Humanities House - Student Choice Film Series
Please click here to view my presentation on the Humanities House film series spring 2020!
10 Things I Hate About You
It’s 2020, there’s the hysteria over the coronavirus, climate change threatening to wipe out humanity and panic surrounding the upcoming election but there’s also the glamorization of the bright, colorful 90s. The time of Britney Spears’s monumental debut alongside the golden age of Nickelodeon and Disney Channel. In spite of the recession that cast a shadow on the ear;y nineties many crises that plagued the decade, the nineties, by many, are viewed as a golden age in entertainment. Despite being over two decades since its film debut, 10 Things I Hate About You and the messages it conveys still stand as themes both that have grown monumentally such as intersectional feminism as well as the importance of consent, a concept which was not stressed as significant as much as it is today. The lead, Kat, is immediately type casted as the militant ice queen who surrounds herself with alternative rock records and passionately challenges the status quo however we also meet her sister, Bianca, who is seemingly the opposite. She is the typical popular girl with a bubbly personality and has the attention of every student, including newcomer Cameron and stereotypical misogynistic “heartthrob”. Last but definitely not least, we have Patrick Verona, the bad boy with a soft side to him, and these characters all find themselves navigating a complex plan to get Kat to date Patrick so Bianca can date Joey, premise established by Bianca and Kat’s father. After watching the movie, which as a delight, there were two scenes, both different at a glance, that echoes the sentiment felt by many today. In the first scene, the classroom scene involves Kat and her teacher Mr. Morgan who find themselves in a dispute over the lack of representation for female writers which prompts Mr. Morgan to swiftly remind Kat that although she is female, she is also white and affluent. Now, this scene can draw many conclusions however the two that will be highlighted in this review is, Kat has the luxury to be represented in the school curriculum and thus she should allocate more of her time to help underrepresented minority groups see themselves in the books they must read and so on. This movie also touches on the importance of consent and shaming. When Kat opens up to Bianca as to why she resents Joey, she reveals that after an already uncomfortable experience with Joey, she found herself ostracized. The scene where Kat confesses why she doesn’t like Joey covers themes such as male entitlement, the importance of consent, and the conversation surrounding women and their sexuality. Kat didn’t cave into Joey’s pressure, thus he dumped her, which is far from appropriate behavior in relationships. I chose both scenes to say this. Conversations surrounding race, representation, and consent exist in the movie and go past the surface level. Both themes, in my opinion, make 10 Things I Hate About You more than a typical, overlooked coming of age-comedy as the conversations present throughout the movie.
Parasite
Regardless of whether or not you are a cinephile, anticipating the release of movies from around the world, by directors both respected and recently on the rise, I can predict that an overwhelming majority of people heard of Parasite. From the creative mind behind movies such as Snowpiercer and Okja, Bong Joon-ho captivated the minds of his international audience with the premiere of Parasite, a movie that takes from many genres such as black comedy, drama, and thriller, and explores the South Korean class system in a hilarious yet morbid fashion. Formerly folding pizza boxes with his family, Ki-Woo, the son, earns a new job as a tutor for a wealthy family from a friend with connections. The family enjoys a new source of revenue that evolves into a desire for more. What starts as an elaborate scheme for a family of four to climb their way out of poverty grows out of their control and unearths a disturbing secret that changes the family for good. In addition to the fitting soundtrack and the alluring cinematography of each location, Bong Joon-Ho also excels in the clarity and exceptionality of the plot, especially how the senses come into play. The scent of the family, in particular, inadvertently creates a barrier between Kim Family and the affluent Park family and ultimately leads to a catastrophe during the climax of the movie. Themes from Parasite worth mentioning are dynamics between the boss and the worker as well as the inescapability of poverty. Both are frequently mentioned in the movie whether it be through the casual conversations and actions the Park family resort to whenever they find themselves around the Kim family: mentioning the horrible smell or opening windows while the Kim family is present. The smell, both a manifestation and a euphemism for poverty could be something easily solved however the wealthy counterpart choose to turn a blind eye to the issue, making disparaging complaints, much like how the wealthy react to instances of poverty. With that being said, Parasite offers a nuanced, original contribution to the discussion surrounding class structure and poverty that only a few movies can live up to.