Mona Lisa Smile

This was the first time we were asked to watch movie for this course and the first movie that we watched entitled Mona Lisa Smile. The duration of this movie is 1hr and 57 minutes. The movie was directed by Mike Newell and written by Lawrence Konner & Mark Rosenthal. The movie was launched on 19 December 2003. This is the plot of the movie Mona Lisa Smile which tells the story of Katherine Ann Watson (played by Julia Roberts), a teacher who studied at UCLA graduate school who leaves her boyfriend behind in Los Angeles to teach at Wellesley College, a conservative women's private liberal arts college in Massachusetts, United States in 1953. Watson encourages her students to study to become career professionals. She wants her students to lead the world and not just to live as the wife of somebody. She uses modern art to suggest that they need not conform to female stereotype, even introducing the students to the work of Jackson Pollock. She feels that women can do more than solely adopt the roles of wives and mothers. Watson's work is contrary to methods deemed acceptable by the school's directors, conservative women who believe firmly that Watson should not use her class to express her points of views or befriend students, and should stick only to teaching traditional art (Picasso and other modern artists of the time are spoken of with great skepticism by the directors). Watson is warned that she could lose her job.
Undaunted, Watson becomes more forceful in her speeches about feminism. She believes she needs to instill a spirit of change among her students. Watson eventually breaks things off with her boyfriend, Paul Moore (John Slattery), after a disastrous wedding proposal. She starts a relationship with Italian teacher Bill Dunbar (Dominic West). Although the relationship is frowned upon by the faculty, the two continue seeing each other. However, Watson ends the relationship after finding out that Dunbar lied about his military service. The film also focuses on the lives of various students of Watson's, chief among them: Elizabeth "Betty" Warren (Jones) (Kirsten Dunst), a rich girl with a conservative, domineering mother (who, as head of the Alumni Association, exerts significant influence) who marries Spencer Jones, a lawyer who is unfaithful to her, and who also clashes repeatedly with Watson; Constance "Connie" Baker (Ginnifer Goodwin) who has insecurities about her body while searching for a boyfriend; Giselle Levy (Maggie Gyllenhaal), one of the few Jewish students at Wellesley at the time, who has an affair with Bill Dunbar, but who is also one of the first students to admire Watson; and Joan Brandwyn (Donegal) (Julia Stiles), who is initially conflicted about whether to pursue law school after graduation or become a housewife to Spencer's best friend, sweet-natured Tommy Donegal (Topher Grace).
Although many are initially put off by Watson's style, as the film progresses, more students begin to admire her, including Betty, despite being her most vehement critic.Watson chooses to leave after one year, but as she is leaving the campus for the last time, her students follow her car, to show their affection. The scene is narrated by Betty who dedicates her last editorial to Watson, explicitly stating that Watson is "an extraordinary woman" and an individual who "seeks truth beyond tradition, beyond definition, beyond the image. (Source: Wikipedia)
I myself felt this in a wonderfull movie where it really give a wonderful message to womens about marriage. There is a good message where marriage shouldn’t be a boundary for women to futher their education to be a professional and they should give priority to education where this in the only thing that could survive them in whatever situation and wherever they are. To conclude i personally felt this movie is a good start to change the mentality of conservative people who still stand on the traditional belief emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism and seek a return to "the way things were.