Fairy Tale and Film

particularly disconcerting, as is the fact that we have seen similarly sexist 
nonsense before, again with female writers involved and seemingly no 
shortage of prominent actresses keen to be involved in such films. Goldie 
Hawn’s interest in co-starring with long-term partner Kurt Russell may 
have played some part in attracting her to 
Overboard 
(Garry Marshall, 
1987), which provides another contemporary spin on the theme of a 
humbled heroine, yet the result seems hideously dated, even at the time 
of release, and this is largely due to the fact that it updates a tale that is 
quite a few centuries old. A carpenter, left unpaid by a snooty heiress, 
decides to take revenge when she falls from her yacht and experiences 
amnesia, claiming she’s his wife and the mother of his four bratty sons. 
The fact that he clearly takes advantage of her is scarcely considered 
problematic, with audiences invited to think that Joanne gets what’s 
coming to her. By the time her memory returns she realises she’s happy 
being a housewife and mother, evidently softened by some hard work, 
and pleased to have met her match – something all women presum-
ably desire at heart. Even supposedly ‘feminist’ iconoclast Madonna has 
starred in a version of the same tale, 
Swept Away
(2002), directed by then 
husband Guy Ritchie. Stranded on a remote island together, a snooty 

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Finding Love and Fulfilling Dreams 
37
socialite and coarse sailor immediately find themselves at loggerheads – 
until their enmity gives way to passion.
More recent variations have modified the tale somewhat, as well as 
the degree of antagonism between the pair. 
10 Things I Hate About You
(Gil Junger, 1999) updates ‘King Thrushbeard’ for a teen audience, or, 
more accurately, Shakespeare’s variant, ‘The Taming of the Shrew’. The 
narrative challenge is issued by a well-meaning yet overprotective dad, 
who affirms that only if his oldest daughter gets a date for the prom 
can her popular younger sister attend. The names of the principal cast 
alert us to the Shakespeare references. Kat Stratford (Julia Stiles) is the 
sharp-tongued ‘feminist’, who archly deters any likely candidates, and 
Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) is the new boy at her high school, lured 
by money to court her – as well as curiosity. He makes some headway 
in claiming to like the same female rock band and starts her thinking 
this boy may be different to the others, yet rather than show us a meet-
ing of equals Kat embarrasses herself at a party, getting so drunk she 
requires Patrick’s help to get home (so much for her claimed independ-
ence and intelligence!). Still more lamentably, when she realises the 
financial agreement made to woo her to the prom her response is not 
the anger we might expect from an adolescent virago (already hurt by 
the rich kid now trying to bed her sister) but despair. No longer content 
to keep her emotions to herself, she elects to read a poem (a sonnet no 
less) in class, declaring the ten things she hates about Patrick, although 
her sobs reveal the depth of her heartache. Despite aiming to come off 
as a wry teen rom-com, the laughs are sadly at our heroine’s expense. 
Not only is the formerly formidable Kat resoundingly humbled, she 
opts to humiliate herself, exchanging her former self-possession for 
self-pity in a patent act of ‘over-sharing’. However, while the confession 
may ridicule her in the eyes of her peers, it pays off where it counts, 
earning her an equivalent declaration of love from Patrick, albeit made 
privately in his case, and the fact that he buys her a Fender guitar with 
his reward money evidently shows he’s sincere. Whether they have 
any kind of future together is uncertain, but the film seeks to offset its 
somewhat risible message about the importance of opening up to emo-
tions by attempting a progressive ending, one that interestingly recalls