Cultural Essay

[rzp80]

Rachel Phillips

Both “And the Spring Comes” and “Mona Lisa Smile” focus on the limited and subdued role women are often forced into. However, “And the Spring Comes” breaks out of the patriarchal world and portrays a life made outside of it. On the other hand, the events in “Mona Lisa Smile” do little to promote and exemplify truly feminist ideals. “Mona Lisa Smile” is set in the 1950’s, commonly known as a time where women’s ability to succeed outside of the home was greatly hindered. That being said, it was also a time of powerful feminist rhetoric, which was not expressed in the movie. “And the Spring Comes” takes place much later in the 1990’s, during a period of increased modernity in China. Overall, both “And the Spring Comes” and “Mona Lisa Smile” express their rhetorical message about female empowerment through their non-verbal portrayal of women and through topois (文).

One example of non-verbal cues is the dramatized and unrealistic actions of the women and their surrounding setting in “Mona Lisa Smile”. For example, throughout “Mona Lisa Smile”, all women are consistently dressed up and have exaggerated actions. One scene, in particular, is at the beginning of the film when all the girls are talking with each other in the room before they go to bed. Each girl has their hair and makeup done. In addition, they are all wearing outfits that lean more towards fashion trends rather than comfort clothes, which is more realistic for a night in. Along with the hair and clothing, all women are jumping around, screaming, and overreacting about simple comments. This is typically how women are portrayed in American films, especially in the 2000s. These exaggerated actions play into the stereotypes of women in a two-dimensional form. These over dramatic scenes continue throughout the movie, including fights and the women dressed up in every scene. In addition, the college the women attend is considered to be the most prestigious school, and every girl comes from a wealthy family. Overall, the setting and nonverbal actions do not portray the average life of an American woman in the 1950’s.

On the other hand, “And the Spring Comes” is much more realistic in its portrayal of women. For example, Wang Cailing is never overdramatized or characterized by female stereotypes. Her outfits are professional when she is working, and comfortable when she is at home. In fact, the lack of dressiness of her outfits at home emphasizes her struggle to find success as a human being, portraying her as more than a two-dimensional female. Thus, “And the Spring Comes” portrays a female outside of the patriarchal ideologies.

While Wang Cailing recognizes that society will judge her for her looks, she, again, finds happiness outside of the ideals of marriage. In other words, Wang Cailing did not need to be for or against marriage. She would accept if the right offer came along; however, she focuses on her career and adopting a baby.

On the other hand, “Mona Lisa Smile’s” greatest attempt to move outside of the patriarchal realm was simply to bash marriage. For example, Giselle and Ms. Watson, considered to be “the progressive thinkers” only make comments about their frustration with marriage. In other words, regardless of their feelings, the only topic on their minds is a relationship with men. In fact, all of the topics in the film revolve around male and female roles in relationships. In reality, “Mona Lisa Smile” does not offer the same progressive message through the use of topois (文). Another example of how “Mona Lisa Smile” relies on topois (文) to express the message of the importance of a male relationship is the fact that the class only studies male art. In addition, the main plot lines throughout this movie are Betty Warren planning her wedding, the birth control incident with the nurse, and Giselle and Mrs.
Watson’s relationship with Bill Dunbar, which all have to do with relationships with men.

In contrast, “And the Spring Comes” has varying topoi (文) to convey several different messages. While one topic is Wang Cailing looking for happiness in love, Wang Cailing is also seen independent of this, striving to achieve her goals as a singer. Her journey only scratches the surface when it comes to characters searching for a better life. In addition, we also see the struggle of social inequality through the male ballet dancer who describes himself as “a fishbone caught in their throats”.

Overall, both movies contain elements of women’s forced gender roles. That being said, “And the Spring Comes” explores these forced roles on a deeper level. At the same time, “And the Spring Comes” is also able to explore other societal constructs as well.

[1119644748]

Hello Phillips !
I can clearly see that you discussed the elements of women's forced gender in both films in this article. I think your comments are very profound.

First of all, I can see that the article explains the background of the two films and makes a comparison to point out their realistic significance. The Spring Comes broke The world of patriarchy, and Mona Lisa Smile did little to advance feminist ideals. These ideas were new to me, and I thought they were novel and reasonable.

Secondly, this article analyzes the female images in the two films from the perspective of non-language. The female images in Mona Lisa's Smile are all dramatic and exaggerated, which is just in line with the stereotype of women in American movies at that time. In contrast, And The Spring Comes's portrayal of women is much more realistic. The example of this Angle is consistent with the realistic significance of the two films you pointed out at the beginning.

Then, the article from the point of view of marriage analysis. Wang is an independent woman outside patriarchy, with a neutral attitude towards marriage. She is more focused on her career and her ideals. However, the problems of the women in Mona Lisa's Smile always revolve around the relationship between men and women.They never got rid of the patriarchal background.

Generally speaking, I think your article is excellent, with clear ideas, clear thinking and very appropriate examples. I like your article very much.
​Jinghan Cheng &Haiping Shi

[3188257245]

Hello, I am Zhou yang, coming from jiang su province in China. I and my partner feel so honorable to get this opportunity to communicate with you across seas. Firstly, I have to say that we love your work！This is an excellent movie review we are looking for！After reading countless times，I'm so sorry to say that your abroad horizons, deep vision and profound knowledge actually outpaces us so much that we maybe can't give you valuable suggestions to polish your close-to-perfect work, however, I still find some intriguing words in your work that I want to communicate with you. Maybe I can't cover them at one time, but we still have many chances right?

This time I want to talk out "overacting" and "two-dimensional form". You say the women in Mona Lisa Smile acts too dramatically such as screaming, jumping along with "do not portray the average life of an American woman in the 1950’s." Then I have a question that what is the real average life of American women in the 1950s like if this film doesn't portray it properly? I'm really interested about it. And I also want to know that are these women really overacting or not? Because I and my partner totally neglect this point for we believe this is what American women like in the real life. In our opinions, Americans tend to act or express themselves very exaggeratly such as the tone, the facial expressions (Emilia Clarke impresses me the most) and the body language. So I don't feel the characters in Mona Lisa Smile are overacting, or you can go give us more information or background knowledge about what females should like in real life.

What's more, I want to share my opinion about two-dimensional form which actually gives us a new angle to think about things. You say that "these exaggerated actions play into the stereotypes of women in a two-dimensional form. " In my opinion, two-dimensional form is more like personality-binary, usually refers to people's character such as this is the good man or this is a bad guy. And in this film Mona Lisa Smile, the protagonist, Catherine Watson, actually is built up or presented in a flat way, a totally decent educator compared to Wang Cailing who is sometimes vain or silly. So I want to hear from you about your more concrete explanations about the "stereotypes of women in a two-dimensional form".
Above are my feelings after reading your work, and I have to say I really learn something about the way you thinking and analyzing things. Hoping your precious feedback!

P.S. Forgiving us to reply your work so lately for we really have much homework to do given by our teachers and we are also shamed to confess that figuring out your sophisticated theme actually takes us some time. We can see that you write this article elaborately, we also want to give you a detailed feedback as pay back. -- by Zhou Yang and LI Simin

[rzp80]

​Dear Jinghan Cheng and Haiping Shi,
Thank you so much for your comments on my essay! I really appreciate your insight. I am familiar with America's culture surrounding the 1950's, however I am less familiar with Chinese culture in the 1990's. I was wondering if either of you felt that I misinterpreted anything in my essay or have any insight that might make my explanations clearer for my non-verbal arguments.
Sincerely,
Rachel Phillips

[rzp80]

Dear Zhou Yang and Li Simin,
Thank you so much for your insights to my essay.
I agree with how you used "2-dimensional form". We usually translate it to mean any character that isn't very complex. For example, this would be any character who doesn't have more than one characteristic (such as being funny, mean, angry, happy, stupid) throughout the entire movie. Often times, women are categorized as over-emotional in American film in culture. This is usually expressed through over the top actions. Women are also often portrayed as "constantly put together", which is a phrase we use to say always has makeup and the best outfit on. Speaking for myself, I know this isn't too realistic for me. In other words, there is so much more to me than the fact that I would like to get married and wear makeup, however that's all that is presented in the movie. The women also go to college with no hopes of getting a job. Because you pointed out the term "2-dimensional form" I'm interested to see if you think there is a better term to describe my thoughts. You really got me to rethink how I want to phrase my thoughts, so thank you!
Do you think there were any stereotypes that I missed in "And the Spring Comes"? I am eager for your insight since I am not as familiar with Chinese culture in the 1990's.
Sincerely,
Rachel Phillips

[tjb5856]

You contrast between how the characters acted in the the two films was astute . I did notice how the characters in "Mona Lisa's Smile" could be very excitable and overly dramatic. Wang Cailing on the other hand stays very calm thorough out "And the Spring Comes". It is not they she is cold and emotionless, rather she reacts realistically to what a woman trying to achieve her dreams in the face of adversity would.

I also agree with how single minded "Mona Lisa's Smile" is on its focus of relationships. Throughout the film, the subject of marriage is the primary preoccupation of the characters. The martial status of Kathrine Watson is a focus of the film, as well as her fight against the idea that marriage is the only thing Wellesley graduates should aspire to post graduation. Also, Betty's marriage plays a large part in her development as a character. While "And the Spring Comes" focuses on Wang's struggle to achieve her dream, it is not the only thing going on in the film. Wang gives students singing lesson, she tries to move to Beijing, she becomes a butcher, adopts a child, etc. "And the Spring Comes" is more focused on the character's journey while "Mona Lisa's Smile" is more focused on the characters'' destinations. Wang comes across as a much deeper character than anyone in "Mona Lisa's Smile" because of it.

I also really like how you contrasted the style of the two films. "And the Spring Come" is very grounded. It is not a very colorful film and nobody is made to look particularly beautiful. People also act like normal people would, rather than how a movie character would. "Mona Lisa's Smile" on the other hand lacks that realism. The people behave in ways, such as how they have such dramatic conversations all the time, is not very grounded. Every character is done-up to look very pretty and the setting is very colorful. I thing you are spot on in your assessment of how this movie feels like it is a product on the 2000s, especially in regards to the behavior of the characters.

[3188257245]

Hi, Rachel!
When I read your article again, I find that your article is still very logical. First of all, you elaborated the dramatic and unrealistic behavior, and then summarized it with the stereotypes of women in a two-dimensional form. In your reply, I understand what you mean in this way that you think the stereotype of women is actually very single, and it is the entire context shown in the movie. From my point of view it's ok for you to use the original saying. Of course, if you like, you can try …stereotype actually simplifies and objectify women, which is actually a limited or flat presentation, and women should never be seen as a symbol.


In addition, to your questions, I have to say that, in fact, it has been several days since I saw this movie. Maybe my answers are not very comprehensive. The stereotype of Chinese women is that they should stay at home at support her children and husband, which is quite similar in the United States. But women in China are not encouraged to wear strong makeup and beautiful clothes, or they will be considered to be unscrupulous. What's more Wang Cailing gives her virginity to Huang Sibao, who just got to know her several days ago. it's actually impossible in reality for the attitude of Chinese people towards sex is quite conservative. And I think that Wang Cailing's beautiful neighbor is more in line with Chinese traditional women, especially in the relationship with her husband. She is soft-hearted and easy to be cheated by her husband, and once she off her husband's support, she is difficult to survive.


Lastly, I and my partner admire your depth of thinking and can you give us some tips on how you accumulate such knowledge if you are convenient? --By Zhou Yang and Li Simin

[1119644748]

Hi, Rachel
Thank you for liking praising us. It's my pleasure to discuss the article with you.

"And the Spring Comes" tells the story of the period from 1984 to 1994, which was exactly the period of China's rapid expansion of the market economy, and also the period of the "modernity" impulse and the desire for modernization. People gradually realized the importance of money and society gradually appeared the fashion of "all money" so that utilitarianism and pragmatism began to prevail. This trend has also affected the cultural field. For the masses, high culture no longer has an ideological superiority and dignity. The air of freedom brought by the market economy also gave them the confidence to disdain high culture. The destiny of Wang Cailing then alluded to such times background. His obsession with opera is unquestionably high culture. Wang Cailing's opera performance with heavy makeup also left only a few people in the audience. This "inappropriate" love is one of the most important causes of her pain.

The above is my understanding of Chinese culture in the 1990s. Maybe you can tell me something about American culture in the 1950s. We are willing to listen.

Sincerely,
Jinghan Cheng&Haiping Shi

[1119644748]

Hi, Rachel,

Your article is profound and meaningful. In particular, you did a great job of representing the nonverbal aspects of the two films by comparison.

However, the only downside is that in the second paragraph, "the setting and nonverbal actions do not portray the average life of an American woman in the 1950 's." Perhaps you can describe the American women's life in 1950’s. This will deepen the stereotypical image of women in Mona Lisa's Smile.

On the whole, I admire your ideas and insight. You're excellent!

Sincerely,
Jinghan Cheng&Haiping Shi

[rzp80]

Dear Zhou Yang and Li Simin,
Your sentence that described women in your response stuck out to me. "Women should never be seen as a symbol." I think this takes the argument one step further and shows why it is so dangerous to objectify women.

If it's okay with you, I would like to quote you in my essay, saying, "'Women should never be seen as a symbol,' said Zhou Yang and Li Simin to explain the dangers of objectifying women."

Your insight on Wang Cailing's neighbor is also helpful. I will try to juxtapose those to in my essay. You might have heard of the word "juxtapose" but it is a strange word, so just in case you are not familiar with the term: Juxtapose means to take two opposite things (which could be people ideas, etc) and contrast them to show how they are different.

Thank you for your help!
Rachel