Characters are interesting because they help the audience relate to the ideas and messages in the plot. 10 things I hate about you, a film directed Gil Junger, is a classical teenage romance about an inspirational protagonist, Kat Stratford, who is strong, independent and stands up for what she believes in. This character is a social misfit who is exposed to a high school society where students experience the pressures of conforming to the popular crowd.
Kat is interesting because she teaches the audience the value of individualism, how someone can grow and change in a positive way and to gain a different perspective on life. Kat Stratford is interesting as she heavily portrays individualism and teaches us the importance of being independent and confident in your own skin. The idea of individuality is first introduced at the beginning of the film through diegetic music. When the camera pans from the preppy girls car to Kats car, this helps that audience see a comparison between the two owners personalities.
Kats car is beaten up, old and rusty unlike the popular girls car, which is shiny and new. While the camera shot is panning, we also learn about Kat through music coming from her car, which uses lyrics to describe her style and character. The music is loud, energetic and angry; it uses the lyrics, I dont give a damn about my bad reputation. This taught me that Kat chooses to not be a mainstream type of person and likes to be known as an individual who separates herself from what is known to be the popular thing to do.
Kat is interesting here as she both demonstrates and represents her individuality to the audience. Towards the end of the film, the director uses a close-up shot of Kat crying to demonstrate how she changed throughout the film in a positive way. At school, Kat reads a poem that she wrote for English class titled 10 things I hate about you. Kat, who is crying while reading her poem aloud in front of the class, reveals how hurt she was by what Patrick did and how much she really cares about him.
Although she was guarded and had important values about independence and non-conformity, through expressing her true feelings, Kat shows vulnerability and less hostility than at the beginning of the film. When she forgives Patrick ands up dating him, despite the fact that she was strongly against it, teaches us that a persons perspective does change and therefore Kat is an interesting character because she proves that a person can grow and change for the better. This enables Kat to now have a more healthy and open relationship with Patrick.
The values and morals that Kat Stratford represents through her journey, give the audience an opportunity to gain a different perspective on life. Through dialogue, we get an understanding of Kats point of view and personal concept of having the freedom of choice. In a scene with her younger sister Bianca; who is the complete opposite of Kat, her sister suggests to her that she has some potential and show get a new look. Biancas statement results in Kat saying, you forget I don’t care what people think, then following her argument states to Bianca, you don’t always have to be who they want you to be.
From this we learn that Kat doesn’t care what others think about her and she teaches us that doing what you want to do and being a carefree person, is better than constantly worrying about trying to impress others. Another scene where Kat shows her perspective on life is when she is with her love interest Patrick Verona and he asks her why she acts the way she does which precipitates Kats response in saying, I don’t like to do what people expect. Why should I live up to other peoples expectations instead of my own?
This is interesting because Kat influences people to look at things in a new way. It is clear, therefore, that Kat Stratford is an interesting character as she teaches the audience many valuable lessons about life. Through her experiences, we are given an insight into her journey as an individual, how she grows and changes and allows us to grasp an entirely innovative idea on the way we choose to look at things. I believe that Kat is an inspiring role model and from her we can learn about how to overcome the rules that society creates for us by choosing to be who we want to be.
