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Professor Martin
SCOM 110-001
23 September 2021
10 Things I Hate About You Meets To all The Boys I’ve Loved Before
Movies and television shows have always sparked joy in my life, creating a long-lasting
interest and love for visual media. Out of all of the movies I have watched my favorites are 10
Things I Hate About You and To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. I love romantic comedy movies,
they have their serious moments of love but at the same time, they have a sense of humor that
contrasts very well. Both movies surround teenage high schoolers who do not especially like
each other but eventually fall in love. 10 Things I Hate About You was released in 1999 and tells
the love story of Kat Stratford, a beautiful yet feisty teenager, and Patrick Verona, your typical
rebellious bad boy. Kat’s younger sister, Bianca is not allowed to date until Kat does Causing
tension in the sister’s personal lives. Strings are pulled to set her up with the only boy in the
whole school who can handle her feistiness, Patrick Verona. 10 Things I Hate About You is very
similar to another film, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. This movie was released in 2018 and
depicts the lives of Laura Jean Covey, the shy and quirky girl, and Peter Kavinsky, the popular
boy everyone seems to be in love with. Laura Jean has always written letters to her crushes but
never meant to send them. One day her little sister sent them out, one of those being addressed to
Peter, causing problems in Laura Jean’s life. Experiencing a nineteen-year gap, the movies have
many differences and similarities that can be accredited to changes in society and technology.
These differences and similarities virtually change the whole plot and experience of each movie
to fit their own time period and version of society.
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There are many similarities in both movies despite their nearly two-decade long release
date separation. In 10 Things I Hate About You Kat and Bianca’s mothers are not in the picture.
They have been raised by their dad’s which ultimately affects how they love. This conveys an
emphasis on single parents in both movies despite their nineteen-year separation. Since the late
twentieth century, there has been a huge change in movies from characters who have two parents
to having one parent instead. This is seen in both movies clearly as a major part of both Kat and
Laura-Jean’s character development. In 10 Things I Hate About You, while Cameron is trying to
prepare Patrick to appeal to Kat, he reads off a list of things she likes. The list reads “feminist
pros and angry girl music.” Kat’s mother’s absence in her life makes her think she has to be
independent and to be an advocate for women having power. This has been psychologically
examined through studies in Sweden that concluded that “kids living with single parents have
lower self-esteem” (Kelly, 2021) which Kat obviously emanates throughout the movie. Similarly,
in To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before Laura’s absence of her mother ultimately makes her afraid
of commitment. She wants to love and is longing for a relationship, but this fear settles in and
keeps her from pursuing love. This is what keeps her from addressing and sending out her letters
to the boys she has had a crush on. Both similarities are key points in both movies that inspire
relational issues but also show that throughout the years, media continues to illuminate the single
parent family. The similarities go further, in both movies social status is more important than
anything else in high school. This is seen in both movies as both Kat and Laura do not care about
their social status while their sisters, Bianca and Kitty both prioritize popularity. As Michael D.
Friedman examines 10 Things I Hate About You; he states that “Kat claims not to care at all
about her place in the social pecking order” while “Bianca cares deeply about popularity”
(Friedman, 2004). For the last example, the culture and society of the western world today says
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that a person needs to have a significant other to be happy. Both movies implement this belief as
in 10 Things I Hate About You Kat begins in the movie being grumpy and mean. Even her father
asks her at one point if she made anyone cry at school. After she starts being romantic with
Patrick, she begins to lighten up and be happy with life. A similar situation takes place in To All
the Boys I’ve Loved Before as Laura has a somewhat dull and secretive life until her sister sends
the letters. After this key event, her life changes as she is put in the spotlight and falling in love
brings her joy through her newfound relationship with Peter. All of these examples convey a
sense of need for a significant other to be happy in life showing that society still believes this
despite the nineteen-year space.
Although there are many similarities as previously discussed, there are some key
differences that alter the courses of both movies. A big difference revolves around the evolution
of technology and society throughout the nearly twenty-year separation of both movies’ releases.
In 10 Things I Hate About You, social media is absent, but in To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
there is a clear advancement as social media and smartphones are seen portraying a more modern
society. The difference in the technology in both movies is clearly observed through things such
as cars, phones, and television. The models of cars are extremely different as the characters in 10
Things I Hate About You have older models of cars such as the 1964 Dodge Dart that Kat drives.
As Kristen Lee comments “The Dart is extremely fitting because it’s old, rusty, faded and beat
up” (Lee, 2019) which resonates with not only the typical high schoolers’ vehicle of the time but
also the character of Kat. On the contrary, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before portrays modern
cars such as Peter’s 2018 Jeep Wrangler. These vehicles connect the time periods in having
different modes of transportation that added to seeing a slightly different culture and society.
Building on this, in 10 Things I Hate About Your social life is constructed on the active
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participation of face-to-face conversation and school dances. In contrast, in To All the Boys I’ve
Loved Before there is an emphasis on social media presence and communicating more through
their cell phones and social media. Laura Jean finds out most of her information through social
media while Kat finds out her information by hearing things from people. This is how the school
quickly finds out that Laura Jean and Peter are seriously dating while it takes almost the whole
movie until Kat finds out Patrick was getting paid. Communication nowadays is faster than it
was when social media wasn’t invented. This is extremely important to the plot development in
both movies as the story is based on communication and how it takes place through the different
methods which are useful.
Both movies are great works that I would recommend to anyone, but these high school
movies are nothing like what real high school is like and creates a false narrative and
unattainable expectations for youth today. I know that growing up watching 10 Things I Hate
About You and similar movies, I believed I was going to have the best love story and that maybe
be the main character. As Anna Leszkiewicz dives into To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, she
states that “the effervescence of a great romcom lies in the arguments over the finer details of
their relationship contract” (Leszkiewicz, 2018). This statement explains the imagination and
interest that romantic comedies generate from the relationships that the movies nurture. Based on
this, I prefer 10 Things I Hate About You because it is very different to your typical high school
love story. Kat Stratford is still known as one of the most iconic feminist characters to date. Most
high school love stories are very similar To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and although this
movie was still amazing it is nice to see something different.
The film industry has pushed out many popular high school romantic comedy films. 10
Things I Hate About You and To all The Boys I’ve Loved Before are great examples of this genre
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of movies that are very similar but at the same time have their differences. Many things have
stayed the same in society over time while some things have also changed drastically. Comparing
both movies, they maintain a similar plot and meaning while also evolving in terms of society
and technology throughout the decade-long release date difference. This observation intrigues
me and shows me that although nineteen years is a short time, it is enough for certain parts of
society to change while others stay the same. The difference in “then” and “now” gives me a
greater appreciation and respect for media as it is interesting to see how it evolves over time yet
manages to remain a huge part of society today.
Works Cited
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10 Things I Hate About You. McCullah, Karen and Smith, Kristen. Touchstone Pictures Mad
Chance Jaret Entertainment, 1999. Film.
Friedman, Michael D. “The Feminist as Shrew in ‘10 Things I Hate About You.’” Shakespeare
Bulletin, vol. 22, no. 2, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004, pp. 45–65,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/26349372.
Kelly, John. “Does Single Parenting Affect Children?” HowStuffWorks, 23 Feb. 2021,
lifestyle.howstuffworks.com/family/parenting/parenting-tips/single-parenting-affect-child
ren.htm.
Lee, Kristen. “The 1964 Dodge Dart Is the Chariot of All Things Good in 10 Things I Hate
About You.” Jalopnik, 29 Mar. 2019,
jalopnik.com/the-1964-dodge-dart-is-the-chariot-of-all-things-good-i-1833674231.
Leszkiewicz, Anna. "To All The Boys I've Loved Before." New Statesman 24 Aug. 2018: 51.
Business Insights: Global. Web. 26 Sept. 2021.
http://bi.gale.com/global/article/GALE%7CA553340878?u=vic_liberty.
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. Jenny Han. Awesomeness Films, 2018. Film.
