Rise of A Nice Guy: 10 Things I Hate About You

December 14, 2023

"10 Things I Hate About You" is a 1999 romcom starring Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger. It's a well-executed movie and one of the more memorable movies in the genre.

Stiles plays Kat Stratford, an abrasive high-school senior. Ledger plays Patrick Verdona, a fellow student who's been bribed to convince her to date in him in order to allow her younger sister Bianca to date.

The sisters' strict divorced father doesn't want either of his daughters to date and uses Kat's unwillingness to mingle with members of the opposite sex as leverage to keep Bianca from doing it.

What makes "10 Things" more memorable than for example "She's All That," another 1999 romcom in a high school setting, is its fearless approach. It's not afraid of being preposterous but it doesn't let the silliness overshadow the characters and their respective objectives.

An aspect of the movie that is perhaps more notable today than it was a quarter-century ago is Bianca's suitor, fellow sophomore Cameron Jones (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Cam is what might be called A Nice Guy. While boyishly handsome he's physically unimposing, short, scrawny, and lacking any obvious skill or for that matter charisma.

He weasels his way into her life by pretending to know French well enough to tutor her. Circling around her is also Joey Donner, a senior who moonlights as photo model. Cam's inability to make an actual move on her puts her off which eventually leads him to erupt and express his frustration that she doesn't care about him even though He Does Nice Things For Her. This turns out to be a winning move. Yeah.

I originally saw "10 Things" at the theater with my wife and we found it entertaining. I still find it entertaining, but I don't know if someone in the 16-30 demographic today would. Maybe it's a timeless classic, but maybe it's just a time capsule, a relic of a bygone era with different sensibilities and expectations.