ACROSS4SEAS.COM

Natalie Shoch

It is amazing the similarities that are possible between two stories that at first appear astronomically different. Gu Changwei’s And The Spring Comes and Mike Newell’s Mona Lisa Smile are set in dramatically different times and settings, yet both films connect to the universal human condition that still persists today. The films follow the stories of two women trying to find their place in the world while staying true to their own beliefs, dreams and values. And The Spring Comes and Mona Lisa Smile delve into the connection between relationship status and personal and social ideas of success.

The movies point to the importance of marriage as a tool to increase one’s ethos in social settings. By following the lives of two unmarried women, the films bring to light the stigmas that are cast upon those who are not in committed legal relationships. This impact has a minor influence of straight men but is especially strong for unmarried women, and dangerous for gay men, as evidenced in the storyline of Hu Jinquan. And The Spring Comes steps outside the traditional straight framing in most stories, and includes the view of how being unmarried impacts those in the LGBTQ community. For Hu Jinquan, his singleness serves to alienate him from those in his community. He is viewed by some as perverted and sick, just because he is not in a traditional relationship. He attempts to strengthen his ethos as a man to be respected by proposing to Wang Cailing, however when this proves unsuccessful, he finds delusional happiness in jail. Mona Lisa Smile also shows the ways marriage can impact a character’s ethos.

The college women at Wellesley see marriage as the next step after university. Getting married is a symbol of entering society as an adult, and introduces them to adult society. Unmarried women are seen as girls, unwanted or too immature to find husbands. Even when marriages fall apart, such as what happened to Betty, the blame escapes the husbands and it falls on the wives to restore their own ethos by fixing the marriage. Betty defies this by leaving her husband after he cheats. This challenges the ethos she built as a conservative, traditional housewife, however she realizes she can not be blamed for the mistakes of another. The end of the film shows her building a new image as she embarks on a career, attempting to build her credibility as a woman to be respected through the rejection of a husband who was not respectful towards her. These films display the myriad of ways marriage as a status symbol can support, and harm one’s positive ethos, through the film’s the characters discover that the respect they hold themselves far outweighs the value other’s put on them.

Both films explore what success means in cultures who emphasize traditional values and customs. The worlds of 1950’s America and 1980’s China connect in their judgement of working women and expectations of a traditional lifestyle. Wang Cailing tries to find her own success as an opera singer, spending all her time teaching and auditioning. Yet despite these career dreams, her worth is measured by those around her in her connection to a man. Rumors fly about her single relationship status, and when visiting her parents, they beg her to settle down and find a husband. Yet the film poignantly displays that it was only after she cast aside the need for a man that she was truly successful. She found happiness by adopting a child and pursuing her dreams, without lowering her standards to be with a man who only wanted her for their own benefit. Mona Lisa Smiles’s storyline is similar. Katherine Watson rejects romantic partners that don’t meet her standards, and even leaves behind society's view of academic and career success when it is clear staying at Wellesley would conflict with her values. It is clear through the films that neither of these women despise the idea of intimate and respectful romantic relationships, in fact it is clear that the desire for a partner forms a noticeable loneliness in their lives. However, they are not willing to compromise on what they know they deserve. They will not get married just out of mutual convenience, or because of lust. These women send the message that it is better to be single than to settle for a relationship that is not full of love, compassion and mutual respect. Though these women pursue paths that are unconventional for the time, they are rewarded in happiness that they created for themselves.

And The Spring Comes and Mona Lisa Smile both delve into the social expectations we force on each other concerning relationships and success. Though they differ in setting, these two films send the same message; One’s respect for oneself is the most important thing in life. Every person has a different view of what success means. The film’s encourage that we hold firm to our values and goals, never subscribing to the beliefs of others.

Hi Natalie,
Thanks for your sharing your composition. I really enjoyed reading your analysis. And now, I would like to give you some personal opinions and advice after reading and thinking.

I think Wang Cailing chose not to marry is not just because she didn't give in to the world and insisted on herself. And because she's been through a lot of things and found a new salvation. The reason why Wang yearned for a man in the early stage is that she regarded love as salvation. She has been struggling to pursue her dream without success, and she feels more or less depressed and lonely. At this time, in the world of Wang, there is something that can compete with dreams, that is, hazy love. She wanted to catch the last glimmer of light in her dark life. But sometimes love is not salvation; instead it leads to new disillusionment. Her confession and commitment to Huang Sibao were completely rejected. She was frustrated and wanted to end her life. In the end, however, she found salvation. She operated on her adopted harelipped orphan and took her to Beijing. Although salvation comes from others and comes too late, it is good to be redeemed. The salvation is to put the past behind her and move forward. From then on, she no longer needs a man, just to live her own life.

In the film Mona Lisa smile，Katherine Watson struggles to influence the women in her art class to think for themselves which carriers over to personal life. Many of the girls are taught to follow previous generations of obtaining the highest achieve, women dream of “white picket fence” with a husband and eventually kids then. However, through personal growth Watson inspires the girls to rethink their futures and encourage the girls to break the normal social construct. However, I argue that Katherine isn’t totally against marriage for women. The problem lies in shackles marriage may bring about but not marriage itself. There’s a famous Chinese saying written by Qian Zhongshu in his book Fortress Besieged -- “Marriage is like a besieged city. People outside want to come in while people inside want to go out.” I think marriage isn’t a fault, but people’s judgement and sufferings can be. Therefore, Kathrine in the film mainly holds the view that female shouldn’t quit their career and should remember to be true to themselves while having nice families.

I really appreciate your structure and your logic in your composition, they’re brilliant. But I think it would be more perfect if more descriptions about movie’s formal techniques (E.g. lighting etc.)would be added in. Glad to share my point of view with you.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Good luck,
Sven Xue

Hi Natalie,
We appreciate that you share your review of the two films with us. Actually we love your review so much. And here are our understandings of your article.
In the beginning of the article, the theme and author's point of view are present appreantly. The article launches the analysis surrounding the view of the author, which is connected closely. The description is fluent and he theme is clear.
What we appreciate most is the structure of the article. It discusses detailed slightly proper and distinct. It is a long article but it is not tedious. The clear views first catch our attention and attract us to read more. There are contrast and comparison which reveal the inner relationship of the two films.
Even though we love your article so much, we still have some suggestions. Since you have mentioned that the backgrounds of the two stories are different, then why not discuss them more detailed? Maybe it helps the readers to understand the theme more easily. Also, you analyse the plots and themes and maybe the use of language and the technique of expression can be added in.
All in all, we apppreciate this article very much and hope to read more.
Good luck,
He Weiqi&Song Xinran

Hi Natalie,

Thank you for the reply before. Our communication is required by our teacher of this course. The more we contact with each other, the higher grade we will acquire. Could you help us communicate more? What do you think of our replies? You can say anything about our essays or our replies for you. Hope to have a nice talk with you! If you have any questions, for more convenience, you could add my WeChat wxid_atmcbwnumqs121 or send your words to my e-mial box 1017507241@qq.com please. Thank you！

Best wishes，
Xue Siwen.

Hello He Weiqi&Song Xinran!

Thank you so much for your review of my essay. I really appreciated your suggestion to incorporate more background and historical context from the two films. I believe making this change will help build understanding of the differences between the two films, so that the similarities stated in the analysis will make more of an impact. I really appreciated the new point of view you provided. Thank you so much for your feedback!

Best,
Natalie

Dear Sven Xue,

I really appreciated your analysis on the characters of Wang Cailing and Katherine Watson. It definitely gives me something new to think about when viewing the nuance of their characters. For my next draft I plan on incorporating more elements of the film's formal techniques such as costume, lighting, and color per your suggestion. I hope this will add a layer of specificity my previous draft was missing. I really appreciate your detailed review!

Best,
Natalie

Dear Natalie,
Thanks for your appreciation! It's so nice of you to listen to our advice. We look forward to seeing your next draft. Maybe we can communicate more about films and reviews later.

Best,
Sven Xue.

Hi Natalie,

First of all, thank you for your reply. I really appreciate that you could agree and take our advice. I'm glad that we have similar opinions about the two movies.
This course is so well-intentioned that we can communicate better. I also hope that you and we can make progress through this course.

Best wishes,
He Weiqi &Song Xinran

Here is my revised essay! I attempted to include more contextual detail as well as add some commentary of cinematic techniques.

Gu Changwei’s And The Spring Comes and Mike Newell’s Mona Lisa Smile are set in dramatically different times and settings, yet both films connect to the universal human condition that still persists today. 1950’s New England is a world seeped in upper class social climbing, dinner parties and starched petticoats. While 1980’s rural China was relatively poor, a nation recuperating from decades of political turmoil. While the women in Mona Lisa Smile fret about art classes and social plans, there is a real sense of dark melancholy and perpetual misfortune surrounding the characters in The Spring Comes. The films follow the stories of two women trying to find their place in the world while staying true to their own beliefs, dreams and values. And The Spring Comes and Mona Lisa Smile delve into the connection between relationship status and personal and social ideas of success.

The movies point to the importance of marriage as a tool to increase one’s ethos in social settings. By following the lives of two unmarried women, the films bring to light the stigmas that are cast upon those who are not in committed legal relationships. This impact has a minor influence on straight men but is especially dangerous for gay men, as evidenced in the storyline of Hu Jinquan. And The Spring Comes steps outside the traditional straight framing in most stories, and includes the view of how being unmarried impacts those in the LGBTQ community. For Hu Jinquan, his singleness serves to alienate him from those in his community. He is viewed by some as perverted and sick, just because he is not in a traditional relationship. He attempts to strengthen his ethos as a man to be respected by proposing to Wang Cailing, however when this proves unsuccessful, he finds delusional happiness in jail.

Mona Lisa Smile also shows the ways marriage can impact a character’s ethos. The college women at Wellesley see marriage as the next step after university. Getting married is a symbol of entering society as an adult, as evidenced by the way costume is used to create character. Once the girls are married they cast off their pastel girl-like college uniforms and adopt a jewel- toned, more sophisticated style. Unmarried women are seen as girls, unwanted or too immature to find husbands. Even when marriages fall apart, such as what happened to Betty, the blame escapes the husbands and it falls on the wives to restore their own ethos by fixing the marriage. By leaving her husband after he cheats Betty is challenging the ethos she built as a conservative, traditional housewife, she realizes she can not be blamed for the mistakes of another. The end of the film shows her building a new image as she embarks on a career, attempting to build her credibility as a woman to be respected. These films display the myriad of ways marriage as a status symbol can support, and harm one’s positive ethos. The characters discover that the respect they hold themselves far outweighs the value other’s put on them.
Both films explore what success means in cultures that emphasize traditional values and customs. The worlds of 1950’s America and 1980’s China connect in their judgement of working women and expectations of a traditional lifestyle. Wang Cailing tries to find her own success as an opera singer, spending all her time teaching and auditioning. Yet despite these career dreams, her worth is measured by those around her in her connection to a man. Rumors fly about her single relationship status, and when visiting her parents, they beg her to settle down and find a husband. Yet the film poignantly displays that it was only after she cast aside the need for a man that she was truly successful. She found happiness by adopting a child and being happy in her new reality, without lowering her standards to be with a man who only wanted her for their own benefit. Mona Lisa Smiles’s storyline is similar. Katherine Watson rejects romantic partners that don’t meet her standards, and even leaves behind society's view of academic and career success when it is clear staying at Wellesley would conflict with her values. It is clear through the films that neither of these women despise the idea of intimate and respectful romantic relationships, in fact it is clear that the desire for a partner forms a noticeable loneliness in their lives. However, they are not willing to compromise on what they know they deserve. They will not get married because of mutual convenience or lust. These women send the message that it is better to be single than to settle for a relationship that is not full of love, compassion and mutual respect. Though these women pursue paths that are unconventional for the time, they are rewarded in happiness that they created for themselves.
And The Spring Comes and Mona Lisa Smile both delve into the social expectations we force on each other concerning relationships and success. Though they differ in setting and production aesthetics, these two films send the same message; Respect for oneself is the most important thing in life. Every person has a different view of what success means. The films encourage that we hold firm to our values and goals, never subscribing to the beliefs of others.

Coming into this border crossing activity, I was really excited to meet new people, and was expecting to be really impressed by the essays of my chinese classmates. To be so advanced in a language that one could write a detailed essay is incredibly impressive. Once I was able to connect with the students, my expectations were more than met. I found their ideas, and their ability to express those ideas highly advanced. One thing that really struck me while working with the students was the way their language really paints a picture. They used a lot of descriptive language to get to a point, as opposed to the clear and fast evidence US students are used to using in papers. Similarly, the main ideas are presented in a much softer way. As opposed to a hard thesis statement and then 3 main paragraphs, their papers flowed very organically, and the main idea was revealed closer to the end. Another thing I noticed was how friendly they were when proposing their feedback. Their responses were incredibly detailed, and they were extremely observant of the details of the films.
When revising my paper, I really tried to take into account the feedback I had gotten. One of the biggest changes I made was in the first paragraph. It had been suggested that I elaborate on the cultural and societal differences between the two movies. I used that first paragraph to do so, hopefully building that knowledge at the beginning in order to carry the rest of the essay. I had also gotten a suggestion to include more film- craft elements, such as lighting and coloring. I felt that including too many details involving this would muddle my main argument pertaining to ethos and character relationships. However I did incorporate some commentary on the way costume helps to tell the story of marriage in Mona Lisa Smile.
If I had to list three adjectives to describe the activity, I would say engaging, fun and detailed. Being able to share the learning experience with new classmates, and being able to learn from them was really engaging and helpful. Being able to write about two interesting movies was a really fun opportunity, and connecting based on pop culture was definitely a new way of looking at an academic paper. Finally, something that I really noticed was how detailed the paper’s were and the amount of detail my reviewers gave my essay, the amount of detail really helped me see things in a new way.
Concerning my own performance in this activity. I really tried to always respond to my classmates and leave detailed messages. I wanted them to know that I was interested in their feedback and comments, and would always respond, in hopes of encouraging more connection. Overall, it was a really fun activity. I'm glad I got to connect with so many new classmates.