Mona Lisa Smile

                 Okay if you ever met me, the movie Mona Lisa Smile would probably not be the first movie you think to recommend to me, but that is exactly what my friend Kayla did. Let me give you a brief premise of the movie, a female art history professor in 1953 who looks to push social norms of women. Doesn't sound like a man's cup of tea, right? The weird thing is that this movie kept me captivated.

         I will admit I can sometimes be one of those people that play a game or text during movie. NEVER in a movie theatre, but slap me in the living room and there is too many distractions (good thing I am great at multi-tasking!). I never once got distracted watching this movie. I even started the movie at 1:00 am and got through an hour and a half of the movie before I passed out.  With this in mind, the movie is not an action thriller, but there is something else to captivate you.

       The opening scene of the movie begins with a voice over exclaiming “She came to Welesey to make a difference”. And then she teaches her first class all her students, whom are all women, describe all her pictures before she can ask a question. I loved this opening scene because you knew that this teacher was going to challenge the girls from then on and that is exactly what she does. She challenges to not only know the history but to have their own opinion of the art. This idea of  women having their own opinion in that time period clashed with what women were supposed to do; get married. You know that the art professor was successful when the student who showed her the most opposition, turns to her in the end.

          Okay so I am going to spoil two movies in one blog post, but when I was watching this movie I kept thinking about Dead Poet’s Society with Robin Williams (RIP). Essentially I think that this movie is the women version of that movie, and I mean that as a compliment not an insult. I think matches that classic movie very well! In the end of Dead Poet’s Society, his students stand on their desks exclaiming “O’ Captain, My Captain” as the teacher packs up his desk and leaves. In Mona Lisa Smile the art professor leaves at the end of the year and as she is being drove away she looks back. Looking back she sees all her students riding their bikes after her car waving. These ends are very similar but both also very heart-warming!! I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone that enjoyed  Dead Poet’s Society, although guys will have to keep in mind it is a chick flick.