"Mona Lisa Smile" with Julia Roberts (2003)
Grade: B
I felt "Mona Lisa Smile" was a contrived movie that nevertheless captures some of the feeling of an all-women's college in the '50s (according to my real-life sources who recall those college years).
The movie highlights an important historical change in society: the internal and external struggle women in the U.S. faced as they changed their views of themselves and their role in society and in relationships. The movie shows the growing pains as women in the '50s stepped toward greater independence and self-determination.
The movie revolves around the use of art analysis to challenge people's views of themselves and of social strata. I liked this since my favorite college professor was a studio arts teacher who challenged me to face my fears and think outside my preconceptions, and therefore reminded me of Julia Roberts' character in this movie...except he wasn't quite as pretty as she!
The movie also reminds me of a book from the '50s quoting women who describe how they tried to minimize their successes and appear less intelligent than their boyfriends so as not to damage their men's fragile egos and perhaps lose a chance at having a family. Very sad. The book is
Women in the Modern World: Their Education and Their Dilemmas (1953) by Mirra Komarovsky, published by Little, Brown and Company, Boston:
Amazon.com: Women in the Modern World: Their Education and Their Dilemmas (Classics in Gender Studies) (9780759107281): Mirra Komarovsky, Michael S. Kimmel: Books.