MovieChat Forums > 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) Discussion > Are we supposed to like Kat?

Are we supposed to like Kat?

posted 12 years ago by isakregal
56 replies | jump to latest

I found it surprising how unlikable one of the main characters was made out to be.
I mean, Kat is presented as a bad-ass, rebellious rock'n'roll, feminist, left-wing chick with a ''don't give a *beep* attitude at the beginning right? but in fact, as the movie went on she was just being rude and boring for no apparent reason. She is in fact just a normal suburban chick with daddy-issues.

When we get the whole explanation or reason later in the movie for her acting the way she did in that scene where she's talking to Bianca in her room, it just seems really small and self-centered. So a guy in high school who's clearly a dorky jock type dumps you after you don't have sex with him again? Whoa, like that hasn't happened to anybody else. Seriously it happens at like every high school to A LOT of girls, and guys as well, it's nothing new. We've all had boyfriends/girlfriends who were selfish.

So this is why she chose to never conform ever again and not ''do things because other people are doing them'' and decided to rebel against the high school social standards! and read Sylvia Plath! My good lord.

I've seen people commenting on how she was not shallow and didn't judge people and had a lot of personality? Yeah, but she had an fairly unlikable personality, she wasn't a cool, bad-ass rock chick, she was just rude. It was just a shallow fake image/fashion to which she conformed to, to try to piss off her dad and sister. She was actually just a shallow and narrow-minded person who decided that people around her were not worthy of her attention.

Are we supposed to like her? Am I missing something?

[–] kps27 10 years ago

Not at first, that's why she's the shrew, but we're not really supposed to like Bianca at first, either. She's clearly a stereotypical high school brat up until the end. They're both flawed. The likable protagonists are actually Cameron, Micheal, and (ironically) Patrick, despite his own obvious flaws.

dorky jock type

Joey is anything BUT the dorky jock. He's a wealthy model, and practically the alpha male of the school. Not only would she have been in the spotlight when dating him, but their breakup would have been very public, and highly criticized as well(Remember, she had to threaten him to keep their private life a secret). So yeah, there would have been much more pressure on her to conform than your average school girl.

she wasn't a cool, bad-ass rock chick, she was just rude. It was just a shallow fake image/fashion to which she conformed to, to try to piss off her dad and sister

It's more than pissing off her dad and sister, it's making sure no one at all will want to come near her. And yes, it is a facade, even she admits this when Patrick calls her out on it.

just a shallow and narrow-minded person who decided that people around her were not worthy of her attention.

She's not above the lord, she's scared of interaction because she's been hurt, and doesn't want to be hurt again. Patrick says 'you need therapy' before the prom, which is totally true. She's so convinced that the only reason he would go to prom with her is because something is in it for him that she can't imagine he would just go to spend time with her.

Are we supposed to like her

no.

[–] thereseuphemiaabernathy 10 years ago

I have no idea why you WOULDN'T like Kat...what's not to love about a snarky, disgruntled b!tch who's got a nice side deep down? She's the kind of character or archetype that I almost always like. Bianca is the type I usually find irritating. In this movie--which is great--both of them grow, develop, and change, becoming more "real" and sympathetic. But Kat more so, I think. She softens just enough to be likable, without losing herself...and she didn't strike me as shallow, phony, pretentious, and non-genuine, either. I didn't get the sense that she was especially self-absorbed, or so contrary and rude/nasty/attitudinal purely for the sake of being seen as "the badass rebel." She decided to cultivate a mind of her own and not do things just because everyone else did them--which is very different than deciding not to do things because others are doing them.

And she never really did anything that made me go, "Ugh, that was super-uncool and uncalled for, girl." Of course, she exaggerated to drive people off because she didn't particularly care for most of them and didn't want to ever feel that she'd been made a fool of again...but I don't think she should be any more dislikable than Bianca. A lot of us have to overemphasize our feelings sometimes to make them clear to the less intuitive. You can tell she's the "shrew" and understand why someone had to be paid to ask her out (she's surely not the most pleasant or easiest person to get on with, at first!), while simultaneously liking her.

You're not required to like any character, but you can try to view things from their perspectives nonetheless. Kat shifted and became more sympathetic over the course of the film; I don't think there could have been a film otherwise. You knew what was going to happen, but it was quite affecting anyway. Especially her recital of her poem, and the ending. It's easy to make a dislikable character by taking either the "feminist punk chick" (more my style) or "girly goody-two-shoes" (nms) stereotype--or any other, for that matter--and giving the character nothing to do but reaffirm their cliche to an unrealistic extreme. I don't think this movie did that. And I certainly like Kat a lot.

[–] furienna 10 years ago

I say both Kat and Bianca have their bad sides and their good sides.

Intelligence and purity.

[–] thereseuphemiaabernathy 10 years ago

I agree! :)

[–] freebird1987 10 years ago

I don't think we're supposed to like her.

[–] JohnnyCastle 9 years ago

I always took it to show that even total outcasts can fall in love. Like Kat acted like she hated everyone but she was really into this guy who took an interest in her. Maybe even the most hard to get girls can be gotten, even by the least expected guy.

You never know who might go for who. It's not always that popular studly guy who wins all in the end. I think Kat wasn't as bad as she showed herself to be at first and then she opened up more, she needed to mature and grow.

Obviously she was meant to come off as a b.i.t.c.h.

[–] Scorpion_Deathlock 9 years ago

She was sexy and had a great personality.

[–] furienna 9 years ago

Yeah... Sure, she might have been a bit too extreme at some times. But I sure like her better than little miss perfect Bianca, even if she too grew some spine towards the end of the movie.

Intelligence and purity.

[–] JasonRebourne 8 years ago

In any civilised society, Kat would have been put on the electric chair.

I don't give a f*@K about a troll who doesn't pay for his opinion telling me how to review movies.

[–] simba122504 8 years ago

She's supposed to be annoying until love softens her up.

Clark's destiny = Superman, LL &LL.

[–] Helenlaurence 8 years ago

I don't think she was particularly rude?
I thought she was just an interesting girl who liked to be a bit different... Bianca was nasty and self centred tho and didn't seem to care that she completely used her sister!