Cultural Essay

[mts5487]

Max Schultz

And the Spring Comes and Mona Lisa Smile are two films that deal with similar subject matter and deal with very similar themes. Each protagonist, Katherine Watson in Mona Lisa Smile, and Wang Cailing in And the Spring Comes, face central conflicts related to issues related to individuality, feminism, and the general challenging of societal norms. By treating each film as a case study in the addressing of such issues, much can be learned about the similarities and differences between eastern and western culture and cinema.

Mona Lisa Smile is a classic depiction of the dominant conservative societal gender roles of America in the 1950s, when women were largely expected to perform as housewives and were strongly discouraged from entering the workforce to fill the same roles as men. Professor Katherine Watson teaches at an all-women’s Wellesley college, characterized by the prominent cultural clash of the time between the school’s prestigious reputation and its students’ conflicting focus on landing a successful husband rather than trying to equip themselves to actually forge success of their own. This provides the basis for Watson’s central act of rebellion, that is, eschewing the pre-approved syllabus in favor of her own and encouraging her students to think and act for themselves. While individuality is absolutely a major motivating factor in Watson’s actions, the story is most directly rooted in feminism. Her enlightened teaching methods coupled with her own personal aversion to marriage creates a story that is thematically a story of classic feminist rebellion against conservative social norms.

In And the Spring Comes, protagonist Wang Cailing embarks on her own personal journey for individual fulfillment, and she too wrestles with incompatible societal expectations. She dreams of becoming an opera singer, but despite her talent, it is accepted that her lack of physical attractiveness is enough to preclude her from achieving her goals. The film details Wang Cailing’s struggle for individuality in a society that instead expects its members, particularly women, to focus on the collective instead. And the Spring Comes differs from Mona Lisa Smile in that it is not designed primarily as a period piece, or a depiction of a certain time period. And the Spring Comes can instead be taken as an artifact of modern Chinese society, as it takes place much more recently. It is painfully apparent throughout the film that Wang Cailing does not adhere to many major norms and expectations of her society, with its dialogue and cinematography making clear that she does not “fit in” as a part of her social environment or her city. And the Spring Comes also generally feels more realistic than Mona Lisa Smile; its characters seem less stylized and exaggerated. The end result is a movie that feels more true to the culture that created it and less like a societal caricature, allowing viewers to connect with the central character on a more personal level.

These two films approach similar topics through substantially different lenses. Each details a female protagonist on her own search to break dominant societal trends for the better. Thematically, the story of Mona Lisa Smile skews its focus more heavily toward feminism, while And the Spring Comes is most purely a story of individuality. However, there is substantial overlap between these films and their themes, and each can be used as a tool to learn about the culture of the place in which it was produced.

[2057230076]

Hello, Max. We, Xu Xinyue and Tang Zirui, have already read your cultural essay. Generally speaking, it’s obvious for us to see that you’ve already understood these two movies and the whole essay is great. But, from our perspective, we can’t clearly find out similarities and differences you mentioned in the first paragraph in the following analysis. It may be better if you can modify your structure. Also, combining your essay with concrete script can polish your essay and make it more wonderful.

[1034873732]

Hello, Max, we are Chinese students who interact with you across the ocean. Next we will cooperate and interact together to increase our understanding of each other's culture. We think you have a clear understanding of these two movies, and your analysis is very reasonable. Through reading your article, we find that your grasp of the subject is very good. However, we think that perhaps you can separate the third paragraph, that is to say, you can separate the comparison between And the Spring Comes and The Smile of Monalisa into the fourth paragraph, which can make your article more three-dimensional and distinct. Also, we think that you can compare the two films more and find out their commonalities to deepen your understanding. We hope you can adopt our opinions, thank you very much and wish you good luck.
Xie Ting, Xiao Junqi

[2057230076]

Hi Max, we’ve read your reply. Thank you for your appreciation and advice on how to strengthen our points and sublimate the last paragraph. We didn’t pay attention to our repeated reference and when we look back, we find that it seems wordy and boring. So we will try our best to solve this problem and make our essay better. Also, actually we don’t know how to really sublimate the theme. In our store of knowledge, sublimation is just like the summary of theme and is also filled with emotional expression. So we end the final paragraph roughly and hurriedly. Can you give us some suggestions on how to expand it well?
Hope hear from you soon
Xu Xinyue
Tang Zirui

[2057230076]

Hi Max, we forgot to ask for your email or wechat in order to have deeper communication because we don't have facebook. Our wechat: xxy2057230076 and email: 2057230076@qq.com.
Hope hear from you soon.
Xu Xinyue
Tang Zirui

[1034873732]

Hello, Max, we are very happy to receive your comments and suggestions. At the same time, we are also very honored to get your approval. Due to the word count requirement, I regret that I did not make a thorough and clear analysis in the film review so that I did not really express my theme clearly. According to your valuable suggestions, I will revise my article once again to strengthen the integrity of the article so as to show the feminism in "beginning of spring" more deeply and to make the two films' depiction of feminism clearer. Then, can you make some suggestions for revising the title of this article?
Thank you for reading and wish you all the best.
Xie Ting, Xiao Junqi

[mts5487]

Hello, Max, we are Chinese students who interact with you across the ocean. Next we will cooperate and interact together to increase our understanding of each other's culture. We think you have a clear understanding of these two movies, and your analysis is very reasonable. Through reading your article, we find that your grasp of the subject is very good. However, we think that perhaps you can separate the third paragraph, that is to say, you can separate the comparison between And the Spring Comes and The Smile of Monalisa into the fourth paragraph, which can make your article more three-dimensional and distinct. Also, we think that you can compare the two films more and find out their commonalities to deepen your understanding. We hope you can adopt our opinions, thank you very much and wish you good luck.
Xie Ting, Xiao Junqi

Hello again friends! It's a pleasure and an honor to communicate with you from across the world. Thank you so much for your feedback. Reading my essay again, I definitely agree that the third paragraph can be separated into two to better differentiate my responses to the two ideas. I think that's a really sharp idea and I'll definitely use it when I make my revisions. I also agree that there is certainly room to elaborate on my existing ideas. Your feedback is very helpful and I'll keep it in mind when revising!
Max Schultz

[mts5487]

Hello, Max. We, Xu Xinyue and Tang Zirui, have already read your cultural essay. Generally speaking, it’s obvious for us to see that you’ve already understood these two movies and the whole essay is great. But, from our perspective, we can’t clearly find out similarities and differences you mentioned in the first paragraph in the following analysis. It may be better if you can modify your structure. Also, combining your essay with concrete script can polish your essay and make it more wonderful.

Hello friends! Thank you for the kind words and for your feedback. I tried to explain those similarities and differences through my discussion of overall themes, but I can definitely see where I can clarify this by explaining even further. Reading my essay again, I agree that I could benefit from some more concrete examples to help strengthen my arguments. I'll be sure to keep that in mind while revising and will also consider improving my structure. Hope you have a great weekend!
Max Schultz

[mts5487]

Hi Max, we forgot to ask for your email or wechat in order to have deeper communication because we don't have facebook. Our wechat: xxy2057230076 and email: 2057230076@qq.com.
Hope hear from you soon.
Xu Xinyue
Tang Zirui

Sure, I don't have wechat but you can email me at mts5487@psu.edu. It's a pleasure to communicate!

[mts5487]

Hello, Max, we are very happy to receive your comments and suggestions. At the same time, we are also very honored to get your approval. Due to the word count requirement, I regret that I did not make a thorough and clear analysis in the film review so that I did not really express my theme clearly. According to your valuable suggestions, I will revise my article once again to strengthen the integrity of the article so as to show the feminism in "beginning of spring" more deeply and to make the two films' depiction of feminism clearer. Then, can you make some suggestions for revising the title of this article?
Thank you for reading and wish you all the best.
Xie Ting, Xiao Junqi

Hi again! Your essay was a pleasure to read and I really think it was great! These were just a few minor suggestions I had after a reading or two that I think could help strengthen your essay even further. Of course; I think it would be best to have the title relate directly to the subject matter of the essay, maybe something to the effect of "The Presentation of Feminism in Mona Lisa Smile and And the Spring Comes." That's a little long and there are definitely other ways to do it, but something like that may be best! I sometimes find it helpful to choose a title after you write the essay itself to ensure that it's a good match! Hope this helps and hope you have a great weekend.
Max Schultz