Mona Lisa Smile --- an interesting view on women in the 50s!
One of my regular students requested that we talk about movies again. In the past, she made me watch "The Bucket List", because she wanted to discuss it with me. Somehow, she enjoyed such an interaction, so she sent me a list of movies to choose from. And among them, I chose Mona Lisa Smile.
The movie is about Katherine Watson (played by Julia Roberts), who accepted a position at the Wellesley College. She's teaching art history at the said prestigious institution.
The story is set in the early 1950s, and Watson is someone you can describe a very modern woman at that time. She's very passionated in her career and wanted to bring about change in the college, inspiring her students to try and reach their potential. However, it won't be easy due to the traditional culture of the college.
Will she succeed in her goal of bringing about change and breaking walls? Watch the film to find out!
I find the film really interesting because it somehow gave you the view of how women were treated back in the day. There were a lot of very intelligent and capable women, who despite given the chance to go to a prestigious college, were still somehow forced to conform to their traditional goals which is to get married and take care of the family.
It's quite sad because in some places, this kind of mindset is still being followed, although it's not as crazy as it used to. I teach English to foreigners and the majority of my students are Japanese. Some of them sometimes tell me that women are still being discriminated in the workforce. Although it's slowly changing, there are still companies and industries that are male-dominated that even though women have proven themselves to be capable, they're still not given enough opportunity because employer's think that when women get married, they'd quit their job to take care of the family... so there's no use promoting them.
The character Julia Roberts played in the film is someone I could call free-spirited. She does what she thinks is right and doesn't let anything hold her back. She's also willing to help other women see their potential and encourage them to reach it if it's what they want. The last part is important, though. "If it's what they want..." because some characters showed potential, but their heart belongs somewhere else, and the MC supported them either way.
There are a lot of interesting characters in the movie that portrays various personalities, which is pretty relatable even in the modern world. Seeing these characters made me reflect on the person that I am... and it made me realize how similar, yet unique we all are.
The story was empowering and moving... the soundtrack was also really good and it fit the scenes played on screen.
Overall, it was a good watch, and I can't wait to talk to my student about it tomorrow morning.
I'll end this post here. See you around! (^^,)/
