Lindsey Shaw as Kat on ABC Family’s ’10 Things I Hate About You’

Guest post by Mariam Shahab

I feel a little silly watching ABC Family’s new television series, 10 Things I Hate About You, but I must coyly admit I do love watching it. Whether it is because I remember the hype of the 1999 classic movie which started Heath Ledger’s career or because of the quality time I spend with my 16-year-old sister while watching it together, the show charms for 30 minutes every Tuesday evening.  Although the plot uses formulaic high school stereotypes of jocks, cheerleaders and goody-two shoes, it injects a dose of technology (i.e. – text messages and web shows) with a serving of witty, dare I say, intellect.

Viewers are immediately drawn to the dynamic Stratford sister duo. The pair consists of older sister Kat, a strong-willed and opinionated feminist, and Bianca, a happy-go-lucky girl at the verge of leaving her naivety behind. The two tackle their way through starting a new high school, Padua High with different game plans.

Bianca will do nearly anything to become popular, but it’s Kat who draws all the attention, well of the viewers at least. Kat embodies the term ‘rebel.’ She doesn’t fit any particular slot in the Padua High social hierarchy.  She revels in her unconventional role as a rebel with a cause. That is, any cause she deems worthy of her time whether it is proving a girl can do anything a guy can do, finding a cure for our sick Mother Nature through environmentalism, or taking a stance against grade inflation and retaliation. Kat is distinctively competitive and passionately stubborn. With her aura of confidence, she is not afraid to stand up for what she thinks is right.  Kat possesses the archetypal persona anyone struggling to go against the grain of standard stereotypes wishes to be; that includes basically everyone. Nowadays no one wants to be just like everyone else even if they are.

My sister and I, while we don’t exactly mimic the Kat-Bianca roles, both are drawn to Kat’s charisma. She manages to juggle her relationship with her family, deny her budding interest in a boy even she is surprised to be attracted to, while staying focused on her goal to get good grades and attend a premiere university. However, Kat’s best attribute is her ability to mix biting sarcasm with witty remarks right on queue.  I wish I too could always have the perfect response waiting on the tip of my tongue!

While struggling with her chance encounters with mysterious and attractive Patrick Verona, she continuously tries to prove to him she is not vulnerable like other girls. Their tension quickly turns into an attraction that neither wants to admit to, at least not yet. She stays un-intimidated by Patrick’s intensity. While picking up trash after-school together in one episode as a punishment, Patrick proclaims that he knows Kat likes him, but she quickly rebuttals “Cause who wouldn’t love to spend time with the sweet scent of garbage?”

Although Kat can be perceived as overbearing at times, she has good intentions when it comes to the people she cares most about. In a moment of compassion, she uses her power as yearbook staff to threaten the head cheerleader into playing nice with her sister Bianca.

But Kat isn’t superwoman; she too, like the rest of us, has insecurities. Only, they’re not shallow concerns like Bianca’s efforts to achieve popularity. Although Kat refuses to be seen as a damsel in distress, she asks her father in one episode if she is self-centered and when he promptly says yes Kat goes into denial. As her father preaches that it’s a common attribute of teenagers, Kat complains she doesn’t want to be common. Kat lets the viewers know, in reference to her father’s analogy, it’s hard always being a cactus. Sometimes we all want to be a rose, cared for, admired and common, but being a strong cactus gets you further.

Mariam Shahab is a 21 year-old from Dallas TX  and a college senior at Boston University’s College of Communication. Marriam is interested in all things marketing, media and mass communication-related. We met on Twitter.