Welcome to a new semester!
I've decided to continue using the same blog the for Geraldine's class. My first blog is in response to Mona Lisa Smile, a feel-good film set in the 1950s that revolves around Katherine Watson, a progressive newly hired Art History teacher at Wellesley College (which is an all-girls school) and her struggles and triumphs there. When Watson arrives at the school, much to her dismay, the female students have few further life dreams other than becoming a housewife. This is unsettling to Watson who, throughout the duration of the movie, encourages the young women she teaches to aspire to more than the life society (and their husbands) expect of them.
Mona Lisa Smile is a movie I've always seen segments of, but never the whole movie at once. When class was finished, a few of us stayed over the lunch hour to watch the second half of the movie. Mona Lisa Smile was an excellent film to view to break down the meaning and epistemology of knowledge. There were plenty of themes and questions being raised throughout the film such as:
- What is knowledge?
- Where does knowledge come from?
- Who decides what knowledge is?
- Is there more than one way to think about knowledge?
- Is there right and wrong when it comes to knowledge?
- In what way do societal norms and knowledge intersect?
I also thought about questions I would ask students if I were to show them this film in class (in addition to the questions above):
- Whose version of knowledge in the film is most correct (if any)?
- Do you agree with Katherine Watson's approach to education? Why or why not?
- Are there benefits to the traditional way of teaching that was being used at Wellesley College?
- What do you think about Joan Brandwyn's (Julia Stiles) decision to marry her husband?
- Were you surprised that these young women were attending a high-end college only to become housewives?
I thoroughly enjoyed watching Mona Lisa Smile, and I think movies about education have much to offer teachers and students. I think my favourite aspect of the film was the fact that Katherine Watson, who seemed so certain in the beginning, did not know, herself, what she wanted from life. She knew she didn't want to get married and become a housewife, but it was obvious that she longed for a partner to connect with. She was conflicted within the world she lived in, and one of my favourite scenes from the film was when Joan Brandwyn tells Watson that there are more perspectives on how to live than Watson's alone. Watson was so convinced she was right that she failed to see that perhaps there are other acceptable ways to go about life if young women are educated about their futures.
In the end, Watson achieved what she set out to do. She had a profound effect on the women she encountered and, in turn, they taught Watson more about herself. This film presents an excellent example of the intersection of traditionalism and educational innovation. Both sides learned from one another and all people seemed to benefit from what they learned from their experience at Wellesley College. The 1950s must have been an extremely difficult era for women to grow up in. Mona Lisa Smile is a great film to show teenagers in helping them to understand not only how knowledge and the idea of knowledge has changed over time, but how the role of women has changed over time.
I find Joan's challenge to Katherine to be one of the most interesting and unsettling moments in the film - the freedom to choose is ultimately freedom, but is she settling?
ReplyDeleteI agree entirely (and in my blog I probably didn't make that very clear - whoops). It was disappointing to find out that Joan was married, especially becauase she appeared to have the most promising future out of the girls. I think the scene between Katherine and Joan was one of the most important scenes of the film, and the scene exemplifies Katherine's battle with the subject. Becoming a housewife is Joan's choice, but she's selling herself short (and I think Joan is aware of this as well). Katherine felt dejected at that point, but Joan also did Katherine a favour by forcing her to question her beliefs and likely making her more passionate about her progressive ideas. Up until that point, no one had questioned Katherine the way Joan did. It was disheartening for Katherine to have that conversation, but it ultimately gave her a stronger connection to her cause.
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