Rating Rom-Com Adaptations: 10 Things I Hate About You & The Taming of the Shrew

10 Things I Hate About You is a 1999 rom-com loosely based on the Shakespeare play, The Taming of the Shrew. The basic premise is the same. Bianca can only accept a suitor if her older sister, the 'shrewish' Kate, is coupled off first. The film is perhaps one of the most successful films in this Rating Rom-Com Adaptations series in terms of launching talent. Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, and Joseph Gorden-Levitt got their starts in this rom-com and all had successful careers afterwards.

Beyond the main plot, 10 Things I Hate About You has several satisfying and jokey nods to Shakespeare. For example, instead of the Italian city of Padua, it is set in Padua High School and Bianca and Kat are the 'Stratford' sisters (Shakespeare's birthplace is Stratford-upon-Avon). There is even a side character, Mandella, obsessed with Shakespeare and she receives an adorable Shakespeare themed 'promposal' in the film. She also has a picture of him in her locker!

All Images from 10 Things I Hate About You Touchstone Pictures

The Taming of The Shrew is criticised for perpetuating misogynistic gender roles. In the induction of the play the drunkard Christopher Sly is tricked into believing he is a nobleman and performs the story. Yet it has been argued that because it is actually a play-within-a-play put on by a drunkard outside a pub, Shakespeare intended to mock the extreme misogyny. This doesn't really translate in the final result though, especially when delivered differently from production to production with different directions and performances. Not to mention the varying influences of culture and society on the play depending when on where in the world it has been performed since its original conception in 1594. Even when reading the original script, this interpretation only makes itself known if you were to study it like a student. Whatever Shakespeare's intent with the gendered portrayals may have been, it is not obvious and is therefore fairly harmful. So how does 10 Things I Hate About You handle the gender issues of the source material?

In the original play Petruchio 'tames' Kate into become his idea of the perfect wife. This is done with consistent psychological and physical abuse until she is worn down so completely she complies. In the 1999 film Patrick (Heath Ledger) is paid to win over Kat (Julia Stiles) so that her sister is free to date. They bond over the course of the film and begin to really care for each other. There is no abuse and coercion like in the play unsurprisingly!

The best choice made by this adaptation is making sure Patrick's character is an outcast. The obvious choice to generate a conflict between his character and the unpopular Kat, is to make Patrick the popular boy in school (a fun to watch trope but admittedly an overused one) but this is not the case. Patrick and Kat are believably compatible because they are basically the same character. The only difference between them is Patrick is a boy who chooses to be removed from others and has a relatively 'alternative' personality to his peers. He is feared but respected for this in some regard. Because Kat is a girl who chooses to be removed from others and has a relatively 'alternative' personality to those around her, she is a 'bitch', 'frigid', and bullied as a result. Narratively this is clever because it means the film can begin with the two main characters at odds thinking they they are different from each other, but as they spend time together away from those who categorise them as such, they find they are very similar people. The choice is not only a seamless story-telling idea, it simultaneously highlights the gendered differences in the way Patrick and Kat are treated by others.

The film thus has clever ways to curb the misogyny of the source material despite there still being a lot of male competition to 'win' the female characters, but this is an element that is typical of both Shakespeare and the rom-com genre! Naturally, there are some more updated criticisms from today that can be applied to a 1999 film like this. Kat's 'shrewish' characterisation has some 'pick-me' elements I'd prefer weren't there - she rolls her eyes at anything girlish especially her pink-loving lipstick wearing sister, Bianca. However, there is more of a focus on Kat and Bianca's relationship and development as sisters which is basically nowhere to be seen in The Taming of the Shrew - so big pluses there!

In the original play, both Petruchio and Katherine are large caricature-type characters. This is because it provides the slap-stick comedic style of many Tudor Comedies and emphasises its form as a play-within-a-play. Therefore it is not hard for Patrick and Kat to be made more well-rounded, likable, and relatable characters in the adaptation. I think this endearing effect can also be attributed to Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger's nuanced performances. They manage to not fall into the trap of American high school movie cliches and seem very real, intelligent, and feeling teenagers all the way through. This is essential for pulling off the emotional climax of the film that suddenly departs from its sarcastic comedy (when Kat reads her 10 Things I Hate About You poem and Patrick reacts).

10 Thing I Hate About You is one of the best adaptations of a classic in terms of putting in the most work to make the source material more appropriate whilst still staying very loyal to the overarching plot. It also still manages to add its own compelling story ideas, especially in terms of carving a captivating romance between the two main characters. The film has shown longevity, is still well-known, well loved, and not only because it saw the start of a lot of great acting careers but because it remains fun, sarcastic, and whimsical whilst balancing all of the above! Given the source material, the adaptation had a lot of problematic potential that is mostly (and pleasantly) avoided. 8/10.