For Mona Lisa Smile

Thinking and Writing

In 1952, Katherine Watson (Julia Roberts) is hired as the new professor at Wellesley College, a conservative women’s college.  However, her views of art and women’s education are far from conservative.  As an independent and unmarried woman, working to get a graduate degree, she presents a fresh view on life to her students, who are brilliant and open to learning.  Mona Lisa Smile, a film made in 2003, features Katherine as a character that represents the increase of women seeking higher education in 2000.  Though the premise of this film is to focus on a progressive woman in society, supporting characters represent the conservative values of the time.  It seems as though all odds are against her, as it seems for women seeking a degree in 2000.

            The film begins with strong image of empowered women: the halls of the college filled with young girls dedicated to learning and the role of president filled by an esteemed woman.  Then when Katherine walks into her classroom the first day, her students have read and memorized her entire syllabus.  However, as the story progresses, we find that these students aren’t as dedicated to their education as initially represented.  Several of the girls get married and their progression stops there.  These representations undermine the potential of the modern woman who works for equality.  Katherine faces this issue directly in one of her class lectures, but her argument receives a weak response from one of her students, Joan Brandwyn (Julia Styles), who expresses that she has the desire to have a family and does not want to miss out on that experience, after Katherine proposes to Joan that she can still study at a nearby university while her husband attends school as well.  Katherine expresses her vision of her student’s potential, but this is something not as important to her, nor the majority of her students. 

However, the years leading up to 2000, there had been a steady decline of the percent of mothers who do not work outside of the home.  In fact, that was the year that it met a record low, since 1967.  It almost seems meaningless how this is brought up as an argument against feminism since it has been a pattern developing among women for several decades.     

            The underlying theme of infidelity in marriage shows itself as supportive reasoning for a woman to work towards independence with an education and the only way a woman can break free of the traditional family life dream.  Clearly, when a man is able to work for the family, it is his duty to do so.  In the setting of the 1950s, this works, because after World War II, the economy in the United States was flourishing and the need for two providers for a family was not present.  By contrast, making a statement about infidelity as a scapegoat from a traditional family in order for a woman to have independence and further her education reveals that the traditional family limits a woman from having personal aspirations.  Additionally it shows that only a negative force is what gives a woman the opportunity to further her education.

            Though the story of Betty Warren (Kirsten Dunst) serves as an expose of the affairs business men have when they are away at work, not only is it a generalization, but when Katherine begins her affair with Bill Dunbar (Dominic West), the Italian professor, it shows that women are just as guilty for getting involved with their co-workers.  It is as if marriage and the workplace just do not mix.   Such a conclusion oversimplifies the issue and unfairly represents women who wish to have a family as much as she has the desire to have a career and an education. 

            Mona Lisa Smile presents an interesting commentary about women’s rights to get an education, however presents the notion as though it is an unpopular choice in society.  During the 2 hours the film runs, an audience witnesses a cast made up of several well-known female actresses, meant to portray a powerful message about feminism and the power of women.  This message is difficult to see clearly, not only because the director and writer are both men composing their view on the topic, but also because the themes in the film are weak arguments presented surrounding the idea.  Having a family and infidelity surely are not the inhibiting factors for a woman to accomplish her potential in the workplace while still having an influence in her own home.