Here We Go Again
There's something about this movie that just makes me want to like worry it with my teeth almost until I puzzle out exactly what it is that's so fascinating. On the surface, it's just another 90's teen bubblegum cinema chick flick, nothing too fancy. It just so happens that it's based on Shakespeare, which is perhaps where it gets some of its depth.
One of the things I really love about this movie is that everyone wears a mask. It's like a fucking masquerade.
Kat is the most obvious example, I think. In the beginning of the movie, she's sent to the office for disrupting class and informed that everyone thinks she's a "heinous bitch." This fits what little we've seen of Kat so far. She blares punk music, has little regard for the traditions of high school, spars verbally with everyone from the popular jock to the English teacher. She's sure as hell prickly. As the movie progresses, it's like we remove the mask. We begin to see the vulnerability underneath Kat's hard exterior. She denies vehemently to her sister Bianca that she cares what anyone thinks-- but she does. She's damaged by her mother's absence, by the scars that adolescence and high school leave behind. Kat is sensitive, though she'd be the last one to admit it, and under Patrick's understanding hand, she softens, transforms.
Patrick is another great example. As the movie opens, we meet brooding black-clad Patrick. He's a delinquent, we're informed by other students, and his own behavior doesn't contradict the assessment. He skips class, lights cigarettes in school, plays with fire, wields power tools at other students... He is that intriguing and terrifying student that a good girl like me never dared look in the eye in high school. Dangerous, yet seductive. Possibly psychotic. And he takes Joey's money to take Kat out on a date. This doesn't say much for his character. And yet, as the movie progresses, he begins to stand up for truth and integrity, effectively punishing Joey for his sleazebag ways, warming to Kat, protecting the two dweebs who set up this whole situation. As it turns out, the stories surrounding him are myth. He is not a delinquent, though he retains his rebellious charm, and he is the one character (besides perhaps Kat) in the entire movie who seems to truly care about others and what they want. It's truly shocking. Patrick's journey is less of a transformation and more of a reveal. A slow peeling back of the layers of myth and mystery and mystique surrounding him to reveal who he truly is: a deeply compassionate soul with a rebellious edge.
Bianca is a rather fascinating character. Hers is the true transformation in this story. When we meet her, we find her to be vapid, but ultimately sweet, innocent, and popular. Everything an American high school girl should be. But that image is quickly dispelled. She's spoiled, selfish, and melodramatic. She is chief in engineering the entire plot to set Kat up, though it's hard to say whether she fully comprehends the implications of her actions, whether she even thinks of them or just charges ahead blindly. Still, Bianca is the true bitch here. She uses Cameron selfishly to her own purposes, with no thought to his feelings. She also sets her sister up for a world of pain. Bianca realizes she is the bitch right around the same time we become fully conscious of it, when Cameron accuses her of it right after the plan has whirled into motion. "Have you always been this selfish?" "...Yes." And yet, she comes back from it. She has some substance to her after all. She chooses sweet, chivalrous Cameron over vain, over-sexed, arrogant Joey. When her sister is hurt by the knowledge of the set-up, Bianca is truly sorry. Here it becomes clear that she's learned to consider the feelings of others. In the end, she is transformed, caring for her sister after the disastrous prom.
There are other, lesser examples, but it's late and I won't go into it. How can you not fall in love with characters like these? I think it's safe to say that one of the themes of this movie are the masks we hide behind and why we choose them. That's one of the things that fascinates me. It's so beautiful to peel back the mask piece by piece and lay bare the vulnerabilities of these characters. Their vulnerability is what makes me love them. Kat's vulnerability is what makes her so relatable for me. Patrick's vulnerability is what makes me love him, want him to come and whisk away my troubles, tell me, "I dunno, I say do what you want to do." And Bianca.... well, I always have been frustrated by spoiled younger siblings. Bianca still has a way to go.
One of the things I really love about this movie is that everyone wears a mask. It's like a fucking masquerade.
Kat is the most obvious example, I think. In the beginning of the movie, she's sent to the office for disrupting class and informed that everyone thinks she's a "heinous bitch." This fits what little we've seen of Kat so far. She blares punk music, has little regard for the traditions of high school, spars verbally with everyone from the popular jock to the English teacher. She's sure as hell prickly. As the movie progresses, it's like we remove the mask. We begin to see the vulnerability underneath Kat's hard exterior. She denies vehemently to her sister Bianca that she cares what anyone thinks-- but she does. She's damaged by her mother's absence, by the scars that adolescence and high school leave behind. Kat is sensitive, though she'd be the last one to admit it, and under Patrick's understanding hand, she softens, transforms.
Patrick is another great example. As the movie opens, we meet brooding black-clad Patrick. He's a delinquent, we're informed by other students, and his own behavior doesn't contradict the assessment. He skips class, lights cigarettes in school, plays with fire, wields power tools at other students... He is that intriguing and terrifying student that a good girl like me never dared look in the eye in high school. Dangerous, yet seductive. Possibly psychotic. And he takes Joey's money to take Kat out on a date. This doesn't say much for his character. And yet, as the movie progresses, he begins to stand up for truth and integrity, effectively punishing Joey for his sleazebag ways, warming to Kat, protecting the two dweebs who set up this whole situation. As it turns out, the stories surrounding him are myth. He is not a delinquent, though he retains his rebellious charm, and he is the one character (besides perhaps Kat) in the entire movie who seems to truly care about others and what they want. It's truly shocking. Patrick's journey is less of a transformation and more of a reveal. A slow peeling back of the layers of myth and mystery and mystique surrounding him to reveal who he truly is: a deeply compassionate soul with a rebellious edge.
Bianca is a rather fascinating character. Hers is the true transformation in this story. When we meet her, we find her to be vapid, but ultimately sweet, innocent, and popular. Everything an American high school girl should be. But that image is quickly dispelled. She's spoiled, selfish, and melodramatic. She is chief in engineering the entire plot to set Kat up, though it's hard to say whether she fully comprehends the implications of her actions, whether she even thinks of them or just charges ahead blindly. Still, Bianca is the true bitch here. She uses Cameron selfishly to her own purposes, with no thought to his feelings. She also sets her sister up for a world of pain. Bianca realizes she is the bitch right around the same time we become fully conscious of it, when Cameron accuses her of it right after the plan has whirled into motion. "Have you always been this selfish?" "...Yes." And yet, she comes back from it. She has some substance to her after all. She chooses sweet, chivalrous Cameron over vain, over-sexed, arrogant Joey. When her sister is hurt by the knowledge of the set-up, Bianca is truly sorry. Here it becomes clear that she's learned to consider the feelings of others. In the end, she is transformed, caring for her sister after the disastrous prom.
There are other, lesser examples, but it's late and I won't go into it. How can you not fall in love with characters like these? I think it's safe to say that one of the themes of this movie are the masks we hide behind and why we choose them. That's one of the things that fascinates me. It's so beautiful to peel back the mask piece by piece and lay bare the vulnerabilities of these characters. Their vulnerability is what makes me love them. Kat's vulnerability is what makes her so relatable for me. Patrick's vulnerability is what makes me love him, want him to come and whisk away my troubles, tell me, "I dunno, I say do what you want to do." And Bianca.... well, I always have been frustrated by spoiled younger siblings. Bianca still has a way to go.