10 Things I Hate About You (1999) is a romantic comedy starring Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger. The film was a parody based on Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew and was a box office hit when it first came out. The film has managed to stay relevant being compared to films like What a Girl Wants (2003), Legally Blonde (2001), and Clueless (1995) and is still watched at most girl boss movie marathons, just ask the girl gang at Her Campus at FSU.
The soundtrack features the band Letters to Cleo performing cover versions of songs like Nick Lowe’s “Cruel To Be Kind,” which stayed on the Billboard 200 for seven weeks after the release of the film. If that does not prove that the soundtrack is iconic, then we don’t know what will.
“Feminist prose and angry girl music of the indie-rock persuasion.”
10 Things I Hate About You
In the hit film, Kat Stratford is known for being a proud and loud feminist. Her shrewd personality earns her the title of “heinous b*tch.” In the film, we are first introduced to Kat Stratford with a clip of the song “Bad Reputation,” sung by Joan Jett. The perfect description of Kat Stratford’s behavior and thought processes throughout the film. Kat Stratford stays confident and true to herself, consistently protesting the patriarchal and sexist behaviors of the boys at her school. Even as she slowly falls in love with the bad boy of the film, Kat Stratford has no problem standing up for herself. The audience is also privy to a look into Kat Stratford’s playlist when her little sister Bianca and her friend (lover-to-be?) Cameron sneaks into Kat Stratford’s room to “pry into the inner workings of Kat’s twisted mind.”
This is where we discover that Kat Stratford loves “feminist prose and angry girl music of the indie-rock persuasion.” It is very difficult for independent (also known as indie) artists to develop a following because they lack a label, so if you like an indie band, please make sure to support them! Platforms like Spotify and Apple Music have made music by independent artists, much like the ones loved by Kat Stratford, much more accessible. With this in mind, Her Campus at FSU has searched Spotify and Apple Music. Although not all of the songs are indie, we still feel confident that we have composed a playlist of ten songs that Kat Stratford would approve of on her playlist in 2021.
Check out the song recommendations below!
- Miley Cyrus’ cover of Heart of Glass (2020)
- Kid Sistr’s Please Dump Him (2020)
- VIAL’s Therapy (2019)
- Beach Bunny’s Prom Queen (2018)
- Olivia Rodrigo’s Brutal (2021)
- Peach Martine’s Sleepy People (2021)
- Mother Mother’s Hayloft (2008)
- Mazzy Star’s Fade Into You (1993)
- Literally anything by the band Letters To Cleo (obviously)
- Elita’s I Hate Everyone But You (2018)
Check out the HerCampus at FSU Instagram stories for weekly Spotify Playlist suggestions and for more music recommendations similar to this article! We look forward to listening with you (and Kat Stratford!).
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