These are the movie analysis notes I made during the lectures and are key notes/ points. The movies in this analysis are: Mona Lisa Smile, Snowden, The Circle and Devil Wears Prada. I got a 9 for the final exam, partly using these notes.
- all girls school, 1st day traditions -ritual of the start
- care for symbolism
- takes place in church – religious
- VU diverse not one religion, separate education and religious
- VU opening academic year – tradition, done by rector
- Values: tradition, history, passing tradtion onwards and keeping it alive.
- Rules: how to behave – no boys. Very conservative
- Hiring practices: not preffered, freinds and alumni get hired. want to protect their
own culture and thus want to hire insiders.
- classroom: learning is studying exactly what is stated – not open-minded or have an
opinion.
- right way of doing something
- progressive – forward thinking
- firing somebody because they want to protect the school
- put a collage of things that inspire her and stuff she doesn’t like
- gives somebody a C because they put a direct quote because she wants to know her
opinion not of an expert.
- ‘she’s too smart for him’
- job of a girl is to take care of her husband – poem at the wedding
- one rebellious student girl – sleeps with teachers
- drunk Wellesley teacher that husband is not dead but says so to keep up
appearances.
- belief that men and women have different roles, three examples
o sole responsibility: taking care of husband and children
o grade that matters is the most is given by your husband
o end station is getting married – challenging the smart people asking them of
what they dream of such as going to law school
§ slips a Yale application to one of the girls that aspires to go to law
school but is expected to marry.
- teacher was fired because she handed out contraception to girls – not allowed
because if you are not married you do not have sex
- Katherine Watson right across from the Wellesley girls
- what was happening – in the world war, men were going off, and now women had to
take over men jobs. Women started to enter the workforce.
- less than 20% of professors are female
- student that just got married missed many classes – state that teachers look the
other way if married students miss classes
o student says there will be consequences if the teacher fails her
- secret society – take an oath.
o truth that came up: was engaged but didn’t marry
o pictures: women cooks, men eat. women clean, men read the paper
o Joan got into Yale however, she doesn’t know how to tell boyfriend.
- In the paper article about Katherine Watson – she rejects marriage and rejects the
roles women were born to fill. Stepping away from tradition and rejecting it.
, - President says “look how far we have come” – girls get to go to college.
- Katherine thought she would teach future leaders, but she is teaching future leader
wives.
- student sub-culture – students can be a different self, let loose, and do things they
are not supposed to do.
o ritual about taking the oath.
o subconsciously making their own culture by setting their own time, drinks,
have their own rules, and different from their normal live.
o the dynamics are different between students and teachers with students.
Now students ask the questions to the teacher.
- Relationship changes in some ways but in others stay the same by having rituals and
traditions. and in the society the truth comes up such as not talking about divorce
which is not talked about at the university and is in the society.
- feeling Joan that she has to pick between having a family and a career.
- Teacher taught them they can do and be anyone they want – but Joan and the girls
want to have a family and get married.
- Boys also have traditions – no girls.
- One of the students sees the husband of one of the girls cheating (betty).
o betty goes off at the because she sleeps with everyone but is just expressing
her emotion.
o betty is not allowed to have a divorce – mothers have had a conversation that
divorce is not a discussion.
o at the end betty asks for a divorce against her mother wishes. And she now
dreams of college etc.
- They wanted to fire Katherine but
o numbers don’t lie – Katherine calls has the highest number of enrolments.
o solution: she is allowed to stay, but there are many rules she has to follow to
be allowed to stay.
- Katherine in the end left to sail to Europe. She stands for hope and change and by
leaving might fail in doing this in some opinions.
Culture is not simple; it is not a black and white. Katherine challenges the culture for
Wellesley girls but carriers’ judgment towards them. Who are we to judge what is good or
bad? what is the right thing to do? do people have to change even though they do not want
to.
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