Cultural Essay
Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2020 9:27 pm
Mackenzie Chan
The first film we watched, And The Spring Comes, focuses on the life and hardships faced by Wang Tsai Ling, a vocal teacher with aspirations of becoming a famous opera singer. While she strives to complete her own goal, she meets other artists and singers who are struggling and attempting to find their path to success as well in this cold world. While in Mona Lisa Smile, Katherine Watson is a newly graduated art history teacher trying to get a full-time position in a women’s campus called Wellesley. Although, this campus is teaching women traditional views of life and marriage rather than the progressive beliefs Watson has in her own life. While she values the idea of women being able to choose marriage and a job, her students are being taught that marriage is the only key to success and a happy life. Both films showcase society’s ideals of normality through marriage and cultural viewpoints. Still, these protagonists are attempting to break free from these cultural norms through their dreams and their own choices in life.
One aspect of cultural norms that can be analyzed between these films is the student’s relationship with their respected elders/ teachers. The film Mona Lisa Smile shows the struggles of Watson as she attempts to educate her students, but it is difficult for her because her students talk above her voice and believe they know everything there is to her lecture. There is even a student, Betty, who writes an editorial on campus where multiple sections of the paper as focused on degrading teachers on her campus and tarnishing their reputation and getting the school nurse fired. These students harassed previous teachers according to Watson’s co-workers, and it was difficult for her to stand her ground as an educator, a higher-up, in comparison to the students who should be learning from her. Meanwhile, And The Spring Comes, shows Chinese students respecting their teachers with the willingness to improve and learn from their higher-ups. Even when these students have the basic skills of singing, they still follow the lessons and ask for help in achieving their goals, ultimately wanting to improve themselves with the help of their teacher. This is the opposite compared to the students in Wellesley who believe they know everything, have a negative attitude towards teachers, and don’t want to improve themselves within the classroom.
The idea of marriage and women’s roles is apparent within these films as well. Wellesley women are taught courses on being a proper wife and how to handle situations surrounded her husband’s job rather than her dreams/ career. Joana never put thought into attending Yale because she figured her goal was to marry a man and that was it, even when she was accepted into this Law School. She chose to follow her husband to make him happy with the five p.m. dinner on the table housewife. This university gave married students leeway with their learning, and Betty expected that her missing the midterm and six class lectures with her honeymoon and moving into her new married life as an excuse because other teachers ‘turned their head’ to these scenarios. When Wang visits her family, she is bombarded with questions regarding her finding a man to marry and Wang tells Huang, an aspiring artist, that she would give up her own dreams and support him with marriage. Watson was in a similar situation as her students continuously discussed her marital status amongst themselves. Betty even used this as a form of harassment since she was married while Watson was single or in a recent breakup with her fiance.
In reality, we should be able to follow our own dreams and pursue what we want in life. Though, in these films, it becomes clear that social and cultural traditions make that difficult when those around us believe in traditional values that clash with our own views. Both of these women fought for their views; they positively affected others’ lives around them. An example being, Betty in Mona Lisa Smile learned that there is more out there than just being a housewife as she can find her path to success possibly through Law school.
The first film we watched, And The Spring Comes, focuses on the life and hardships faced by Wang Tsai Ling, a vocal teacher with aspirations of becoming a famous opera singer. While she strives to complete her own goal, she meets other artists and singers who are struggling and attempting to find their path to success as well in this cold world. While in Mona Lisa Smile, Katherine Watson is a newly graduated art history teacher trying to get a full-time position in a women’s campus called Wellesley. Although, this campus is teaching women traditional views of life and marriage rather than the progressive beliefs Watson has in her own life. While she values the idea of women being able to choose marriage and a job, her students are being taught that marriage is the only key to success and a happy life. Both films showcase society’s ideals of normality through marriage and cultural viewpoints. Still, these protagonists are attempting to break free from these cultural norms through their dreams and their own choices in life.
One aspect of cultural norms that can be analyzed between these films is the student’s relationship with their respected elders/ teachers. The film Mona Lisa Smile shows the struggles of Watson as she attempts to educate her students, but it is difficult for her because her students talk above her voice and believe they know everything there is to her lecture. There is even a student, Betty, who writes an editorial on campus where multiple sections of the paper as focused on degrading teachers on her campus and tarnishing their reputation and getting the school nurse fired. These students harassed previous teachers according to Watson’s co-workers, and it was difficult for her to stand her ground as an educator, a higher-up, in comparison to the students who should be learning from her. Meanwhile, And The Spring Comes, shows Chinese students respecting their teachers with the willingness to improve and learn from their higher-ups. Even when these students have the basic skills of singing, they still follow the lessons and ask for help in achieving their goals, ultimately wanting to improve themselves with the help of their teacher. This is the opposite compared to the students in Wellesley who believe they know everything, have a negative attitude towards teachers, and don’t want to improve themselves within the classroom.
The idea of marriage and women’s roles is apparent within these films as well. Wellesley women are taught courses on being a proper wife and how to handle situations surrounded her husband’s job rather than her dreams/ career. Joana never put thought into attending Yale because she figured her goal was to marry a man and that was it, even when she was accepted into this Law School. She chose to follow her husband to make him happy with the five p.m. dinner on the table housewife. This university gave married students leeway with their learning, and Betty expected that her missing the midterm and six class lectures with her honeymoon and moving into her new married life as an excuse because other teachers ‘turned their head’ to these scenarios. When Wang visits her family, she is bombarded with questions regarding her finding a man to marry and Wang tells Huang, an aspiring artist, that she would give up her own dreams and support him with marriage. Watson was in a similar situation as her students continuously discussed her marital status amongst themselves. Betty even used this as a form of harassment since she was married while Watson was single or in a recent breakup with her fiance.
In reality, we should be able to follow our own dreams and pursue what we want in life. Though, in these films, it becomes clear that social and cultural traditions make that difficult when those around us believe in traditional values that clash with our own views. Both of these women fought for their views; they positively affected others’ lives around them. An example being, Betty in Mona Lisa Smile learned that there is more out there than just being a housewife as she can find her path to success possibly through Law school.