In the film "Mona Lisa Smile", Julie Roberts plays the new-minded (for the early 1950s) art professor Ms. Watson. Watson is a strong feminist who thinks that the greatest thing she could do for her students is instill in them the idea that they can do as they please and pursue careers. This strikes up opposition from almost everyone at the school from the faculty to the other professors to the students. The faculty and other professors find her opinions too new for the time and dangerous to the students she is teaching. They also find her teaching methods too progressive, as Watson initially resorts to modern art (due to her students knowing everything there is to know about the older art pieces) and then settles in on this type of art to help express her progressive opinion of women’s roles (using the modern art as an analogy). Of her class, there are four specific girls who the film follows. The first is the character played by Julia Stiles, Joan. Joan has a brilliant mind and as she grows closer to Ms. Watson, she confesses a desire to pursue a law degree. This brings both excitement and frustration to Watson for as she tries to encourage Joan to pursue that dream and her marriage (despite society telling Joan she must choose either a career or a marriage), Joan chooses the lifestyle of a housewife. Ms. Watson is at a loss as to what to do and Joan has to step in and force her own opinion about choosing marriage and not both, showing Ms. Watson that Joan is not just blindly following society and brings her a peace about it. The second girl, played by Maggie Gyllenhal, is Giselle. Giselle plays an interesting role in the university as one of few Jewish students and one of the most sexually loose girls on campus, having an overt relationship with a professor even. Many of the girls look down on her for her lifestyle choices, yet some do respect her for her confidence and can-do-anything attitude. Giselle is the first girl to warm up to Ms. Watson, probably because the two are the most similar in their feminist values, as Ms. Watson also had an openly sexual relationship with two different men in the film with no desire to marry either one. Giselle, also like Ms. Watson, becomes the make-shift hero of another girl, Connie, played by Ginnifer Goodwin. Connie suffers from insecurity about her slightly larger weight, confounded greatly by several of the other girls in the story (especially the character of Betty). Giselle is constantly coming to the defense of Connie. Through Connie’s admiration of the confidence of Giselle and Ms. Watson, Connie eventually breaks through her inaccurate body image and finds her self-worth (and a boyfriend in the process). The final, and most transformed girl, is the character of Betty. Betty is a strongly opinionated girl and staunchly opposes Ms. Watson’s values and teaching styles, Giselle’s lifestyle, and Connie’s search for self-worth. She is a strongly pompous, rude, snob who ridicules and downgrades many of her classmates. She even personally attacks Ms. Watson in her editorial in the school paper. Betty wants nothing else than to conform to society and get married and be a housewife. That is exactly what she does, but sadly her husband is unfaithful to her. Betty is the most transformed because, after her husband cheats on her, she finally begins to understand Ms. Watson’s message of not conforming to society. She eventually divorces her husband, despite it creating strong conflict with her mother. In the end, Ms. Watson is threatened with being terminated from her job, but chooses to leave instead, to the dismay of her students. In the final scene of the film, the true influence Ms. Watson had on her students is seen by all of them following her car as she drives away from the school for the last time.
Two prominent points come out from this film that relate very well to the course. The first is the issues that Connie goes through with her body image. She is convinced that until she gets smaller and prettier that no guy with ever look her way. She fails to realize that her worth does not come from others or the outside. Her worth is from within and she is worth very much. This is very similar to many of the essays in Body Outlaws like “Conquering the Fat” by Regina Williams and “Sizing Myself Up” by Kate Dillon. Both of the essays share the personal stories and feelings of two girls coming to terms with their weight and realizing they should be a body outlaw and take what they have an flaunt it. Both essays also point out that each girl found her worth when they stopped trying to be beautiful by the world’s standards, and worked on their own beauty as they are. The second point is seen in the character of Betty as she learns that she does not have to conform blindly to society, especially if society is wrong. The book “The Beauty Myth” talks a great deal about this topic too. In fact, one could argue that Naomi Wolf’s whole point in the book is that women should have the right to live how they choose, do not have to conform to society, and should encourage other girls to act on their choices more adamantly. Both of these issues are very relevant for girls in the 50s and today.
Overall the film was great. The director expressed things very tastefully and not too liberally, so that even conservative viewers like myself were comfortable viewing it in its entirety. The only part that could have been better expressed could have been the lesbian professor friend of Ms. Watson. It was not very clear that she was in fact lesbian at first. It was as if at first the film was going to just hint at it, but the hinting was too subtle and I did not understand that until they came right out and said basically that she was lesbian. It almost would have been easier for the viewer to have had that expressed plainly from the beginning, but one could also argue that the film makers were trying to express it how it may have been done in the 50s- subtle at first then the realization of the truth as a big shock.
The film seems to come from the perspective of the third wave feminist movement. This movement strongly supported a woman’s right to choose certain things about her life, her lifestyle, and her life choices. In the actual time of the third wave (post 1970s), women focus on what they choose to be focused on and to make whatever choices they themselves deem right. For example, the third wave feminist movement brought about the female right of abortion. This third wave is seen in the film as the women in the films, especially the characters of Giselle and Betty, make their choices independent of the rest of the world. They do what they deem right and worthwhile, as Betty divorces her unfaithful husband and Giselle continues in her “loose” lifestyle.
As for a rating, I would give this film an A-minus. Despite having a more conservative viewpoint and disagreeing with several of the more liberal lifestyles and opinions of several of the characters, I found the movie very thought provoking and moving. It also opened up my eyes to several of the issues women faced in the early 50s that I knew existed but I had never fully realized until they were depicted in front of me. After viewing, I even found myself recommending it to several of my other highly conservative friends.
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