19 - Portrayal of the Outsider in And the Spring Comes and Mona Lisa Smile

[Yangzi Z.]

Although set in different cultures and different times, And the Spring Comes and Mona Lisa Smile reach the consensus that art is an powerful and sometimes destructive force when it confronts conventional and worldly values. The origin of the conflict is as much geographical as it is social and cultural, and if women are under the spotlight, such conflicts will be further complicated. The distinct portrayals of the outsider in these films reveal their roots embedded in the cultural traditions in the east and the west.

Generally speaking, And the Spring Comes records the clash between highbrow art and the mundane daily life of the common people, specifically in an industrial city in northwestern China. Geographical distance and scale are the metaphor for the chasm between them. Here art is embodied by the National Opera House and prestigious institutes in Beijing, and mundanity the cold, grayish small town where agriculture and industry are the major themes. When art serves only as an occasional entertainment, it can be accommodated peacefully in the town life, as operas in the radio and dancing in the park are enjoyed by town residents in the film. But when art is pursued by visible people, the individuals will be ridiculed by other residents are outcasts and even perverts. The conflicts between common good and individual desire are universal, and due to its cultural tradition, in China the promotion of the former is often championed. This contributes to the enjoyment of art as a whole concept and the rejection of it when it is boiled down to the very individual.

All three “artsy” characters appear as the martyrs of their beloved profession at first, but gradually we understand that Hu Jinquan is the only artist that is willing to sacrifice everything else for the sheer love of ballet, while the other two characters hope to capitalize art to climb up the social ladder. Among them Wang Tsai-ling is special because as an ugly woman, she is burden with the extra responsibility of marriage, and compared with (straight) men and other (beautiful) woman, she will be less tolerated if she chooses career before marriage. Unlike in Mona Lisa Smile, where there is a clear-cut line between the characters that the audience are expected to love and those expected to be disliked, Wang Tsai-ling is both unlikable and pitiful; her misery is the accumulative result of her circumstances and her “tragic flaws” that are arrogance and vanity—I call it arrogance because the film implies that Wang Tsai-ling’s skills are good, but not “Beijing good,” as the secretary recognizes that Wang has come to interview the year before. And the Spring Comes is profound and mature in its presentation of character arc for both leading and supporting characters in which one can detect a somewhat Taoist view of human nature that recognizes good in evil and purity in greed.

In Mona Lisa Smile, East clashes with West, though it is the “east and west” within the borders of the United States. The spirit of the west coast is embodied by Dr. Katherine Watson, whose “unconventional” teaching methods and liberal attitudes toward marriage would stir up the east coast WASP establishment. Apart from the lines, Katherine’s position as an outsider and intruder to Wellesley College is also subtly conveyed through her costume. In the train station scene in the opening, she is seen wearing a bohemian floral shirt and carrying a large leather tote bag, her hair loosely tied into a ponytail, while most of the local women have their hair exquisitely styled; a bonnet, a plain color shirt and a midi dress are like the unofficial uniform of the town. Probably because “all her life she had wanted to teach at Wellesley College”, Katherine is eager to fit into the culture tradition of the east coast at the beginning. In the first few days of the academic year she is dressed like a Wellesley woman. The headmistress’ speech almost moves her to tears. After Katherine discovers that Wellesley doesn’t follow the principles it preaches, and that it is no more than a training school for the wives of east coast elitist man, she resumes her old clothes in her next lecture where she challenges the rote learning of the Wellesley girls. Katherine’s choices of clothes reflects her psychological journey throughout the film, as well as her eventually firm belief to defend what she considers right even though it makes her an outsider in the eyes of the school board, instead of submitting herself to the established standards of an ideal woman from the east coast. Compared with And the Spring Comes, what I find to be “west” in this film is the unwillingness to reconcile. For Wang Tsai-ling, reconciling with her circumstances is the way to retain inner peace, but for Katherine Watson, remoulding herself to be a Wellesley woman can never lead to peace. Of course, Katherine’s persistence of individuality is also supported by ample knowledge and ability. In this sense Katherine is confronted because she seems too advanced, and in a historical view she will eventually be welcomed, but Wang Tsai-ling, being less privileged, has less assets for negotiation and a dimmer future if she chooses not to settle.

[Katherine M.]

Hi YangZi,

I really enjoyed reading your film review on the American movie "Mona Lisa Smile" and the Chinese movie “And the Spring Comes”. Overall, your essay has good structure and is easy to follow. I agree that both movies have a character that is portrayed to be an “outsider” but for different reasons. In Mona Lisa Smile, Katherine Watson notices her students so focused on following the traditionalist ways of getting a degree and immediately after getting married that she wanted to push them outside their comfort zone and away from society’s expectations of women. What do you think about her teachings? Do you agree with them or do you think she should teach what the institute wants? On the other hand, in And the Spring Comes, both Mr. Hu and Wang Tsai-ling are incredibly talented people in unique ways yet there talent is not appreciated because it goes against society’s expectations.

I know in the United States, there is tremendous pressure to conform to society's expectations. For example, attending college immediately after high school is "expected" and those who don't follow that path are sort of an "outsider". Are there similar pressures in China??

I also enjoyed reading your observations regarding the character's clothing and physical appearance. In my opinion, main characters in Amercian movies almost always stand out from the usual crowd in terms of their beauty, fashion, or talents. Very rarely do they showcase the main character as a failure. While the issues and struggles of the past are similar and every culture experienced them at some point in time, the approach taken by the two films is quite different. The Chinese film “And the Spring Comes” seeks to capture reality taking on the issues very directly and rather harshly whereas American films often exaggerate characters’ appearance and take a gentler approach to the challenges our society faces.

A few suggestions I would make to strengthen your essay is 1) add transition sentences at the beginning of your paragraphs so its a smooth transition from paragraph to paragraph and 2) add your own opinions. For example, how do you feel about Mr. Hu and Wang Tsai-ling’s inability to “fit in” and the pressures they feel to conform to the expected norms of society? How do you feel about their coping mechanisms? As in Wang Tsai-ling adopting an orphan child and Mr. Hu getting put in jail. I think adding these opinions to your essay with give it a nice touch and make it personal.

Katie McMillan

[Ya-Lin H.]

Hi Yanzi!

I think you have a really strong essay overall, your body paragraphs are supported by good examples from the films and backed up by real life evidence. I feel it’s interesting how you describe the clash of “east and west” in your third paragraph as within the US, because in my paper I focused so much on the conflict between Eastern and Western cultures that this was a concept that I did not think about. For revising your paper, I think adding your own comments on the factual evidences would be good, as it enhances the voice within your paper. Also, in the third paragraph there is a sentence that talks about the “west” in And the Spring Comes, I think this idea is very interesting, so I think you can elaborate more on why or how you think about the “west”. I look forward to your response!

[Yangzi Z.]

Hi Katie,

Thank you for your constructive suggestions. Re-reading my essay with your insightful comment, I do feel that I could've given my own opinion more exclusive space instead of integrating most of them into the image and background analyses.

With regard to Katherine's role as a teacher in Mona Lisa Smile, I suppose I could resonate with her method to inspire the girls through raising questions. In many ways it reminds me of The Dead Poet Society. In the movie the girls already had been given ample knowledge of the masterpieces and the theories of the history of art in the way of "rote learning," but all of the information are not in their command as they never view art in a critical way. What is especially exciting about Katherine's method is that she encourages her students to form personal opinions and to say "no" to the pieces that students are told to be "great" as long as they can convince others. What's more, Katherine introduces students to pieces that are not in the art "canon" at that time; she denies the inherent superiority of the ancient, classic pieces. Her students learn about Pollock and Soutine which are not in textbooks. This inclusion of diverse art and thinking mode is compatible with Katherine's attempt to get the girls out of their comfort zone, and I agree that her teaching completes the character we see in the movie. By mentioning Katherine's teaching, you also inspire me to apply this angle to Tsai-ling, because she actually teaches people from a variety of background in And then Spring Comes.

Meanwhile, I don't think a complete abandonment of a structured syllabus is appropriate, though the movie intentionally leads us to consider the Wellesley Board and their decisions as the "bad guy" (Oh by the way do you think it gives a truthful representation of this college and the culture of New England in the 1950s?). As I just mentioned, Katherine's students are all upper-middle class girls who are well-educated with the knowledge of art. Without this privileged ground, it will be hard for this kind of avant-garde method to exercise effectively.


I'd love to answer your question about the pressure from society in China. I strongly feel that Chinese culture really values other people's opinion and social norms, probably even more than the U.S. Peer pressure is a good example here, for Chinese parents often tell their child to "look at other people's children" if they think their own kids don't work hard enough. Also, I'm surprised to know from you that "gap year" is not a common thing in the States. Here in China, we are also expected to go to uni straight from high school, and in most cases college graduates don't take gap year unless they fail to get into the ideal graduate program in the first year.

I'm very curious about your comment on the status of the leading character in Chinese and American movies. In my opinion it may have something to do with the genre of the movie in question. Mona Lisa Smile is more on the commercial side (I saw so many familiar faces from American blockbusters), and probably the general audience prefer seeing beautiful, original and successful characters on scree. On the other hand, And then Spring Comes is sort of an art house film, and that's probably why it handles the subtlety of humanity in a more delicate and diverse way.

I'm looking forward to further discussions;)

Yangzi

[Yangzi Z.]

Hi Ya-Lin,

I really appreciate your reply! Yes I think the theme of "East and West" not only exists between these two movies, but it is also present in both of them respectively. For me this clash introduces the cultural background of the movies on a wider plane. In "And the Spring Comes," the east part of China (Beijing, the coastal front of "reform and opening-up) is considered economically, culturally and spiritually advanced compared with the west part, such as Inner Mongolia where Tsai-ling lives. I'm not sure whether this is what you think as the "west" touch in my essay, and I hope you can talk a bit more about that. Thanks.

Yangzi

[Katherine M.]

Yangzi,

Thank you for your comments. They are greatly appreciated!!

Although I have never seen The Dead Poet Society, it's interesting how studying a subject matter can only provide you so much information and then when asked to "apply this knowledge" and go beyond the facts, people can really struggle. Although times have changed, this idea of memorizing the textbook is something that is an issue for many college students in the United States. We are so concerned about getting the best grades possible that we don't make an effort to apply the material to the real world (which is what we are going to have to do once we graduate). Students are so focused on maintaining the highest GPA because the thought is that "if I don't get the highest GPA possible, I won't get a good job later in life." I would argue that the majority of American students are under significant pressure from their parents to surpass their expectations in terms of attending and receiving a good education and finding a stable and well paying job that will provide them a comfortable lifestyle. This pressure can sometimes have a negative effect as students then are doing what their parents want instead of pursuing their dreams.
Do you feel Chinese students are under this same pressure?

After watching Mona Lisa Smile, it's tough to predict how accurate the film is in demonstrating the struggles that women encountered in the past. American films have a tendency to exaggerate the reality of situations. I give Ms. Watson credit for challenging her students beyond what was expected of them however this was simply not acceptable back them. If women opted not to get married and begin that life after graduating college, it was extremely hard for them to achieve a high social status. Although the movie exaggerates the situation, it does a good job capturing some of the struggles women encountered in the past.

I find that interesting that Chinese parents will compare their kids and their achievements to others and will push them by saying "look what so and so is doing." In the United States, I feel as though parents have a similar tendency, however instead they praise and brag about their kid to others (maybe a little too much). Although no there is no right or wrong answer, it's fun to see how cultures differ.

[Ya-Lin H.]

Hi Yanzi,

Thank you for all the diligent comments, this has been a great exchange experience! I am glad you are pursuing what you love as a career, I can see your passion for English through your essay, and I hope you continue to thrive on the subject:) I am going to Nanjing this summer, so maybe I’ll see you there! By the way, for your question about the “west” aspect of your essay, I liked the way you paralleled the two main characters and the ways they refused to reconcile with society.

My WeChat ID is yalinhuang97, hope to keep in touch with you!