Film Review Mona Lisa Smile Essay - 1042 Words

Mona Lisa Smile. Dir. by Mike Newell. Columbia Pictures, 2003. In the movie, Mona Lisa Smile directed by Mike Newell, a new art history professor at Wellesley College teaches her female students alternatives to their seemingly preordained futures as wives and mothers. In this paper we will examine womens roles in the 1950s through Mona Lisa Smile and compare this film to actual experiences of Wellesley collage graduates. In 1953, a time when womens roles were rigidly defined, free-spirited, art history professor Katherine Watson (Julia Roberts) begins teaching her dream job at Wellesley College. Wellesley is an all-female campus with a prestigious reputation for academic excellence, however, despite its name it is an†¦show more content†¦She had the needed depth and dimension required for the role. Her seaming guarded attitude allowed her role to be tough enough to resist the girls and the faculty. I personally do not like Dunst (Betty) as an actress but that just made her manipulative rich bitch role even more believable. She is inte nt on making everyone around her feel unworthy and the viewer spends most of the movie hating her spoon-fed beliefs, until the end when the character earns empathy from the audience after she reveals her hardships with her husband and mother. Stiles character Joan does the most growing in the film as she opens up to the possibility that she does not have to follow her sweetheart and could focus on her own education. Goodwyns character Connie played an ‘add-drama role to the movie. The viewer never disliked her but never really liked her. The most liberal of the girls is Giselle, played by Gyllenhaal, who plays the role of the campus slut. I am not sure the purpose of this women bashing role, it just made the movie dirty. Giselles affinity for sleeping with professors and married men is so revolting that not even in the end was her character salvaged, but she did play the part well. The films title, of course, is a reference to the Mona Lisa, the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci. One of the songs chosen was of the same name, originally performed by Nat King Cole, which was preformedShow MoreRelatedFilm Review of Mona Lisa Smile729 Words   |  3 PagesIn the film Mona Lisa Smile, Julia Roberts plays the role of Kathryn Watson, a teacher who has been allowed back into her profession only if she complies with strict guidelines relating to her lesson plans and their adherence to the status quo. To understand this, the context of the film is important. Watson teaches Art History during a decade the 1950s that is notorious for its singular views of female roles in society. Watson wishes to dislodge these by using her medium of instruction to helpRead MoreArt as an Embodied Imagination22095 Words   |  89 Pages1995), we turn our attention to body as process, for bodily experience makes up the â€Å"existential ground of culture† (Csordas 1994, p. 269). But ï ¬ rst, we need to examine the consumer literature on embodiment processes. EMBODIED EXPERIENCES: A SELECT REVIEW OF THE CONSUMER LITERATURE To understand the existing consumer literature on embodiment, we need to distinguish between its two levels of awareness: the conscious, or phenomenological, level and the cognitive unconscious level. The former makes individualsRead MoreArt as an Embodied Imagination22095 Words   |  89 Pages1995), we turn our attention to body as process, for bodily experience makes up the â€Å"existential ground of culture† (Csordas 1994, p. 269). But ï ¬ rst, we need to examine the consumer literature on embodiment processes. EMBODIED EXPERIENCES: A SELECT REVIEW OF THE CONSUMER LITERATURE To understand the existing consumer literature on embodiment, we need to distinguish between its two levels of awareness: the conscious, or phenomenological, level and the cognitive unconscious level. The former makes individualsRead MoreRastafarian79520 Words   |  319 PagesBabylon and Dread Revitalization 4. The Ethos of Rastafari: Structure, Ideology, and Ritual 5. â€Å"Coming in from the Cold†: Rastafari and the Wider Society 6. Rastafari Rules: Bearers of Jamaican Popular Culture 7. Summary and Conclusions Appendix: A Review of the Literature on Rastafari Notes Selected Bibliography Index 3 7 29 41 67 79 97 117 127 141 171 185 This page intentionally left blank Rastafari This page intentionally left blank Introduction Since its emergenceRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesArt Director: Kenny Beck Text and Cover Designer: Wanda Espana OB Poll Graphics: Electra Graphics Cover Art: honey comb and a bee working / Shutterstock / LilKar Sr. Media Project Manager, Editorial: Denise Vaughn Media Project Manager, Production: Lisa Rinaldi Full-Service Project Management: Christian Holdener, S4Carlisle Publishing Services Composition: S4Carlisle Publishing Services Printer/Binder: Courier/Kendallville Cover Printer: Courier/Kendalville Text Font: 10.5/12 ITC New Baskerville Std