9 Unforgettable Life Lessons From “10 Things I Hate About You”To say that 10 Thi

9 Unforgettable Life Lessons From “10 Things I Hate About You”

To say that 10 Things I Hate About You achieved icon status nearly instantaneously would not be an exaggeration.

The film, which hit theaters in 1999, posed a modern-day retelling of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew: popular high schooler Bianca Stratford (Larisa Oleynik) wasn’t allowed to date until her older outcast of a sister, Kat (Julia Stiles), accepted a date of her own. Mix together two of Bianca’s would-be suiters, a bribe gone wrong, a dramatic house party, and a climatic prom night, and you pretty much have all the necessary ingredients for a classic ‘90s teen rom-com.

But 10 Things was more than that. It was special, and continues to be special, in a way that is hard to define with one singular explanation. Perhaps it was the hilarious one-liners, many of which are still quotable today (“Can you ever just be whelmed?”). Or maybe it was the soundtrack, filled with nostalgic songs that have the ability to transport you back in time whenever you revisit them. Or maybe it was simply because of Heath Ledger, who stole our hearts the second he stepped into Ms. Perky’s office, joking: “Should I, uh, get the lights?”

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