17 - Understanding and Achieving Success: A Comparative Review of Mona Lisa Smile and And the Spring Comes

[Jiaxin Y.]

Almost everyone craves for success. Interpretation of success is often closely related with money, power, and pursuit of happiness. Some exact circumstances that are considered successful can vary greatly from culture to culture, from individual to individual. In this essay I shall endeavor to make a comparative study of two female characters, Wang Tsai-ling and Betty Warren, in movies Mona Lisa Smile and And the Spring Comes. Their personal growth reflects some similarities and differences between Chinese and American culture.

A common traditional Chinese understanding of success often consists of climbing the economic ladder and having a “properly matched marriage” at a “proper” age. Since Wang Tsai-ling lives in a collectivist society, she can hardly avoid such influence. What can be called a “success” for a Chinese woman living in an underdeveloped area at that time? There are mainly two choices: marrying up, or becoming a recognized professional. Wang is poor, plain-looking and no longer young. It is nearly impossible for her to marry up in that conservative, small town (moreover, she despises the locals, saying “I do not want to fall in love in this city”). Therefore, she has no choice but to prove her talent— all she pursues is an official recognition of her voice.

There is a shared tacit agreement in China — the first step towards success is to escape from the poor place where you were born. The bigger the city is, the more you are likely to achieve success. This doubtful truth triggers millions of Chinese people to flood into metropolises like Beijing and Shanghai, leading to a worship for a residence permit in a large city. Wang Tsai-ling, Huang Sibao, and numerous students who spend years waiting for an offer which will probably never come, are heartbreaking examples of the “Chinese Dream”. They are indulged in self-given conceit. They are trapped in the illusion that they are genius. They disdain rural life and yearn for fame, but are not talented enough to fulfil their ambitions.
Big cities do provide more chances, but only for those who are well prepared. Wang Tsai-ling, after all these frustrations and disappointments, re-ponders on her abilities. She is too far-fetched to be called an artist, and she can never achieve worldly success. By isolating herself from other people, she fails to sense the beauty of every day life. She experiences epiphany when she sees her mother setting off firecrackers. By then she starts to appreciate those simple pleasures, and be honest. It is a success for her to get rid of those fantasies, and live happily regardless of rumors. The most effective means for her to achieve that is to embrace her every day life, with strength and gratitude.

Success, in the American context, shares some similarities. For instance, understanding of personal achievement is greatly influenced by, even restricted to social expectations. Some people almost lose themselves in satisfying others’ imagination, just like Betty Warren at the beginning of her marriage. She carefully pretends to be an ideal wife with an enviable family. At this time, she seems to be just the opposite of Wang Tsai-ling— beautiful, knowledgeable, and wealthy. She appears to be a perfect, successful woman. But is a smiling girl indeed happy? Is she really successful?
If the Chinese story warns you not to be egoistic, the American story of a woman highlights the value of self-respect. Success is, after all, a personal business. You are still pitiful if you own everything but look down on yourself. Fortunately, Betty Warren regains her self identity with help from her friends and Katherine. Betty has to start from scratch, but no one will regard it as a failure. Finally, she praises those who “seek truth beyond tradition, beyond definition, beyond the image”. This is, as far as I am concerned, the best interpretation of a successful individual in American culture— one who constantly challenges the routines is successful. This inspiring sentence serves as a highlight of individualism.

Sometimes success defies definition, but we know it when we see it. True success is not a garish show of wealth and fortune, but a down-to-earth life that is independent and respectable. Wang Tsai-ling and Betty Warren, the flawed but charming characters in the two movies, finally become “truly successful”.

[Douglas L.]

Comparing what the movies say about success and culture is a great topic for this essay, and you communicated your intention to write about that well. Your first point in your third paragraph -- that success is correlated with metropolitan life -- is an idea that is not unique to China, I believe. Education also plays a role in a typical depiction of success, and how that is depicted in these movies also further complicates their messages. Mona Lisa Smile's main setting is a university and because Katherine Watson is a professor, she is clearly well-educated with a very good career -- nearly the opposite of Wang Tsai-ling's story. The characters have two very different starting points but end up the same way, which you wrote about nicely.

[Wangshu H.]

Your analysis of And the Spring Comes is comprehensive and convincing, yet it seems that you put less emphasis on Mona Lisa Smile. I suppose it would be better if these two parts are balanced. Besides, It seems that you consider that Tsai-ling ended up accepting the ordinary life and learning to appreciating simple daily pleasure. Could it be a result of her helpless compromise rather than her sincere love of life? You also mentioned Chinese collectivist society, but I wonder what is the relationship between this perception and the definition of success? Could you explain it more? What impressed me most was your focus on the psychological condition of the dream pursuers, both in the two movies and in realistic China. Indeed, it is the disequilibrium of their self-positioning and the cruel actuality that propels them to go after their dreams and compensate for this imbalance.

[Jiaxin Y.]

Dear Wangshu, thank you for your suggestions. I would try to further elaborate on Mona Lisa Smile and point out the differences in a clearer way. Perhaps it is not appropriate to briefly write a "collectivist society" here. What I mean is that although Tsai-ling seems to be a maverick in that small town, she is actually not that different from others— as she wants fame rather than real art. If the environment is highly individualistic, she may be free from the gossips and find out her true self in a shorter time.

[Spencer C.]

First, I'd like to point out that your paper is very organized. You establish this from the first paragraph, providing a clear introduction and thesis. I especially like how you define the success in the "American context" towards the end of the essay. Well done relating this back to Betty's marriage. Additionally, you do a good job pointing out the similarities and differences between the main female characters in each film. When you revise pay close attention to syntax -- some sentences need brief revision.