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Katherine
tries to teach the girls that they can be more than what society expected
them to be, which in that day was to simply become a housewife, cook ,
clean, bear children, and put on a happy face even if their husband was
cheating on them. The stuck-up and prissy Betty, whose strict mother
despised Katherine’s liberal teaching methods, was one such girl.
The
character of Joan Brandwyn (Stiles) is one of Katherine’s students who shows
an interest in going to law school after graduating from Wellesley.
Katherine eagerly helps Joan in applying to Yale Law School, and Joan gets
accepted. However, Katherine is greatly disappointed when Joan declines the
offer and instead chooses to marry her boyfriend.
By the end
of the movie many of the characters had changed. Betty finally stands up to
her mother and applies for a divorce from her cheating husband. Giselle
Levy (Gyllenhaal) stops fooling around and becomes a supportive friend to
those close to her. And Katherine learns from Joan that being “only” a
housewife and mother is still an acceptable choice for some.
Mona Lisa Smile
is about choice and influence. Who influences your life and decisions about
your future? These girls were influenced by their mothers and society
at-large to be housewives and nothing else. They were seemingly unaware of
the choices they really had until Katherine made it evident to them, and
even she had to have her eyes opened to the possibility of another choice,
through the character of Joan. The question the movie raises is: Are you
going to be something that someone else wants you to be, because of peer or
family pressure, or are you going to choose for yourself who you want to
be? And in the case of a Christian, are you going to be all that God is
calling you to be?
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