Hi, Siti Nur Arifah Mohamad Azhar
We two do think that the stereotypes and social standard that are portrayed in these two films are more obvious, but 1,000 people have 1,000 hamlets in their eyes, and we interpret the film differently simply because we see things differently. There is no absolute standard for interpreting these two movies, and if you think you read sexism in this movie, I'd also be happy to hear what details give you that feeling?
Cheng Yihan & Wu Meijia
And the Spring Comes and Mona Lisa Smile
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1822542008
- Posts: 11
- Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2020 1:59 pm
- Location: Jiangsu, China
- University: Suzhou University of Science and Technology
Re: And the Spring Comes and Mona Lisa Smile
SITI NUR ARIFAH MOHAMAD AZHAR
Revised Version
Briefly, the movie And the Spring Comes tells about the hardships suffered by Wang Tsai Ling, a female vocal teacher with an impressive voice who dreams to become a famous opera singer and perform at the National Opera House in Beijing, who also had encounters with other frustrated artists who are struggling as much as she was in achieving their dreams. Meanwhile, the story of Mona Lisa Smile shows the challenges faced by Katherine Watson, a young female art history professor who taught in a prestigious all-female campus called Wellesley College, with her intentions to free peoples’ minds from the prison of traditional rules and systems that define one’s success (especially as a woman) while coming to terms of her own heart’s desires. Although both movies share the same focus on the inevitable struggles one has to face as a part of his/her journey to their dreams/goals, these two movies nevertheless were filmed in different demographics and cultural backgrounds that expose us to both different and similar kinds of experiences.
First of all, the contradiction in student-teacher relationships depicted in these two films is an example of cultural differences worth discussing. From my personal observations and analysis based on the two movies, it seems that in China, students respect their teachers by offering them their obedience, determination (referring to their willingness to listen and to be taught by), and commitment to learning. In other words, the students in Chinese culture fully devote themselves to their teachers with the intention to improve themselves even if they are naturally talented/skillful. For instance, there’s a scene where a girl with an already excellent opera voice approaches teacher Wang to ask for her help in achieving her wish to perform in Beijing (even when she later caught lying to have cancer to gain teacher Wang’s pity). In contrast to American culture shown in Mona Lisa Smile, the students seem to undermine their teacher’s qualifications to give lessons that, they claimed, can be self-studied. For example, Katherine’s first class was overruled by her students’ obnoxious smarty-pants attitude. In fact, Katherine herself had to find ways to get her students’ recognitions; which contradicts Chinese culture in which the students themselves have to fight for their teacher’s approval instead. In other words, Chinese culture has a greater sense of superiority compared to American culture which stands with the idea that everyone can stand on the same stage-level.
In spite of the differences, these two films also share cultural similarities: gender roles and stigma in relationships. Both films demonstrate the same individual function(s) of a man and a woman, although with a slight difference in local stereotypes/standards that describe what is proper and what is not. In general, both films put men above women in every matter: career opportunities, love relationships, status indicators, and family. For instance, teacher Wang holds her steps towards her dream to let the young male painter pursue his dream of becoming the next Van Gogh; meanwhile, one of Katherine’s excellent students named Joan gave up her dream to go to Yale Law School to follow her husband instead who got admitted into University Of Pennsylvania. In most cultures, women are meant to be wives and bear children, not preparing themselves for graduate schools which in this case, required for the men instead –to be highly educated and work high paid jobs. As a matter of fact, womanhood in American culture involves perfecting oneself with proper ethics, eloquence, and poise; in other words, a woman of elegance. Basically, I find that both cultures develop the same social expectations on what a woman and a man should be, usually with more leniency for the men most of the time –while men are allowed to choose their future careers, women oftentimes are shaped to be perfect-wife-material individuals.
As both men and women are expected to abide by their appointed roles and complement each other as a couple, it was quite unacceptable during those times to be in homosexual relationships. Although the perceptions of this idea have changed across time, it was quite a taboo to be in such circumstances during the times depicted in both films. As each culture has set their social expectations of what a man and a woman should be, the idea of a man having an interest in ballet dance seems unconventional and unacceptable as dancing normally refers to a feminine pursuit. Therefore, it is likely that Hu Jinquan is seen and described as gay. Since his interest in ballet dance is atypical for a man, he received the label as abnormal and was harshly treated and criticized by local people. For this reason, Hu Jinquan decided to sexually assault one of his dance students to prove his manhood –it was probably his desperate move of saying (or screaming out) “I am a man who just loves to dance”. The same prejudice, though not as obvious, appears in Mona Lisa Smile when Katherine’s housemate, Amanda’s partner (Josephine) was introduced by Kat’s other housemate (Nancy) as her companion instead as a form of showing her disapproval towards such a relationship. That is to say, many cultural groups tend to develop aversions towards paradoxical social behavior(s) as norms and rules are understood to be followed and not to be defied.
All in all, the obstacles one has to encounter in pursuing his/her dreams oftentimes rooted in the cultural aspects developed in a society. In the case of these two movies, the different cultural perceptions in the student-teacher relationship in Chinese and American society is definitely a significant aspect that enhances the distinct cultural norms between these two major cultures in the world. Meanwhile, gender roles and stigmas in a homosexual relationship are commonly known, and still is a taboo, in many social groups around the world. In addition, most cultural norms are and globally recognized to be, harsher to women over men. It is truly an irony for us to have our own life be shackled to the public’s expectations; even though we do have the key on us to free ourselves from those fetters.
Revised Version
Briefly, the movie And the Spring Comes tells about the hardships suffered by Wang Tsai Ling, a female vocal teacher with an impressive voice who dreams to become a famous opera singer and perform at the National Opera House in Beijing, who also had encounters with other frustrated artists who are struggling as much as she was in achieving their dreams. Meanwhile, the story of Mona Lisa Smile shows the challenges faced by Katherine Watson, a young female art history professor who taught in a prestigious all-female campus called Wellesley College, with her intentions to free peoples’ minds from the prison of traditional rules and systems that define one’s success (especially as a woman) while coming to terms of her own heart’s desires. Although both movies share the same focus on the inevitable struggles one has to face as a part of his/her journey to their dreams/goals, these two movies nevertheless were filmed in different demographics and cultural backgrounds that expose us to both different and similar kinds of experiences.
First of all, the contradiction in student-teacher relationships depicted in these two films is an example of cultural differences worth discussing. From my personal observations and analysis based on the two movies, it seems that in China, students respect their teachers by offering them their obedience, determination (referring to their willingness to listen and to be taught by), and commitment to learning. In other words, the students in Chinese culture fully devote themselves to their teachers with the intention to improve themselves even if they are naturally talented/skillful. For instance, there’s a scene where a girl with an already excellent opera voice approaches teacher Wang to ask for her help in achieving her wish to perform in Beijing (even when she later caught lying to have cancer to gain teacher Wang’s pity). In contrast to American culture shown in Mona Lisa Smile, the students seem to undermine their teacher’s qualifications to give lessons that, they claimed, can be self-studied. For example, Katherine’s first class was overruled by her students’ obnoxious smarty-pants attitude. In fact, Katherine herself had to find ways to get her students’ recognitions; which contradicts Chinese culture in which the students themselves have to fight for their teacher’s approval instead. In other words, Chinese culture has a greater sense of superiority compared to American culture which stands with the idea that everyone can stand on the same stage-level.
In spite of the differences, these two films also share cultural similarities: gender roles and stigma in relationships. Both films demonstrate the same individual function(s) of a man and a woman, although with a slight difference in local stereotypes/standards that describe what is proper and what is not. In general, both films put men above women in every matter: career opportunities, love relationships, status indicators, and family. For instance, teacher Wang holds her steps towards her dream to let the young male painter pursue his dream of becoming the next Van Gogh; meanwhile, one of Katherine’s excellent students named Joan gave up her dream to go to Yale Law School to follow her husband instead who got admitted into University Of Pennsylvania. In most cultures, women are meant to be wives and bear children, not preparing themselves for graduate schools which in this case, required for the men instead –to be highly educated and work high paid jobs. As a matter of fact, womanhood in American culture involves perfecting oneself with proper ethics, eloquence, and poise; in other words, a woman of elegance. Basically, I find that both cultures develop the same social expectations on what a woman and a man should be, usually with more leniency for the men most of the time –while men are allowed to choose their future careers, women oftentimes are shaped to be perfect-wife-material individuals.
As both men and women are expected to abide by their appointed roles and complement each other as a couple, it was quite unacceptable during those times to be in homosexual relationships. Although the perceptions of this idea have changed across time, it was quite a taboo to be in such circumstances during the times depicted in both films. As each culture has set their social expectations of what a man and a woman should be, the idea of a man having an interest in ballet dance seems unconventional and unacceptable as dancing normally refers to a feminine pursuit. Therefore, it is likely that Hu Jinquan is seen and described as gay. Since his interest in ballet dance is atypical for a man, he received the label as abnormal and was harshly treated and criticized by local people. For this reason, Hu Jinquan decided to sexually assault one of his dance students to prove his manhood –it was probably his desperate move of saying (or screaming out) “I am a man who just loves to dance”. The same prejudice, though not as obvious, appears in Mona Lisa Smile when Katherine’s housemate, Amanda’s partner (Josephine) was introduced by Kat’s other housemate (Nancy) as her companion instead as a form of showing her disapproval towards such a relationship. That is to say, many cultural groups tend to develop aversions towards paradoxical social behavior(s) as norms and rules are understood to be followed and not to be defied.
All in all, the obstacles one has to encounter in pursuing his/her dreams oftentimes rooted in the cultural aspects developed in a society. In the case of these two movies, the different cultural perceptions in the student-teacher relationship in Chinese and American society is definitely a significant aspect that enhances the distinct cultural norms between these two major cultures in the world. Meanwhile, gender roles and stigmas in a homosexual relationship are commonly known, and still is a taboo, in many social groups around the world. In addition, most cultural norms are and globally recognized to be, harsher to women over men. It is truly an irony for us to have our own life be shackled to the public’s expectations; even though we do have the key on us to free ourselves from those fetters.
Re: And the Spring Comes and Mona Lisa Smile
SITI NUR ARIFAH MOHAMAD AZHAR
Reflection on the Border-Crossing Activity
When we were first told that we will be having an assignment that requires us to exchange our essays with students from China, I thought it was a unique and interesting activity to do since I've never done it before. But I cannot stop wondering how we will be able to do it, not just because of the different time zone but also due to our different spoken-language and cultural background. I was afraid that we will only have disagreements with one another due to the different environments we were living in. However, aside from slight delays in responses, we were able to communicate very well despite being in different time zones and living in different cultures. There were indeed some disagreements especially due to misinterpretations of the message(s) each tried to convey, but everyone was willing to provide further explanation and accepting one another’s opinions even if they are different. As I expected to learn a lot from this activity, especially of gaining new knowledge and trying to look and understand things from different perspectives, this activity has definitely met my expectations.
The three things that struck me most during my interactions with my Chinese peers were their writing style, idea presentation, and rhetorical preference. From my observation, they prefer to provide some historical background as a reference to the points they were making and outline their essay in many paragraphs, both as strategies to make their essay clearer and more coherent –this is different to what I’ve learned where the basic structure comprises of an introductory paragraph, at least three paragraphs of points, and a conclusion. Secondly, they also like to present their ideas figuratively with metaphors which also tells about their preference in complex lexical choices. In contrast, most American essays are more straight-forward and concise. Third, I find it interesting that they have a quite similar rhetorical preference in which they supported their claims with specific examples and further elaborate their points based on those specific examples –rather than just listing out scenes from the two films.
Since my Chinese peers have provided constructive comments on my essay, I find their feedback especially helpful in improving my essay. They have pointed out some aspects, particularly on the context and structure-wise, that I can work more on to make my essay sounds better. For example, they have brought my attention to the misrepresentation of Hu Jinquan as gay due to his interest in ballet dance whereas his character was of a man who just loves to dance. Not to mention, they also have suggested to me on being more specific towards only one main theme throughout the essay which, however, I made clarifications of my actual intention(s) instead of changing it –to present cultural differences and similarities rather than focusing on just one theme.
I think this activity is very beneficial as we learned a lot not just about the culture itself, but also of different styles of composition. One thing that I’ve learned the most is the importance of identifying our potential and targeted audiences/readers. This matter is a crucial aspect for an author to consider as it might affect the way the author’s message is understood or interpreted. In fact, this reflects the significance of examining the three elements of ethos, pathos, and logos to assure effective communication.
This activity makes me feel excited to learn new things from those of a different culture; nervous as I wasn’t sure how we could communicate effectively and whether or not we could assist one another in anyways; and definitely joy of being able to make new friends, even from across the sea.
I think the flow/steps of the activity being conducted is already good and doable. However, I also think that it will be nice to have more discussion with more of our Chinese peers as well because I think this can help us in understanding both struggles better (although, it is understandable that this is hard to do due to different time zones).
Reflection on the Border-Crossing Activity
When we were first told that we will be having an assignment that requires us to exchange our essays with students from China, I thought it was a unique and interesting activity to do since I've never done it before. But I cannot stop wondering how we will be able to do it, not just because of the different time zone but also due to our different spoken-language and cultural background. I was afraid that we will only have disagreements with one another due to the different environments we were living in. However, aside from slight delays in responses, we were able to communicate very well despite being in different time zones and living in different cultures. There were indeed some disagreements especially due to misinterpretations of the message(s) each tried to convey, but everyone was willing to provide further explanation and accepting one another’s opinions even if they are different. As I expected to learn a lot from this activity, especially of gaining new knowledge and trying to look and understand things from different perspectives, this activity has definitely met my expectations.
The three things that struck me most during my interactions with my Chinese peers were their writing style, idea presentation, and rhetorical preference. From my observation, they prefer to provide some historical background as a reference to the points they were making and outline their essay in many paragraphs, both as strategies to make their essay clearer and more coherent –this is different to what I’ve learned where the basic structure comprises of an introductory paragraph, at least three paragraphs of points, and a conclusion. Secondly, they also like to present their ideas figuratively with metaphors which also tells about their preference in complex lexical choices. In contrast, most American essays are more straight-forward and concise. Third, I find it interesting that they have a quite similar rhetorical preference in which they supported their claims with specific examples and further elaborate their points based on those specific examples –rather than just listing out scenes from the two films.
Since my Chinese peers have provided constructive comments on my essay, I find their feedback especially helpful in improving my essay. They have pointed out some aspects, particularly on the context and structure-wise, that I can work more on to make my essay sounds better. For example, they have brought my attention to the misrepresentation of Hu Jinquan as gay due to his interest in ballet dance whereas his character was of a man who just loves to dance. Not to mention, they also have suggested to me on being more specific towards only one main theme throughout the essay which, however, I made clarifications of my actual intention(s) instead of changing it –to present cultural differences and similarities rather than focusing on just one theme.
I think this activity is very beneficial as we learned a lot not just about the culture itself, but also of different styles of composition. One thing that I’ve learned the most is the importance of identifying our potential and targeted audiences/readers. This matter is a crucial aspect for an author to consider as it might affect the way the author’s message is understood or interpreted. In fact, this reflects the significance of examining the three elements of ethos, pathos, and logos to assure effective communication.
This activity makes me feel excited to learn new things from those of a different culture; nervous as I wasn’t sure how we could communicate effectively and whether or not we could assist one another in anyways; and definitely joy of being able to make new friends, even from across the sea.
I think the flow/steps of the activity being conducted is already good and doable. However, I also think that it will be nice to have more discussion with more of our Chinese peers as well because I think this can help us in understanding both struggles better (although, it is understandable that this is hard to do due to different time zones).