Author: Sydney Reade
After an entire semester of Visual Communication, our final “quiz” was to write down our favorite movie. No criteria was given, despite everything we’d learned about visual composition in pictures and film. I wrote down Mona Lisa Smile because, for no apparent reason, it’s always struck me as a beautifully rendered film…even if it may not be considered especially “good.” And so for this, my last column (to loosely quote the movie), I write about my favorite film.
Katherine Watson (Julia Roberts), an art history teacher from California, does the brave and unthinkable by coming to teach at Wellesley College for the 1953-1954 academic year. The school is far more conservative than she’s used to, which wouldn’t be a problem if her wickedly smart, brash students hadn’t memorized the entire syllabus, forcing her to teach them about modern art as opposed to the pre-approved classics. Some conservative students, like Betty Warren (Kirsten Dunst), challenge Watson at her every liberal turn. However, Watson’s call for women to “look beyond the image” and imagine themselves as more than the stereotype of the 50s housewife is supported to some degree by other students who are struggling to adapt to the feminine ideal in their own ways. Giselle Levy (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is sexually curious, Connie Baker (Ginnifer Goodwin) is unlucky in love, and Joan Brandwyn (Julia Stiles) already has her betrothed but wavers on whether or not to give up on her love to pursue a legal education.
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What I love about this movie has nothing to do with the writing or the cinematography, both of which are predictable. Save for one incredible scene when Ms. Watson goes on a rant punctuated by the noise of projector slides, the story is fairly formulaic. And yet the theme, mostly feminist and definitely heavy-handed, always stirs in me a sense of nostalgia as well as gratefulness. I am grateful to this movie for showing me what was expected of women not all that long ago, and how far we’ve come. It makes me nostalgic for a time when the bravest thing you could do was give up your dream for a family to get an education, but also brings to light something poignant. In many cases, women are still struggling to balance professional obligations and families—there are articles every day about this plight, though it is getting better. I think that’s why this movie always gets to me. It’s a wonderful depiction of a past time that still resonates today through the strength of the women portrayed.
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The women truly are sensational actresses, doing well with their rote material. Marcia Gay Harden makes an appearance, and she is always a treat to watch. For those of you wondering, I do believe this movie passes the Bechdel test, wherein a work of fiction features at minimum two named female characters who discuss something other than men. It may take some work to find those feminist scenes, which is why I hesitate to call this an all-out feminist movie, but they’re there and they serve as a nice turning point in the film when Katherine Watson finally starts to get through to her students.
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Watch it and like it, or don’t, but the point is that despite all critical discussion of films, a good movie is a good movie because someone out there responds to it in some meaningful way. As Katherine Watson says of art, “You’re not required to like it; you are required to consider it.” This serves as a pretty good guide for anything you may watch and wish to review. Mona Lisa Smile is for me that perfect movie, and I encourage you to find yours, whether or not the world deems it “good.” Happy watching.
