Back in 1953, a conservative women’s college named Wellesley makes a crevice for a liberal teacher to enter the space. Katherine Watson, played ever so charmingly by Julia Roberts arrives into a tight knit system of traditionalism that directs women to ‘prepare themselves’ for a life of standing beside their husbands. Although, they are also taught arts and sciences – things they’re REALLY good at, but for no true avail. The biggest glory a student can achieve at Wellesley is not academic or extra-curricular merit, but an early marriage.
Naturally, Katherine Watson comes in with her ‘subversive’ personality and teaching methods that raise eyebrows at Wellesley. In fact, she has a rough start with her students who display some friction towards her but she manages to open their minds towards new definitions of art and some aspects of liberalism. She doesn’t exactly spark a revolution at the end, but she makes a difference in the lives of the girl who are closely associated with her and the purpose of her character is served heart-warmingly at the end. It’s a beautiful film, made rich by the aesthetics of a grand Wellesley college and 1950s Massachusetts backdrop, and some very good looking actors donned in appealing costumes.
More than an entertaining movie with an important message, for me, Mona Lisa Smile is a sneak into the evolution of feminism over the years. Feminism as we know today is an arguably controversial concept because there have been instances in the world where the privileges of feminism have been misinterpreted/misused. But films like Mona Lisa Smile offers a perspective to how women of the past have struggled to materialize the privileges of feminism that we enjoy today. Katherine Watson is a radical woman who believes in women’s rights, education and freedom – but she’s not a welcome idea, even amongst women, let alone men. She has to manoeuvre through a system that does not permit a diversion from the set norms and compromise her ideals every step of the way. But Katherine stays strong, keeps her ideals intact and is okay with paying the price for it so she’s termed a ‘wanderer’ because she cannot stay where her identity is forced away.
So many women in the past have fought their way through rigid systems, in even more intense ways, some even laying their lives down for the cause, so that the modern woman knows that she has options and the same level of freedom as men. The idea that the woman’s true purpose is to marry and bear children for her husband while being the perfect hostess has been reliably erased away because (real) women like Katherine Watson stood their ground against patriarchal norms, both imposed and internalized. Women of today have a lot to be thankful for towards them.
The educational angle | Where does ‘Mona Lisa Smile’ fit in Feminist History? | While Mona Lisa Smile is set in 1953, it acts as a bridge between two major eras of women’s history. It captures the “stagnant” period just before Second-Wave Feminism exploded in the 1960s. Here is where the film sits on the historical timeline:
- The Post-War Domestic Ideal: After World War II, there was a massive societal push to return women to the domestic sphere. Wellesley College in the film represents the “finishing school” mentality, where elite education was used as a tool to make women better conversationalists for their husbands, rather than professionals in their own right.
- The “Problem That Has No Name”: The film perfectly illustrates the atmosphere described by Betty Friedan in The Feminine Mystique (1963). Characters like Betty Warren embody the silent unhappiness of women who “had it all” – the house, the husband, the degree – but felt a deep lack of purpose.
- The Transition to Second-Wave: Katherine Watson represents the “Radical” spark. Her focus wasn’t just on legal rights (First-Wave), but on social and intellectual liberation. She fought for the idea that a woman’s “essence” is defined by her choice—whether that choice is a career in law or a life at home.
Key Takeaway: The film is a study of Internalized Patriarchy. It shows that the greatest hurdle for the evolution of feminism wasn’t just the rules made by men, but the social pressure women placed on each other to conform to the “Mona Lisa” facade of silent, smiling contentment.
Mona Lisa Smile is subtly misdirected to make the viewer assume that the ‘smile’ in question might be the beautiful Katherine’s, but in fact it is Elizabeth or Betty’s. Betty is a rather jealous and arrogant lady who, coming from wealth, marries very early and assumes a superior role amongst her peers. Coming from an unhappy place mentally because her marriage wasn’t what she hoped it would be, she sabotages her friends’ prospects at happiness and acts snobbish about it. She gets the biggest character arc in the movie, and the title ‘Mona Lisa Smile’ is in fact about her. Turns out, she’s also the narrator of the whole film.
I understand why Mona Lisa Smile is considered an iconic movie. There are a number of elements that make it a memorable movie. I do wonder, however, if the film is indeed a mirror to the 1950s western society or the writers have made some embellishments; but regardless, it’s a movie that any progressive individual must watch; and traditionalist ones too.
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