Mona Lisa Smiles

Emma Patton
Mona Lisa Smile
Mona Lisa Smile, directed by Mike Newell, was released on December 19 th,
2003 by Revolution Studios and Columbia Pictures. The movie includes some big
names in Hollywood, such as Julia Roberts, Kristen Dunst, Julia Stiles and Maggie
Gyllenhaal. The film is 117 minutes long and was given a PG-13 for sexual content
and thematic issues.
The movies topic is centered around the feminist and liberal ideas that
began to surface during the 1950s and the backlash they received from the more
conservative population. The film follows the life and journey of Katherine Ann
Watson (portrayed by Julia Roberts), an art-history graduate from Oakland State, as
she assumes a teaching position at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. Throughout
the film, she struggles with the conservative teachings at Wellesley and encourages
the girls to step outside of the cookie cutter roles expected of women during that
time. She is appalled be the girls lack of ambition and interest towards joining the
work force and their desires to only fill the role of housewife. The movie advocates
largely for the womens rights movement and could be describes as a feminist
film.
Before watching the film, I had no idea what to expect. From the reviews I
have read before seeing the film, I expected it to be greeted with an explosion of
what the critics called man-hating feminism. However, I found the film, for the
most part, to be anything but that. I have read many reviews that have called the
film feminist propaganda and subsequently criticized the film. In my experience
with the film, I found these accounts of feminist propaganda to be

overexaggerated. While I may be bias, due to my approval of the feminist
movement, I ultimately found the film to be an entertaining and enlightening
picture of college life and education during the 1950s. While others may have
criticized the film, I believe it held its own in terms of plot, character development,
theme, and its representation of college education.
The plot of the movie flowed and was easy to follow. It, along with the help of
the actors, made it easy to understand what the characters would be thinking and
feeling. That being said, I was underwhelmed by the story line involving Betty
Warren (portrayed by Kristen Dunst). Dunsts character is one of the main
protagonist of the film. She is a student at Wellesley College and often uses her
status and the status of her mother to get her way. She presents Roberts character
with many obstacles as she tries to adjust to life at Wellesley, such as writing a rude
and accusatory article about her in the college newspaper. While this portion on her
characters plotline is clear, her rocky relationship with her husband, Spencer Jones,
is not as clear. Throughout the film, Warrens husband is constantly leaving for
business. This ultimately causes strain in the relationship and makes Warren
question her role as housewife. The audience later discovers that Jones was in fact
cheating on her, which results in Betty filing for divorce. This plot point confused me
due to the fact that the characters never openly talk about Jones infidelity. It is
simply implied that he is cheating through his many business trips and a brief
moment where you see Jones with another woman. I, as an audience member, did
not catch this moment and was subsequently confused by the end of the film.
Despite this, I felt the rest of the plot flowed and was easy to follow.
The themes of this film involve not only the feminist movement of the 1950s,
but themes concerning college life and education as well. While the main focus, of
course, is on Roberts character and her struggles with connecting and enlighting
her students on their full potential as scholars, the film also looks into the lives of
the students through the use of subplots. The girls of Wellesley college are just like
any other college students, despite the fact that their only concern is finding a
husband and starting a family. The girls gossip, participate in college sponsored
activities, attended classes, and strive for high grades, just like any other college
students. Topics such as sexuality, love, and the search for purpose and direction
can all be found in this film. These are topics that are common, not only in college
movies, but in real college life. In terms of its portrayal of college education, I felt
the film was a good representation of the education system of a university in spite
of its time gap between 1950s and 2017. As a college student myself, I know that
every professor is different. Some professors prefer to teach strictly by the book,
while other try to encourage critical thinking skills by allowing their students to
openly discuss the curriculum and ask questions. Just like the student body, the
professors of any institution have various ideas and methods when it come to the
education of their students. I found the film to portray this perfectly. The stark
contrast between the teaching methods of Katherine Watson and the rest of the
professors at Wellesley showed the diversity of university teaching staff. I felt that
these aspects of the movie made the film feel more accurate and relatable for
college student or those who attended college.
Overall, I found this film to be an enlightening and entertaining portrayal of
the college experience during the 1950s. I was pleasantly surprised by its delivery
of the underlying themes and by how much I enjoyed it. If I had to rate this film on a
scale of 5 stars, I would give this film 4 stars for it plot and representation of college
life. I would recommend this movie to college students, those who went to or
graduated from college, and anyone who has interest in the feminist movement of
the 1950s. This film is an enjoyable and emotional tale that will leave audiences
wanting more.
Citation:
Schlafly, Phyllis. Mona Lisa Isnt Smiling. Human Events 60.1 (2004): 18. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 15 February 2017
"Mona Lisa Smile (2003)." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2017.

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Emma Patton

Mona Lisa Smile

and thematic issues.

Watson (portrayed by Julia Roberts), an art-history graduate from Oakland State, as

she assumes a teaching position at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. Throughout

film feminist propaganda and subsequently criticized the film. In my experience

with the film, I found these accounts of feminist propaganda to be

movement, I ultimately found the film to be an entertaining and enlightening

theme, and its representation of college education.

Warren (portrayed by Kristen Dunst). Dunsts character is one of the main

college student or those who attended college.

Overall, I found this film to be an enlightening and entertaining portrayal of

Search Complete. Web. 15 February 2017

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