Script To Screen: “10 Things I Hate About You”
Kat reads a poem she wrote… a poem with a LOT of subtext!
From the 1999 movie 10 Things I Hate About You, written by Karen McCullah Lutz & Kirsten Smith, based on a play by William Shakespeare.
Setup: A new kid must find a guy to date the meanest girl in school, the older sister of the girl he has a crush on, who cannot date until her older sister does.
ENGLISH CLASS - DAYMrs. Blaise faces the class MRS. BLAISE
All right. I'm assuming everyone found
time to compose, their poems. Except for
Mr. Dorsey, who's still in ICU.Nerds in the back high-five each other. MRS. BLAISE
(continuing)
Would anyone care to read theirs aloud?No one moves. Then Kat slowly stands up. KAT
I'11 go.Patrick looks up. MRS. BLAISE
Oh, Lord.She downs a couple Prozac. MRS. BLAISE
(continuing)
Please proceed.Kat stands, puts on her glasses, and takes a deep breath
before reading from her notebook. KAT
I hate the way you talk to me/ and the
way you cut your hair/ I hate the way
you drive my car/ I hate it when you
stare.She pauses, then continues. KAT
(continuing)
I hate your big dumb combat boots/ and
the way you read my mind/ I hate you so
much it makes me sick/ it even makes me
rhyme.She takes a deep breath, and looks quickly at Patrick, who
stares at the floor. KAT
(continuing)
I hate the way you're always right/ I
hate it when you lie/ I hate it when you
make me laugh/ even worse when you make
me cry/ I hate it that you're not
around/ and the fact that you didn't
call/ But mostly I hate the way I don't
hate you/ not even close, not even a
little bit, not even any at all.She looks directly at Patrick. He looks back this time.
The look they exchange says everything.Then she walks out of the room. The rest of the class remains
in stunned silence.
Here is the scene from the movie:
There are few notable differences. Can you catch them? But overall, that dialogue is straight-to-screen, suggesting everybody knew the writers had nailed this scene.
One of the single best things you can do to learn the craft of screenwriting is to read the script while watching the movie. After all a screenplay is a blueprint to make a movie and it’s that magic of what happens between printed page and final print that can inform how you approach writing scenes. That is the purpose of Script to Screen, a series on GITS where we analyze a memorable movie scene and the script pages that inspired it.
For more Script To Screen articles, go here.
