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Angelica Bastién, a culture writer who identifies as a black Latina, told me she was "always attracted to the teen movies I felt reflected the grotesque, contradictory, and exhilarating reality of being a teen girl." But her favorite films growing up—The Craft, Jawbreaker, Clueless, and Bring It On—presented a world "radically different" from her experience."Watching teen movies, I often felt invisible," she reflected. "Most of the black characters—when there were any, and had their own storylines—didn't have my diverse background. They didn't struggle with poverty or mental illness or messy family dynamics."In 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), Union plays Chastity, the opportunistic, lady-in-waiting to Bianca Stratford, a spoiled sophomore who debates the merits of a Prada backpack in relation to Skechers. Chastity is beautiful and cunning, but also shallow. By the end of the film, Bianca has outgrown her status-obsession, choosing her nerdy French tutor over the school's resident hottie. But Chastity's character never evolves—she's just a mean girl, a foil to the white protagonist, a conduit for Bianca to learn how to be a better person.Chastity's character never evolves—she's just a mean girl, a foil to the white protagonist, a conduit for Bianca to learn how to be a better person.
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