Daily Dialogue — March 5, 2018
Walter Stratford: Do you know what happens at proms?
Bianca: Yes. We’ll dance, we’ll kiss, we’ll come home. It’s not quite the crisis situation you imagine.
Walter Stratford: Kissing? That’s what you think happens? I’ve got news for you. Kissing isn’t what keeps me up to my elbows in placenta all day long.
Bianca: Can we, for two seconds, ignore the fact that you’re severely unhinged and discuss my need for a night of teenage normalcy?
Walter Stratford: What’s normal? Those damn… Dawson’s River kids sleeping in each other’s beds and what not?
Bianca: Daddy that is so not…
Walter Stratford: I’ve got news for you. I’m down, I’ve got the 411, and you are not going out and getting jiggy with some boy, I don’t care how dope his ride is. Momma didn’t raise no fool.
— Ten Things I Hate About You (1999), written by Karen McCullah, Kirsten Smith
The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Teen Talk. Today’s suggestion by Chris Neumann.
Trivia: Several names reflect the Shakespearean origin of “The Taming Of The Shrew”. Bianca’s and Kat’s last name is Stratford (William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon). Patrick’s last name is Verona (birthplace of Petruchio, the corresponding character from the play). The high school is called Padua, which is the city in which the play is set. And the two girl’s names are Kat and Bianca (the names of the girls are Bianca and Katherina [Kate] in the play.)
Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Chris: “I like how this illustrates how bad it can sound when you try to imitate a voice by just using catchphrases and key words (doesn’t it make you want to majorly upchuck? Duh!). But I think it’s a good illustration of a mentality that’s probably still around, that desire to be taken seriously dictating word choices.
Kat Stratford: Can you even imagine? Who the hell would go to that antiquated mating-ritual?
Mandella: I would, but I don’t have a date.
Kat Stratford: Do you really wanna get all dressed up, so some Drakkar Noir-wearing dexter with a boner can feel you up while you’re forced to listen to a band that, by definition, blows?
I remember hearing the idea that the writers crafts their ideal world, and perhaps connected to that, dialogue is what people wish they could say rather than what they are actually able to articulate.
Something I love about the current internet era is that if you want to write a teeanger, they’re all over the place. Tumblr, Youtube, etc. You can just hear them talk and pick up on stuff. And connected to that last idea, this is more of how they wish they could express themselves since they’re allowed to prepare ahead of time, it’s probably more honest and accurate than just overhearing them speaking in public. We can get a sense of the person we THINK they are.
