Film Quote of the Day: The Heath Ledger Line From ‘10 Things I Hate About You’ That Still Feels Meaningful
“Don't let anyone ever make you feel like you don't deserve what you want. Go for it.”
'10 Things I Hate About You'
When you're a teenager, few things hit harder than a movie that feels like it speaks to you. You can feel like no one understands you, but then you press play, and an opus speaks to you and shows you what you didn't even know you needed.
That's how many millennials and Gen Xers felt watching 1999’s 10 Things I Hate About You.
You had this all-star cast riffing on Shakespeare's classic The Taming of the Shrew, but in high school.
That's where we all met Heath Ledger as Patrick Verona, the mysterious, broad-shouldered bad boy hired to woo the abrasive Kat Stratford (Julia Stiles).
This movie has lived on in our brains for so long that we're now seeing tributes to it on Dancing With the Stars.
Today, I want to focus on a line from the movie that has quietly transcended into a sincere look at a great way to live life.
Let's dive in.
The Scene in Question
Okay, so this movie is a Shakespeare play set in the modern world of high school, so you know a bunch of wires will get crossed, and things will go wrong.
You have people falling in love with the wrong people, songs and dances, and a party where it all goes sideways.
In this scene, Kat gets drunk, dances on tables, and lets loose. Patrick, being secretly a good guy, takes care of her and is very sensitive to her needs. It's a big change from their relationship prior, and opens them up to one another.
At the same time, Patrick gets confronted by Cameron, the guy who orchestrated it all. He's upset because this whole deal has become a hassle; instead of opening up the world for him to date Bianca, Kat's sister, the world feels like it's falling apart.
That's when Patrick grabs him and tells him what he needs to hear: the deep feeling he's had for Kat this whole time, and that he now really loves her, despite being paid to date her.
“Don't let anyone ever make you feel like you don't deserve what you want. Go for it.”
What The Quote Means
This is one of those fun moments where on-the-nose dialogue really works. Patrick tells Cameron exactly what he feels, and it's also what Cameron needs to hear. In many ways, it shows Patrick arcing toward letting his inner emotions out.
Screenwriters Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith use this beat to strip away Patrick’s facade and to create a guy we all fall in love with, too.
Decades later, the quote hits with far more emotional weight because I think it shows that when you're a teen, you can bravely go for things. You lose that courage and wonder as an adult, but you really shouldn't.
Whether it's trying to become a writer or director or break into Hollywood or anything, go for what you want.
Earn it.
Get it.
This line is a rejection of cynicism that grows as you get older, and it takes us back to when the world felt fresh and new, and chances felt worth taking. The line directly counters the noise that tells creative people to shrink themselves or lower their expectations.
You can rise above.
Summing It All Up
Great film lines survive because they speak directly to a universal truth. They hit you right where you need, no matter what age you are, and take you to a place where they grow in your heart.
10 Things I Hate About You may be the anthem of my childhood, but it still hits me at 39. It's the foot in my butt I need ot keep dreaming.
Ledger's delivery reminds us that vulnerability isn't a weakness, and it makes me sad we lost a star of this caliber so young.
He had it all. I hope he knew that.
