Don't let anyone, ever, make you feel like you don't deserve what you want

10 Things I Hate About You is smarter and better then the average teen movie. I remember when it came out in 1999, right around the time I saw a lot of other teen movies. I was 13 and these movies meant the world to me. They were relevant to my life. And I got to go see them alone at the toonie theatre. This was the epitome of middle school coolness for me. However, this movie stood out from the general sea of crap that is/was teen movies. I mean, yes it is horribly predictable and kind of cheesy, but it made an impression on my young self.

It introduced me (and most of North America) to Heath Ledger. He rose above the material and showed of some really genuine acting. From the obvious fun and joy on his face as he runs away from the security guards while singing to Julia Stiles' character to the visible guilt on his face in the second to last scene as the weight of his actions hits home, he showed us the beginnings of his skill in a silly teen comedy. It is a poignant reminder of how brilliant Heath Ledger truly was.

10 Things I Hate About You also demonstrates more intelligent humour than most other teen movies. It seems to be aware of its genre's ridiculousness and while it employs many of the stereotypes, there is a sense of self-awareness here. And this movie is actually funny. I still laugh when I watch it. 

And I can't talk about this movie without mentioning the character of Kat Stratford. She was the one I wanted to be after I watched this. I modeled some of my clothing choices after her throughout my teenage years. She was sarcastic, angry, a feminist, and a bit of a rebel, and I loved her. She introduced my young self to feminism. This movie was where I first heard of Bikini Kill, Sylvia Plath, Simone de Beauvoir and Betty Friedan. And I felt understood and justified in my anger at the high school boys' idiocy and misogyny. I was also angry at the Joey Donner types that I knew. I wanted to run my car into theirs, I wanted to watch someone punch them out at prom (or do it myself) and I wanted to know that it was ok to feel that way. Teenage girls in movies aren't always allowed to express these feelings, but Kat did. And someone still loved her, without her having to change her entire worldview.

So yes, this is a somewhat silly teen comedy from my youth. But to me, it rises above most of the other teen comedies of that era and remains something I enjoy watching. It meant something to me at a time when everything was hard and I didn't see myself reflected anywhere in pop culture. I felt a little bit more understood and that mattered to me.