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Nate Ricketts

If we accept And the Spring Comes and Mona Lisa Smile as accurate portrayals of Eastern and Western cultures, respectively, then the two movies offer many parallels between two cultures that initially seem so different. Between the films, the portrayal of gender dynamics and cultural respect for the arts mirror one another in a few ways.

Before beginning this comparison, however, it should be noted that the two movies are set in different time periods. Mona Lisa Smile takes place in the American 1950s, while And the Spring Comes takes place in a roughly modern-day China. Having never been to China, I can only say for certain that a number of changes have taken place in American attitudes towards women and the arts. for example, a nurse would never be fired today for supplying emergency contraceptives like Amanda eventually is in Mona Lisa Smile. Additionally, as a student studying the humanities and the arts, it seems to me that university departments have shifted towards teaching more modern works rather than relying heavily on classical ones. In Mona Lisa Smile, when Katherine decides to do away with teaching from the textbook in favor of more modern art, it is presented as a radical decision at first. For this reason, it might be unfair to consider the two films side-by-side, since American culture has shifted so much since the 1950s, even though the film was produced during the early 2000s. That said, I am not sure how accurate of a portrayal of Chinese culture And the Spring Comes is, or even what time period it is set in. It is important to keep this difference in mind when comparing the two movies.

In Mona Lisa Smile, gender dynamics are a constant theme. It seems to be the case that in the 1950s, there was constant pressure for women to get married and have children without pursuing their personal professional goals. With my rough historical knowledge, the American film seems to be accurate in this sense of cultural conservatism. We see this view firsthand in how Betty at first cannot come to terms with the fact that Katherine is not married. Additionally, Joan gives up on her plans to attend law school to pursue a family, highlighting the argument that women in the American 1950s were forced to decide between either pursuing their personal goals, inevitably facing public judgement, or getting married and succumbing to societal pressure.

This is similar to how in And The Spring Comes, Wang Tsai Ling’s neighbor constantly pressures her to find a man and get married. Eventually, Wang Tsai Ling snaps on her neighbor and tells her that she only got married in order to feel more secure. Wand Tsai Ling is similar to Katherine in her adamancy in pursuing opera, despite having a few failed relationships with the painter and his friend. Regardless of these, it is clear that Wang Tsai Ling’s main objective in life is not to get married.

Generally, this passage demonstrated a point from gender dynamics and cultural respect with many concrete details. However, there are some contents that the viewer disagrees with. Foremost, the title cultural essay could not show the writer’s main idea, which might be substituted for something more relevant to the center. Also, the passage seems lack of strong conclusion. Moreover, the design and organization should be improved due to its disability in clearance. Such as “For this reason, it might be unfair to consider” “I am not sure how accurate of” from the article should be omitted, which are kind of symbol that the writer did not have much confidence when writing this essay. In my opinion, the essay should be eloquent as a speech to be convincing with strength. To emphasize your main point, you might use more things argumentative with full explanations. All in all, the details should be more relevant to the center even with one or two which could deepen and study. Take my suggestions if you agree with me.

Hi，Nate Ricketts，
I think your film review is very well written. You have a broad vision. You notice the difference between the filming and the setting of the story. I think that's great. I can also see from the reviews that you have a deep understanding of both films. Mona Lisa Smile is mainly about women's rights. And the Spring Comes tells the story of how ordinary people like wang cailin struggle to pursue their dreams. At the end of the review you wrote that wang's life goal is not marriage. I think that makes sense. Wang cailin's life was full of her pursuit of the dream, she paid a lot for his dream, but ultimately did not succeed. Failure again and again, exhausted all of her energy. However, what deserves our admiration is that Wang is still loving life, although she is torn apart by the torture of life. All the crazy and love, in the end are flat. Wang finally chose to be an ordinary person. Just like you said, she still has a dream in her heart, but buried it in the deep soil. Finally, it's nice to communicate with you!

Hello, Nate. If you have any approaches like Wechat, maybe we can reply to each other in time. For the time difference and website delay, it is a little inconvenient. By the way, my Wechat number is wyr15050535495.

Culture and Cinema

If we accept And the Spring Comes and Mona Lisa Smile as accurate portrayals of Eastern and Western cultures, respectively, then the two movies offer many parallels between two cultures that initially seem so different. Between the films, the portrayal of gender dynamics and cultural respect for the arts mirror one another in a few ways.
Before beginning this comparison, however, it should be noted that the two movies are set in different time periods. Mona Lisa Smile takes place in the American 1950s, while And the Spring Comes takes place in a roughly modern-day China. Having never been to China, I can only say for certain that a number of changes have taken place in American attitudes towards women and the arts. for example, a nurse would never be fired today for supplying emergency contraceptives like Amanda eventually is in Mona Lisa Smile. Additionally, as a student studying the humanities and the arts, it seems to me that university departments have shifted towards teaching more modern works rather than relying heavily on classical ones. In Mona Lisa Smile, when Katherine decides to do away with teaching from the textbook in favor of more modern art, it is presented as a radical decision at first. For this reason, it is arguably unfair to consider the two films side-by-side, since American culture has shifted so much since the 1950s, even though the film was produced during the early 2000s. That said, it is unclear to the American viewer whether or not And the Spring Comes is an accurate portrayal of Chinese culture, or even what time period it is set in. It is important to keep this difference in mind when comparing the two movies.
In Mona Lisa Smile, gender dynamics are a constant theme. It seems to be the case that in the 1950s, there was constant pressure for women to get married and have children without pursuing their personal professional goals. With my rough historical knowledge, the American film seems to be accurate in this sense of cultural conservatism. We see this view firsthand in how Betty at first cannot come to terms with the fact that Katherine is not married. Additionally, Joan gives up on her plans to attend law school to pursue a family, highlighting the argument that women in the American 1950s were forced to decide between either pursuing their personal goals, inevitably facing public judgement, or getting married and succumbing to societal pressure.
This is similar to how in And The Spring Comes, Wang Tsai Ling’s neighbor constantly pressures her to find a man and get married. Eventually, Wang Tsai Ling snaps on her neighbor and tells her that she only got married in order to feel more secure. Wang Tsai Ling is similar to Katherine in her adamancy in pursuing opera, despite having a few failed relationships with the painter and his friend. Regardless of these, it is clear that Wang Tsai Ling’s main objective in life is not to get married.
Regardless of the two movies’ differences, each film makes a clear argument about gender and women’s autonomy over their own lives. In both the American film and the Chinese film, the respective women protagonists grapple with cultural forces beyond their individual control, but regardless, they go their own way.

1.Going into the border crossing activity, I was excited to see if students from an entirely different culture shared similar perspectives on the two movies we watched. I noticed that we agreed about many of the same themes.
2.Having taken composition courses in another language, I struggled the most when it came to writing argumentative papers. I was most struck by the Chinese students' similarity to me in how they would go about crafting their argument. Wu Yiran’s paper followed a clear structure that began with a set of premises and had a solid logical progression toward the conclusion. I was also drawn to Hu Yi’s stylistic flair in their ability to poetically explore the cinematography of each film throught their analysis of color. Both papers exhibited solid construction in their use of a thesis followed by several focused supporting paragraphs, resulting in papers that would fit right into an American classroom.
3. I agreed with much of the critique from my group members. One student had the point that my essay did not have a very confident tone, so in my revision I took out the parts that they pointed out as contributing to this weakness.
7. To describe how the activity went for me I’d use, “enlightening,” “generative” and “communicative.” It was enlightening to share discourse with students from a faraway country. It was generative in helping me make sure my writing is resonant with people from a different culture than me. It was communicative in that I shared some further correspondence with a student, during which we went a bit deeper into some of the main points we made on the forum.
8. In general, I think both the American and Chinese students would benefit if the activity went a bit longer and the communication was more structured.
4.I certainly found this activity to be beneficial. In school I generally only write for an Anglophone, American audience, so corresponding with student who do not speak English as their first language or share the same cultural upbringing as me allowed me to see where my argument is lacking.