Mona Lisa Smile: Years Later, Julia Roberts Is Just as Magnetic
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
A few years ago, a close friend of mine shared a really cool picture of a painting she’d done, except that she had only colored it. She said it was a ‘paint by numbers’ kit, and that she was inspired to buy it after watching the Julia Roberts movie ‘Mona Lisa Smile’. “I LOVE that movie,” she excitedly declared. So, I made a mental note to watch it some day.
(Diclaimer: This isn’t really a review, so spoilers ahead)
Directed by Mike Newell and written by Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, the 2003 movie is set in the 1950s and follows Julia Roberts as Katherine Ann Watson, a newly appointed art history professor at the prestigious Wellesley College for women. In her first class, she is flummoxed by her wealthy, snooty students, all of whom already know everything she plans to teach – they’ve read the entire course material before the semester even begins. So when Katherine goes a little off-syllabus in her second class, the girls are humbled, and soon the new professor becomes a favorite among many of them, encouraging them to challenge social norms and the traditional roles assigned to women. She ruffles a lot of pearls, and makes even the most ‘perfect’ students question what they really want from life.
Kirsten Dunst plays Betty Warren, the ‘problem’ student, a ‘Miss Know-It-All’ who runs a scathingly critical column, morally policing those on campus. So the progressive Katherine Ann Watson becomes her target, with the new professor’s proximity to Betty’s closest friend Joan (Julia Stiles) further irking her. When, despite being brilliant at academics, Betty marries mid-semester, she is furious to learn that Katherine has swayed Joan’s opinion on a crucial life decision. Maggie Gyllenhaal and Ginnifer Goodwin memorably portray two other students – Giselle Levy and Connie Baker, respectively – the former having an affair with a male professor, while the latter struggles with self-esteem issues and romance. But both women, like many of their classmates, share a deep admiration for the new art teacher.
One of the most compelling aspects of Mona Lisa Smile is how a progressive professor like Katherine can profoundly influence the young students around her. Julia Roberts is radiant as the charismatic academic, her million-dollar smile lighting up the screen. However, at times, Katherine’s character feels as though she’s been written by a man – which she was – but more so, she seems to be written like a man. It’s as if the writers pondered, “What if we made a 1950s film about a female teacher who behaves like a man?” My friend remarked, “That’s the whole point of the film, to showcase how people react differently when a woman does the same things a man would do.”
I understand her perspective, yet some of Katherine’s traits align with her feminine personality, while others don’t quite fit. For instance, she’s portrayed as deeply in love with a long-distance boyfriend. When he visits for Christmas, they spend time together, but despite her ‘progressive’ stance and the film’s portrayal of her as a ‘free, male-like character,’ she ends up chasing him away on Christmas night. This action seems inconsistent. Would a man, after months without intimacy, turn down such an opportunity? It feels unlikely. Not just that, she loses a pretty great guy for a total dick.
Except for these inconsistent personality traits, Katherine Ann Watson is a lovable onscreen character, a professor who truly sees and appreciates her students, encouraging them to do more with their lives than simply become ‘trophy wives’. A lot of the student dynamics sometimes felt exaggerated, but overall, they are quite entertaining, especially when combined with the picturesque settings, and pretty costumes from the era.
It ends with a heart-warming cinematic scene of Katherine’s graduating class bidding her a goodbye, the kinds one would would remember forever. “My teacher, Katherine Watson, lived by her own definition, and would not compromise that. Not even for Wellesley. I dedicate this, my last editorial, to an extraordinary woman who lived by example and compelled us all to see the world through new eyes.” – a student writes about her.
Two decades later, Katherine Watson still leaves a favorable impression on the viewer in ‘Mona Lisa Smile’. So if you haven’t seen it yet, give it a go.
Mona Lisa Smile is available on Netflix.
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