Movie Essay
Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2020 3:17 am
Timothy Bellew
In the movies And the Spring Comes and Mona Lisa’s Smile both feature female protagonists trying to achieve their dreams. Wang Cailing aspires to become a famous opera singer in modern-day China, while Kathrine Watson want to help woman to see that they do much more than to just be housewives in mid-1950’s Massachusetts. Both films deal with woman’s empowerment and personal growth while the presentation in the makeup and the clothes of the characters differs greatly between the films.
Woman’s empowerment is prevalent in both films. In And the Spring Comes, Wang Tsailing is constantly show to be working towards achieving her dreams. Her goal throughout the film is to become a nationally famous opera singer. She does this by trying to move to Beijing and join the art institute. She does this without needing male approval or needing a husband. When Hu Jiaquan, the male ballerina, proposes to Wang as a way to get people to stop talking about them, she refuses. She does not want to be in a sham marriage. Towards the end of the film, Wang adopts an orphan and raises it sans husband. In Mona Lisa’s Smile, Kathrine Watson declines her boyfriend Paul’s proposal because she is unsure of their future together. Also, during the Adam’s Ribs secret society meeting, she says she is not married yet because she does not want to be married yet. During one of her lectures on contemporary art, Watson rails against how woman are presented in the advertisements she displayed in class. She also berates Wellesley’s president over Watson’s perception of the school as just something the students do to kill time until the get a marriage proposal. Watson herself is not only empowered, but she also empowered other characters. She empowers Joan to apply to Yale and she gets into the law school.
Personal growth is also prevalent throughout the films. In And the Spring Comes Wang tries to help Huang Siabo achieve his goal of becoming a famous painter. They eventually have a falling out and Zhou You reveals to Wang that Siabo uses his art to use women. After that, Wang does not accept being used. She abandons the student who lied to her about being terminally ill. Also, she is shown sewing her own dress over the course of the film. At the end she is shown singing in Beijing in that dress. Wang was able to achieve her dream by the end of the movie. In Mona Lisa’s Smile, Betty Warren goes from an uncompromising traditionalist who detests Watson, to someone who grows to appreciate what Watson has taught her. Warren divorces her cheating husband and at the end of the film, she is the one to follow Watson’s taxi the longest out of any of the Wellesley students. Kathrine Watson herself also grows. She questions her belief that being a housewife is a woman selling herself short after Joan decides not to go to Yale because she just prefers to be a housewife.
The presentation of the films differs wildly however. And the Spring Comes presents a setting that is grimy and realistic. It is not a very aesthetically beautiful film. They characters do not wear makeup and the settings, such as Wang’s home and the school she teaches in, are presented as dilapidated and unglamorous. Towards the end when Wang is with her daughter in Tiananmen Square, the sky is smoggy. Multiple times in the film, Wang is called unattractive. In contrast, Mona Lisa’s Smile looks like a standard Hollywood film. The setting of mid-1950’s upper-class Massachusetts is very picturesque. All the characters wear expensive looking clothing. The cast, and especially Julia Roberts and Kirsten Dunst, are very conventionally attractive.
And the Spring Comes and Mona Lisa’s Smile share many similarities. Both center on female protagonists with personal growth and female empowerment being important parts of each movie. Where they differ the most comes in the presentation with Mona Lisa’s Smile having the prettier setting and location of the two films.
In the movies And the Spring Comes and Mona Lisa’s Smile both feature female protagonists trying to achieve their dreams. Wang Cailing aspires to become a famous opera singer in modern-day China, while Kathrine Watson want to help woman to see that they do much more than to just be housewives in mid-1950’s Massachusetts. Both films deal with woman’s empowerment and personal growth while the presentation in the makeup and the clothes of the characters differs greatly between the films.
Woman’s empowerment is prevalent in both films. In And the Spring Comes, Wang Tsailing is constantly show to be working towards achieving her dreams. Her goal throughout the film is to become a nationally famous opera singer. She does this by trying to move to Beijing and join the art institute. She does this without needing male approval or needing a husband. When Hu Jiaquan, the male ballerina, proposes to Wang as a way to get people to stop talking about them, she refuses. She does not want to be in a sham marriage. Towards the end of the film, Wang adopts an orphan and raises it sans husband. In Mona Lisa’s Smile, Kathrine Watson declines her boyfriend Paul’s proposal because she is unsure of their future together. Also, during the Adam’s Ribs secret society meeting, she says she is not married yet because she does not want to be married yet. During one of her lectures on contemporary art, Watson rails against how woman are presented in the advertisements she displayed in class. She also berates Wellesley’s president over Watson’s perception of the school as just something the students do to kill time until the get a marriage proposal. Watson herself is not only empowered, but she also empowered other characters. She empowers Joan to apply to Yale and she gets into the law school.
Personal growth is also prevalent throughout the films. In And the Spring Comes Wang tries to help Huang Siabo achieve his goal of becoming a famous painter. They eventually have a falling out and Zhou You reveals to Wang that Siabo uses his art to use women. After that, Wang does not accept being used. She abandons the student who lied to her about being terminally ill. Also, she is shown sewing her own dress over the course of the film. At the end she is shown singing in Beijing in that dress. Wang was able to achieve her dream by the end of the movie. In Mona Lisa’s Smile, Betty Warren goes from an uncompromising traditionalist who detests Watson, to someone who grows to appreciate what Watson has taught her. Warren divorces her cheating husband and at the end of the film, she is the one to follow Watson’s taxi the longest out of any of the Wellesley students. Kathrine Watson herself also grows. She questions her belief that being a housewife is a woman selling herself short after Joan decides not to go to Yale because she just prefers to be a housewife.
The presentation of the films differs wildly however. And the Spring Comes presents a setting that is grimy and realistic. It is not a very aesthetically beautiful film. They characters do not wear makeup and the settings, such as Wang’s home and the school she teaches in, are presented as dilapidated and unglamorous. Towards the end when Wang is with her daughter in Tiananmen Square, the sky is smoggy. Multiple times in the film, Wang is called unattractive. In contrast, Mona Lisa’s Smile looks like a standard Hollywood film. The setting of mid-1950’s upper-class Massachusetts is very picturesque. All the characters wear expensive looking clothing. The cast, and especially Julia Roberts and Kirsten Dunst, are very conventionally attractive.
And the Spring Comes and Mona Lisa’s Smile share many similarities. Both center on female protagonists with personal growth and female empowerment being important parts of each movie. Where they differ the most comes in the presentation with Mona Lisa’s Smile having the prettier setting and location of the two films.
