16 - Diverse Social and Physical Mobility in Mona Lisa Smile and The Spring Comes

[Wangshu H.]

Beijing and New York, Wellesley College and Central Conservatory of Music, when these two pairs of names are listed, we can easily find the corresponding resemblance between each of them. They signify several of the supreme ideal places to go in their countries, physically and socially, in Mona Lisa Smile and The Spring Comes. This essay is going to make comparisons of social and physical mobility between eastern and western society mirrored by the two movies.

To begin with, physical mobility, which is a cultural representation relatively easy to distinguish, diversified in the two movies. It was much higher in Mona Lisa Smile, viz., the USA in early 1950s, than in The Spring Comes, viz., China in early 1990s.

Katherine Watson, the main character of Mona Lisa Smile, came to Wellesley College, Massachusetts, from California out of her own will, instead of governmental job arrangement. One of the pieces of supporting evidence was that Betty Warren wrote that Miss Warren had chosen to come to Wellesley, which was to say, Miss Watson could decide herself where to work and make a living, and so could Amanda Armstrong. Professor Armstrong mentioned that she should have left after her companion passed away in May, suggesting that she also had the right to choose whether to stay or not (as long as she was not dismissed).

However, Wang Cailing, the temporary teacher of local music normal school, found it almost impossible to be recruited by Central Conservatory of Music without a registered permanent residence in Beijing, the capital city of China. She had no choice but fabricate a record illegally.
As an institutional reason lying behind the difference above, Chinese household registration system fixed every inhabitant onto a certain area, as well as the type of residence (agricultural or non-agricultural), regulating everyone by limiting his or her working and living place. Despite its advantage of administrating the vast population and levying taxation etc., household registration system restrained those who, like Wang Cailing, wanted to pursue their dream in another city. For them, this system served as an enclosure, forbidding the outsiders to enter the cosmopolitan city, Beijing. Although the institutional reason was not the mere cause leading to the low physical mobility, whereas others were not demonstrated obviously in the movies.

Apart from physical mobility, social mobility appeared as a more complicated illustration of the prospect of a society. Throughout the lives of Wellesley ladies, I suppose that the upper class of that society was relatively stable, rather than flexible, while, in The Spring Comes, in terms of the fluidity between different classes, we need to take more factors into consideration.

Wellesley College, referred to as “ivy with no men”, attracted the most outstanding female students all around the USA, including some of the daughters of professors, principals, and school governors. Their life path could almost be predicted: after graduation or even before that, they would get married with well-educated young men coming from prominent families, support their husbands’ career, give birth to babies, care for and educate them, still occupying the upper class. While it was much painstaking for average girls to elbow their way into Wellesley girls’ community. The first obstacle was the admission of Wellesley College, consisting of requirement of academic achievement and expensive school fees. Even if one was lucky enough to enter it, it was hard to say that her future mother-in-law would not care about her family. Thus, romantic love stories rarely happened in a society with strong sense of obsession of hierarchy.

In order to take a look at the social mobility in The Spring Comes, we are not supposed to ignore the background of China in early 1990s. It was over a decade after the Reform and Opening had been carried out, domestic economy being quite dynamic, a mass of opportunities being provided, the psychological field, yet, being barren as a result of a rupture of conventional culture on account of the transformation of the whole nation, ranging from the New Culture Movement (1915) to the Great Cultural Revolution (1966-1976).

Therefore, on a personal note, the social mobility then was both high and low. It was high because it was very likely to make great fortune overnight if you grasped the chance. In The Spring Comes, Huang Sibao was an example, who went to Shenzhen, the earliest special economic zone, took off in his career, though through an immoral way, nevertheless, he ran his own matrimonial agency, and rose to a higher social status. Gao Beibei was an opposite instance in the story. She could do nothing but cheat Wang Cailing that she had cancer, otherwise, she was unable to win fame in Beijing. Wealth, power and interpersonal relationship with those who were rich or in authority, could smooth the path leading to celebrity, where mere talent and diligence was far from enough. Under this condition, social mobility was at a low rate, for those with great popularity and reputation tended to have more wealth and higher social status, allowing them to get rid of life of poor quality and the underclass people, while millions of Gao Beibeis, born in remote towns, had less access to an opportunity to enter the upper class. This may originated from the almost blank mental world at that time, what we consider as elegant art today not being appreciated then. Early 1990s was a time when both physical and mental wealth were short of. Physical wealth could be earned soon, while mental wealth needed a long time to be acquired by the majority. That was why the business path leading to higher class was more unobstructed than the path of art.

To summarize, throughout the two movies, I have already seen the contrast between the two societies—society of the USA in early 1950s and society of China in early 1990s. In regard of physical mobility, it was much higher in US society than in Chinese society, whereas the social mobility of US society was relatively low. As for Chinese society, social mobility was, of course, higher than itself a decade ago, especially through business, but it remained rather low otherwise.

I am trying to cover both physical mobility and social mobility in this essay, for I suppose they are not two independent elements of a society, and are influencing each other. Low physical mobility could limit social mobility, which was reflected by Wang Cailing’s experience, and the latter, was also struggling to break the yoke of the former.

[Douglas L.]

Another student in our group wrote about what the movies say about success and how it is defined, settling on individual stability playing more of a role than economics. I think that topic and yours are two of the biggest takeaways about culture from these films. 1950s America definitely limited social mobility as you say, but another interesting lens worth considering in Mona Lisa Smile is gender. Constitutional mistreatment and societal expectations dampened the potential of these women in the ways that you mention, but a ton has changed since then, and another interesting comparison to consider would not only be 1950s America and 1990s China but those societies and present-day America and China.

[Spencer C.]

I think you have a fairly strong essay here. The introduction is clear and concise and there is evidence of a thesis statement. One thing I wish you did differently is explain what you mean by social and physical mobility. It would be helpful for the readers if you defined these two phrases before moving forward. For instance, what do you mean when you say "Therefore, on a personal note, the social mobility then was both high and low." I have a general idea of the message that you are trying to convey, but the sentence needs rewording. Other than that you provide a detailed summary of the movie and identify multiple examples that support your thesis.

[Wangshu H.]

Dear Douglas, thank you very much for your comments! I am a little confused about what you mean by "takeaway"? Are you saying that these two topics are not the biggest difference reflected by the two cultures? I did realize that gender is a topic worth commenting, but since my topic is mobility, I skipped it. Especially thank you for your suggestion on the consideration of present America and China, which propels me to reflect more on it.

[Jiaxin Y.]

I think your essay has good coherence and you’ve made a clear thesis statement. You have given a lot of examples with details, and it is easy for me to follow your ideas. From my point of view, the essay might be better if you make the descriptions more concise, and some character analysis may be more convincing if you apply some theories to your statement.

[Wangshu H.]

Hi, Jiaxin! Thank you very much for your encouragement and advice. I am not very clear about what you mean by "theories". Are you expecting some academic theories concerning with social or physical mobility?

[Jiaxin Y.]

Yes. I wonder if it is possible for you to introduce some terms to point out the main factors that help you define the level of social/personal ability. Your essay is really good. This is only my opinion

[Wangshu H.]

(REVISED)
Both Katherine Watson and Wang Cailing were moving, from one place to another. What they yearned to achieve was rather the ascent in social status. I suppose that these mobility is worth thinking about.
When we talk about physical mobility, we refer to it as the possibility of moving physically, from underdeveloped regions to metropolis, or from a chilly region to a warmer one pursuing a more comfortable life and so forth.
Katherine came to Wellesley College, Massachusetts, from California out of her own will, instead of governmental job arrangement. Betty Warren wrote that Miss Warren had chosen to come to Wellesley, which was to say, Miss Watson could decide herself where to work and make a living.
However, Wang Cailing, the temporary teacher of local music normal school, found it impossible to be recruited by Central Conservatory of Music without a registered permanent residence in Beijing, the capital city of China. She had no choice but fabricate a file illegally.
As an institutional reason lying behind the difference above, Chinese household registration system fixed every inhabitant onto a certain area, regulating everyone by limiting his or her working and living place. This served as an enclosure, forbidding most of the outsiders to enter cosmopolitan cities, like Beijing.
Whereas it was not physical mobility that migrants cared about ultimately, but social mobility was. This stands for the flow in social stratums. For instance, changing from a music teacher in rural area to a celebrity performing in Paris Opera House, or from a chorus dancer to a prisoner.
Wellesley College, referred to as “ivy with no men”, attracted the most outstanding female students throughout the US, including daughters of professors and school governors. Their life could be predicted: getting married with well-educated young men and being a virtuous wife and mother, but it was much painstaking for average girls to elbow their way into Wellesley girls’ community.
In early 1990s China, it was over a decade after the reform and opening, domestic economy being quite dynamic, a mass of opportunities being provided, the psychological field, yet, being barren as a result of a rupture of conventional culture on account of a series of transformation of the whole nation.
The social mobility then was quite difficult to evaluate. On the one hand, it was high because it was very likely to make great fortune overnight if you grasped the chance. In And the Spring Comes, Huang Sibao went to Shenzhen, the earliest special economic zone, and ran his own matrimonial agency, though through an immoral way. On the other hand, the social mobility was at a low rate. Millions of Gao Beibeis, born in remote towns, had less access to opportunities to enter the upper class. This may originated from the almost blank mental world at that time. What we consider as elegant art today might not be appreciated then. Early 1990s was a time when both physical and mental wealth were short of. Physical wealth could be earned soon, but mental wealth needed a long time to be acquired by the majority. That was why the business path leading to higher class was more unobstructed than the path of art.
In spite of these, a ton has changed since then both in the US and China. Present China has less constraint on its inhabitants’ choice of working and living place, though there are still potential limits, but gradual solidifying social classes seems to appear overt recently and becomes a controversial social issue.