Movie Essay
Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2020 12:05 am
Jacob Wang
“And the Spring Comes” and “Mona Lisa Smile” are films that make interesting comments on Chinese and American culture, respectively. These movies share a lot in common and exemplify many of the same sentiments about life and culture. Both films feature a female protagonist. Coincidentally, both female protagonists are teachers of some kind. In “And the Spring Comes”, Wang Tsailing is a school teacher in a poor industrial town. In “Mona Lisa Smile”, Katherine Watson is professor of art history at a small liberal arts college. Both women share similar experiences as they attempt to transcend traditional cultural values to pursue their own interests.
Throughout these two films, both protagonists struggle with pursuing their own personal dreams and adhering to traditional cultural values. In “And the Spring Comes”, Tsailing is an extremely talented singer who aspires to be an opera singer for the national theater. However, she is forced to relinquish her aspirations of becoming a singer and instead settles for a lowly teaching job. The film goes to great lengths to emphasize how miserable Tsailing’s life is for the entirety of the film. She lives a lonely, routine life and also meets several other talented individuals who, like Tsailing, were forced to give up their personal dreams to conform to traditional societal values. The way that Tsailing is portrayed makes it seem as if the movie attempts to make commentary on Chinese society. The film seems to infer that life in China is largely meaningless and incredibly bland. The characters in the film also seem to exemplify this trend. It is as if individuality is discouraged in their culture and conformity is expected. The way Tsailing is portrayed in the film is an example of a non-verbal cue.
Katherine Watson’s life in “Mona Lisa Smile” is quite similar to Tsailing’s. Katherine is a liberal female professor with some radical views and opinions for the time period. Throughout the film, she tries to pass along her ideas and values to her students at Wellesley College. However, this doesn’t go as well as she plans. Katherine was disciplined by college officials for her views, since the college is quite conservative and doesn’t wish for her to be spreading these ideas. Most girls who attend this school do so with one goal after graduation; to get married. One such girl is Betty Warren, a conservative girl who values traditional family and marriage. Betty repeatedly disagrees with Katherine throughout the film and admonishes her for her liberal views. Another character more similar to Katherine is Giselle Levy, who excellently portrays the sexual revolution of the time. She is also a student of Katherine’s and her promiscuous behavior clearly represents a deviation from the traditional cultural values in America. In the end, Katherine is forced to leave her job after refusing to give up her beliefs.
Katherine’s story exemplifies the traditional American belief that women should marry and be satisfied with being a housewife. The kind of classes taught at Wellesley are proof of this. These classes include deportment, grooming and table setting, and other such classes who hold no educational value but instead prepare women for life as a wife. “Mona Lisa Smile” makes more commentary on the plight of women in society than “Spring” does. All choices made in the movie seem to promote a “free spirit” type of mindset in a closed and socially immobile culture.
“And the Spring Comes” and “Mona Lisa Smile” are films that make interesting comments on Chinese and American culture, respectively. These movies share a lot in common and exemplify many of the same sentiments about life and culture. Both films feature a female protagonist. Coincidentally, both female protagonists are teachers of some kind. In “And the Spring Comes”, Wang Tsailing is a school teacher in a poor industrial town. In “Mona Lisa Smile”, Katherine Watson is professor of art history at a small liberal arts college. Both women share similar experiences as they attempt to transcend traditional cultural values to pursue their own interests.
Throughout these two films, both protagonists struggle with pursuing their own personal dreams and adhering to traditional cultural values. In “And the Spring Comes”, Tsailing is an extremely talented singer who aspires to be an opera singer for the national theater. However, she is forced to relinquish her aspirations of becoming a singer and instead settles for a lowly teaching job. The film goes to great lengths to emphasize how miserable Tsailing’s life is for the entirety of the film. She lives a lonely, routine life and also meets several other talented individuals who, like Tsailing, were forced to give up their personal dreams to conform to traditional societal values. The way that Tsailing is portrayed makes it seem as if the movie attempts to make commentary on Chinese society. The film seems to infer that life in China is largely meaningless and incredibly bland. The characters in the film also seem to exemplify this trend. It is as if individuality is discouraged in their culture and conformity is expected. The way Tsailing is portrayed in the film is an example of a non-verbal cue.
Katherine Watson’s life in “Mona Lisa Smile” is quite similar to Tsailing’s. Katherine is a liberal female professor with some radical views and opinions for the time period. Throughout the film, she tries to pass along her ideas and values to her students at Wellesley College. However, this doesn’t go as well as she plans. Katherine was disciplined by college officials for her views, since the college is quite conservative and doesn’t wish for her to be spreading these ideas. Most girls who attend this school do so with one goal after graduation; to get married. One such girl is Betty Warren, a conservative girl who values traditional family and marriage. Betty repeatedly disagrees with Katherine throughout the film and admonishes her for her liberal views. Another character more similar to Katherine is Giselle Levy, who excellently portrays the sexual revolution of the time. She is also a student of Katherine’s and her promiscuous behavior clearly represents a deviation from the traditional cultural values in America. In the end, Katherine is forced to leave her job after refusing to give up her beliefs.
Katherine’s story exemplifies the traditional American belief that women should marry and be satisfied with being a housewife. The kind of classes taught at Wellesley are proof of this. These classes include deportment, grooming and table setting, and other such classes who hold no educational value but instead prepare women for life as a wife. “Mona Lisa Smile” makes more commentary on the plight of women in society than “Spring” does. All choices made in the movie seem to promote a “free spirit” type of mindset in a closed and socially immobile culture.
