Mona Lisa Smile, a movie by Mike Newell which takes
the setting in 1950’s tells about Katherine Watson, a new history of art
lecturer who just moves from California to Wellesley University, the most
conservative University in America. Wellesley is the university where women can
reach the same level of study as men, though there is still separation and
distinction of major they can take – women are offered curriculum that make
them attractive in marriage market. Hence, Watson is willing to be there not only
to shuttle and teach the history of art, but mainly to make a
difference. She wants women movement to
prosecute their right not only to get equality but similarity. In this movie,
the raise of feminism is clearly shown. What
feminists actually want, and how they are questioning their own movement – an inside
conflict of their own between their will against their pleasure.
Watson’s longing to make a
difference in Wellesley is said by the narrator as she has tried to apply in
the University for many times until she is accepted.
BETTY. “All her life she had wanted to teach at Wellesley College. So when a position opened in the Art History
department......she pursued it single-mindedly until she was hired.” (00:01:16,009 --> 00:01:26,480)
Moreover, after facing her students who are very cleaver and active, but monotone,
especially after she meets four most vocal students in her class: Betty, Joan,
canny, and Levy, she then understands clearly a circumstance that women in that
University have been really dominated by male hegemony through the curriculum.
They are studying in the University not to construct themselves, but to be
constructed as what the social culture at that time which still exalted male
hegemony – good women is what men say as a good ones. They are thought to cook,
serve the meal, and master the art – all men needs. They are theoretically
cleaver, mastering the syllabus, but those, for Watson, actually is not the main
purpose of study. Study is not just mastering by memorizing, but understanding
that is proved by creating.
Then, Watson begins to make
difference. She begins to teach her students to think freely using their own
ideas, and do what they want to be. When Watson comes with her new idea to make
difference; they are firstly shocking, but then they accept her. Her way to make
a difference seems work at the first time; her students learn themselves, they
become more critical, and brave.
However, out of Watson notice, out
of the school, curriculum, and syllabus, her students are actually facing
the bigger problem – real men domination that she did not realize before. She does
not realize that they live under tradition, and the difference she brings all
breaks the role. When the students know that she does not marry,
students judge her as she against the nature – the role, students then ask the reason or the foundation of her idea.
BETTY. “One must pause to consider why Miss Katherine Watson... ...instructor in the Art History department......has decided to
declare war on the holy sacrament of marriage. Her subversive and political
teachings encourage
our Wellesley girls... ...to reject
the roles they were
born to fill.”(836- 840: 01:08:14,990
--> 01:08:32,966)
That is her big problem. From her students,
she is then aware of one thing, the reason of her movement – women struggle to
get free from men domination – which is still questioned. Is it her own reason
or based on the fact that happens in the society?
However, out of the rejection of the
students, they actually agree with the idea of Watson, but they are afraid to
break the tradition. Betty, the girl who writes about her and judges her as the
role breaker, is actually suffering men oppression in which she has to marry
and her husband is busy with his job. Levy, is a girl whose parents divorced,
and whose boy friend has affair. She definitely is disappointed of men. Canny
has the same problem, her boy friend has affair with other girl.
Concerning the conflict of Betty, one
of Watson students who againsts the equality of women and men at the first time,
then she marries, but then decides to divorce because she does not get her
husband’s loving care, Watson’s idea is true, that women should be free from
men domination, everybody can choose wherever they want to be. Men cannot
oppress women as they want. Women also has right to ask men.
However, a circumstance is felt
differently by two different people. Seeing Joan who prefers to get married
than continue her study as a lawyer because that what she wants, and she is
happy with that, Watson is remained that equality or similarity that women struggle
for trough their movement is just the matter of will that depend on the
pleasure. Joan decision to marry is her pleasure as what she says that she may regret for not being lawyer, but it will not much as she regret for not having a family.
JOAN. “I want a home, a family. It's not something I'll
sacrifice.”
WATSON. “No one's asking you to sacrifice that, Joan. I just want you to understand
that you can do both.”
JOAN. “Think I'll wake up one day and regret not being a lawyer?”
WATSON. “Yes, I'm afraid that you will.”
JOAN. “Not as much as I'd regret not
having a family.
Not being there to raise them. I
know exactly what I'm doing, and it doesn't make me any less smart. This must seem terrible to you.”
WATSON. “ I didn't say that. L...”
JOAN. “Sure you did. You always do.You
stand in class and tell us to look beyond the image, but you don't. To you, a housewife is someone
who sold her
soul for a center hall colonial. She has no depth, no
intellect, no interests. You're the
one who said I could do
anything I wanted. This is what
I want”( 1109-1121: 01:31:40,328- -> 01:32:28,473).
Joan’s statement of Watson is true. Watson actually has not clearly understood about her own idea yet. She is not finding the way for all women, but for herself. She
asks the student to do what they want, but she does not. She is actually aware
that she needs men, that is proved when she loves her partner, but she tries to
ignore her feeling because of her disappointment to her previous boy friend who
leaves her after the war.
The term ‘pleasure’ and ‘will’
are two overlapping words. Will is mainly about how something or how
someone should be as constructed by
people mind, so that will still can be explained logically, but pleasure is
mainly about feeling which sometimes cannot be explained logically. The will is
influenced by the socio-cultural context, it sometimes is in line with the self
pleasure, but sometimes is not. Pleasure, on the other hand is part of
instinct.
Betty’s will to divorce is because
she does not get the pleasure of marriage, but Joan choice to stop her study
and become household mother is her pleasure that brings her to happiness. So
then, being feminist or not is only about choice.
In the movie, Watson finally prefers
to ‘give up’ and leaves Wellesley after finding the truth beyond the tradition. However, she has succeeded to make a
difference in their student’s mind about how women should think - free. She then let
her students to chose which way is better for them. That is the picture of
feminists’ movement, they are actually still a battle between women’s will and
pleasure.
Carter, David. Literary Theory.
Great Britain: Pocket Essentials, 2006. Print.
Wilma van der Veen, E., Ph.D.. Feminist Theories. 2006. Web. 27 October 2012
