious and critical of the status quo makes you a social pariah. She is made into a bitch by her classmates because she refuses to sit down and accept things as they are.
That said, the most surprising thing about her is that she lets herself fall for a guy like Patrick in the first place. But Big Moose assures us that telling someone in the know that you not only know who the Raincoats are but you appreciate their music is a huge step down the road to getting them in bed with you.
That said, the most surprising thing about her is that she lets herself fall for a guy like Patrick in the first place. But Big Moose assures us that telling someone in the know that you not only know who the Raincoats are but you appreciate their music is a huge step down the road to getting them in bed with you.
Is that an electric violin? I might need to check these guys out.
Enter Bianca, central antagonist to Kat's way of life. Bianca, at the top of the movie, has proved herself incredibly adept at working within the rules of high school popularity and has risen to the top of the charts. Her stock only increases because of her unattainability. She's beautiful, sure of herself, and just dumb enough for everyone to find her charming.
Thing is, despite her bubblehead appearance, she knows exactly what she's doing. During an argument their house, Kat tells Bianca that she doesn't need to do what everyone expects her to. Bianca responds cheerfully with "I happen to like being adored, thank you."
Bianca's seen what being smart and outspoken has done for Kat's popularity and wants none of what she's getting every day. She's getting all the benefits of being at the top of the social ladder with none of the danger that she'll actually need to follow through on any of her flirtations. She's an icon. Untouched. As JoGoLev's character calls her, "pure".
Thing is, despite her bubblehead appearance, she knows exactly what she's doing. During an argument their house, Kat tells Bianca that she doesn't need to do what everyone expects her to. Bianca responds cheerfully with "I happen to like being adored, thank you."
Bianca's seen what being smart and outspoken has done for Kat's popularity and wants none of what she's getting every day. She's getting all the benefits of being at the top of the social ladder with none of the danger that she'll actually need to follow through on any of her flirtations. She's an icon. Untouched. As JoGoLev's character calls her, "pure".
"Pure. That's a really interesting synonym for "boring"". -Some Guy
This interpretation of Bianca's character is interesting in some ways. It definitely makes her more interesting, and a good deal more active. She sets the plot to set up Kat with Patrick in motion. Unfortunately, when it comes to Bianca and Cameron's subplot, things get a little muddled; this is the plot where we get to look at the attitudes of the time, and how little they've changed.
Car Talk
The most important set of scenes come in exactly halfway through the movie. They both take place inside a car.
After a particularly eventful party, in which Kat got staggeringly drunk and Bianca accidentally revealed to Cameron that she was actually pursuing the not-so-secretly-a-jerk playboy the whole time, the two couples make their way back home. They then experience two parallel scenes.
Patrick, after placing the car in park, starts a conversation with Kat about her home life. They talk about her dad, her sister, and some other things that have been stressing her out. She, in her drunken state, is touched by his attention and basically offers herself up to him, inviting him to make a move.
Patrick staunchly declines the offer, muttering that they should maybe do this another time. Kat becomes infuriated and stalks into the house. The next twenty minutes of the film revolve around Patrick trying to win her back over.
After a particularly eventful party, in which Kat got staggeringly drunk and Bianca accidentally revealed to Cameron that she was actually pursuing the not-so-secretly-a-jerk playboy the whole time, the two couples make their way back home. They then experience two parallel scenes.
Patrick, after placing the car in park, starts a conversation with Kat about her home life. They talk about her dad, her sister, and some other things that have been stressing her out. She, in her drunken state, is touched by his attention and basically offers herself up to him, inviting him to make a move.
Patrick staunchly declines the offer, muttering that they should maybe do this another time. Kat becomes infuriated and stalks into the house. The next twenty minutes of the film revolve around Patrick trying to win her back over.
With pretty adorable results
Meanwhile, over in Cameron's car, an awkward silence has fallen between he and Bianca. He then begins to air his grievances. He tells her that just because she's beautiful doesn't mean she can toy with people's emotions, that she should have just said she wasn't interested in the first place, that he did all of this stuff to try and win her over like become her tutor and help get Kat laid...
Bianca interrupts him by grabbing his face and kissing him. She leaves the car immediately, leaving Cameron to celebrate her newfound attraction to him.
Sorry, movie...but what are you saying here?
Bianca interrupts him by grabbing his face and kissing him. She leaves the car immediately, leaving Cameron to celebrate her newfound attraction to him.
Sorry, movie...but what are you saying here?
Even Grumio is judging you!
The movie proves here that despite its intense research on feminist theory (cough), it's refusing to take any lessons from it. Patrick, even though at this point he's still lying through his teeth to Kat, is doing exactly the right thing here. A girl, blitzed out of her mind, is giving him permission to get freaky with her, and he refuses, knowing that she would never offer him this chance if she was sober. He is then punished by her, and told by every other man in the film that he has hurt her pride and he needs to make it right.
WRONG. He has nothing to apologize for. If he had kissed her, it would have been molestation.
"So what," argues Poppy, "we should give him a medal?" No, but we need to acknowledge what happened here. Patrick doesn't throw this in her face later. He doesn't use his chivalry as leverage to get in her pants later. He genuinely doesn't want to make out with a drunk girl because he's a fucking gentleman, who apparently understands Kat more than she understands herself.
Meanwhile Cameron, who acts like a complete douchenozzle to a girl he supposedly likes, gets rewarded for his behavior. The movie does its best to make Cameron the "White Knight" to Bianca's damsel, and after years of being out of high school I can see what incredible bullshit this all is. Cameron doesn't know Bianca well enough to make judgment calls about her personality like this. He fell in love with her for completely superficial reasons and the moment she acted in a way that didn't fit his vision of her, he nearly gave up trying to pursue her and instead tried to make her feel bad on purpose for not being attracted to him.
Kat and Patrick's storyline has a lot going for it. The two actors have a lot of genuine chemistry, and it makes sense that the characters would find a kind of kinship with each other. Cameron and Bianca's storyline is pure wish fulfillment, told from Cameron's perspective, about how the nice guy finally got the girl. It doesn't hold up, it's like every other romantic comedy ever, and sadly, it fits the tone of this movie far more than anything going on with Kat and Patrick. Even the C plot with Cameron and Kat's weird friends getting together is more realistic, and that involves misquoting the Scottish Play to win someone's affection.
WRONG. He has nothing to apologize for. If he had kissed her, it would have been molestation.
"So what," argues Poppy, "we should give him a medal?" No, but we need to acknowledge what happened here. Patrick doesn't throw this in her face later. He doesn't use his chivalry as leverage to get in her pants later. He genuinely doesn't want to make out with a drunk girl because he's a fucking gentleman, who apparently understands Kat more than she understands herself.
Meanwhile Cameron, who acts like a complete douchenozzle to a girl he supposedly likes, gets rewarded for his behavior. The movie does its best to make Cameron the "White Knight" to Bianca's damsel, and after years of being out of high school I can see what incredible bullshit this all is. Cameron doesn't know Bianca well enough to make judgment calls about her personality like this. He fell in love with her for completely superficial reasons and the moment she acted in a way that didn't fit his vision of her, he nearly gave up trying to pursue her and instead tried to make her feel bad on purpose for not being attracted to him.
Kat and Patrick's storyline has a lot going for it. The two actors have a lot of genuine chemistry, and it makes sense that the characters would find a kind of kinship with each other. Cameron and Bianca's storyline is pure wish fulfillment, told from Cameron's perspective, about how the nice guy finally got the girl. It doesn't hold up, it's like every other romantic comedy ever, and sadly, it fits the tone of this movie far more than anything going on with Kat and Patrick. Even the C plot with Cameron and Kat's weird friends getting together is more realistic, and that involves misquoting the Scottish Play to win someone's affection.
"At least he didn't quote King John." -Champjagne Austgin
The Million Dollar Question
"Here's the million dollar question," Big Moose said at the end of the movie as Kat and Patrick kissed in the parking lot. "Do they get married?"
No. Probably not.
We all agreed on this sentiment. Kat just got into the school of her dreams on the other side of the country. We don't know Patrick's post-graduation plans, so he might go with her, but chances are the relationship won't last Kat's earlier described blossoming into adulthood. And that's fine. She'll probably get involved with a political group on campus and meet some nice guy (or girl, there's way more of those at Sarah Lawrence), whose ideas mesh with hers completely.
But that's fine. They don't need to get married. Kat and Patrick's relationship is one of the best high school relationships I've seen depicted in a movie. It's fun, it's exciting, it changes both of them for the better, but it probably will run its course. The movie makes no implication that they're soulmates. Just two people who understand each other, who find each other attractive and can open themselves up around each other.
Even if those two people are Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger.
No. Probably not.
We all agreed on this sentiment. Kat just got into the school of her dreams on the other side of the country. We don't know Patrick's post-graduation plans, so he might go with her, but chances are the relationship won't last Kat's earlier described blossoming into adulthood. And that's fine. She'll probably get involved with a political group on campus and meet some nice guy (or girl, there's way more of those at Sarah Lawrence), whose ideas mesh with hers completely.
But that's fine. They don't need to get married. Kat and Patrick's relationship is one of the best high school relationships I've seen depicted in a movie. It's fun, it's exciting, it changes both of them for the better, but it probably will run its course. The movie makes no implication that they're soulmates. Just two people who understand each other, who find each other attractive and can open themselves up around each other.
Even if those two people are Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger.
WHY CAN'T EVERYONE BE THIS PRETTY?
The Results
Once again, this game has a high point around the middle of the film, then tapers off near the end (with a rousing encore in the last scene during Kat's poem). So a couple more rules would probably help out a bit. Rules like...
Drink for sociopathic behavior.
You can interpret this in many different ways. There's casual sociopathy, like the arrogant jerk's pursuing of Bianca "for fun" or Bianca's best friend hooking up with him as his second choice, or Patrick drilling a hole into Cameron's social studies book.
Drink when someone smokes.
This is a pick-up rule more than anything, as only Patrick smokes and he mostly smokes at the beginning of the film. But it should help out a little bit.
Drink for references to Patrick's "exploits".
They're all lies, but they say that once he ate a duck, and that he sold his liver on the black market. And they say he's from...Down Under. Gasp.
Drink for sociopathic behavior.
You can interpret this in many different ways. There's casual sociopathy, like the arrogant jerk's pursuing of Bianca "for fun" or Bianca's best friend hooking up with him as his second choice, or Patrick drilling a hole into Cameron's social studies book.
Drink when someone smokes.
This is a pick-up rule more than anything, as only Patrick smokes and he mostly smokes at the beginning of the film. But it should help out a little bit.
Drink for references to Patrick's "exploits".
They're all lies, but they say that once he ate a duck, and that he sold his liver on the black market. And they say he's from...Down Under. Gasp.
"He sold his AUSTRALIAN liver, guys." -Sandy B'Drinkin
It's been a long time since the last game, so let's make the next one really spectacular, yeah? A cult favorite, has several iterations over a couple decades, science fiction, about a ship and its plucky crew...
Not sure if she's talking about "Star Trek"...or something much dumber.
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For Your Inebriation is written by Krissy Pappau (Hollis Beck). All "10 Things I Hate About You" images are owned by Walt Disney Studios.
For Your Inebriation is written by Krissy Pappau (Hollis Beck). All "10 Things I Hate About You" images are owned by Walt Disney Studios.
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