I watched 10 Things I Hate About You for the first time last February 2015, and needless to say, after almost a solid two hours of simultaneously crying and swooning, I had given it the title of my favorite movie of all time. Yeah, I know that the plot line was cliche and everything was pretty fast-paced towards the end, but trust me, I have my reasons, one of which I will choose to shed a light on today: my role model, the badass female protagonist, Katarina Stratford.
Katarina, or Kat, for short, is far from the stereotypical cis-female usually cast as the lead in American chick flicks. Her interests include Thai food, feminist prose and angry girl music of the indie rock persuasion. She spends most of her free time reading books along the lines of The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and putting misogynists in their place. I don’t think anybody could have brought this character to life as well as Julia Stiles did, for she perfectly captured Kat’s spirit, fearlessness and sheer brilliance, for the lack of a better term.
I’ve always considered her as one of my misunderstood favorites, since I have had a number of people interrogate me on why I look up to her in the first place when “she only ever snaps at others all throughout the story”. It’s unfortunate how most viewers only look at that particular aspect of her personality, instead of wondering why she actually does it or choosing to look at her many other admirable traits, which, of course, I will list today.
She knows who she wants to be, and keeps herself in check instead of blindly conforming to the standards set by her peers because it’s what everyone else is doing. One line that Kat had said whilst on a pedal boat with Patrick that resonated with me throughout the film was, “Why should I live up to other people’s expectations instead of my own?” and you know what, that is as true as the word true can get. She has her own views and beliefs that go beyond the typical high schooler’s, and refuses to let them be swayed in order to fit in. At a time like this, when teenagers nowadays are constantly pressured by peers into being completely different people, Kat is a breath of fresh air as she shows that although this is difficult, it’s definitely not impossible.
She doesn’t give anyone the privilege of making her own choices for her. In one scene of the movie, she receives an acceptance letter from the college of her choice, located halfway across the country, much to the dismay of her overprotective father. Determined to keep her in a place close to home, they argue it out until Kat says, “I want to go to an East Coast school. I want you to trust me to make my own choices, and I want you to stop trying to control my life just because you can’t control yours.” Quite straightforward, if you ask me, but she’s just making it clear that she’s still keen on following her plan of going to Sarah Lawrence, and there is virtually nothing that could stop her. Talk about taking control of one’s destiny.
She always speaks her mind instead of taking everything sitting down, even if it lands her a routine trip to the guidance office. After dissing on a classmate who said that she loved Hemingway and referred to him as a “abusive, alcoholic misogynist who squandered half of his life hanging around Picasso trying to nail his leftovers”, she faces the consequences without even batting an eyelash. Expressing one’s opinion is not a terrorist action, as she said herself, and it should not be treated as such. She is aware that we all have the right to voice out our concerns and not even authority figures are in the place to restrain us.
She doesn’t let anyone step on her as well, and calls people out without hesitation. When Kat expresses her hatred towards Hemingway, Joey Donner-the most popular guy in school, who just so happens to be her sworn enemy-points out that she’s a bitter, self-righteous hag who has no friends, to which she responds with a, “I guess in this society, being male and an asshole makes you worthy of our time.” Her headstrong personality is admirable, as she finds ways to defend herself even in the most compromising situations. In times like this, I usually stay mute and eventually find myself shedding a tear or two, but Kat remains resilient and determined to prove whoever insults her wrong in whatever way she deems fit.
She fearlessly showed that a girl is in fact worth the chase, and knew better than to give in to the charms of just any boy without getting to know him first. Kat meets the movie’s male lead, Patrick Verona, for the first time after a vicious game of soccer, where he tries to hit her up with one pick-up line after another. You see, Patrick—played by my longest-running celebrity crush, Heath Ledger—is a pretty guy. His curly hair, foreign accent and deep voice added up together are basically a formula for premature death, so constantly avoiding him like Kat did sure seemed like a hard thing to do. This behavior of hers actually goes a long way, as it is revealed in the latter part of the film that she gave herself away at a relatively early age (you’ll never guess the guy she had sex with) and is determined to keep herself from making the same mistake again with the wrong person. See! She actually does have good intentions behind her actions!
So, to cut the long story short, she is strong-willed and independent, smart and sharp, basically everything I wish to be. Plus, she got Patrick Verona in the end, which is a feat in itself since everybody’s first proper chick flick crush had to be him at some point. But, that is a story worthy of its own article.
