Mona Lisa Smile
Plot summary
Mona Lisa Smile tells the story of Katherine Ann Watson (played by Julia Roberts), a
feminist teacher who studied at UCLA graduate school and left as a first-year teacher
from "Oakland State" University (thought to be a fictionalized University of California,
Berkeley), leaves her boyfriend behind in Los Angeles, California in 1953, to teach at
Wellesley College, a conservative women's private liberal arts college in
Massachusetts, United States.
Watson tries to open her students' minds to their freedom to do whatever they want
with their lives. She encourages her students to believe in themselves, to study to
become career professionals, and to improve their economic futures. She uses her
modern art teachings as a vehicle to put across her opinion to the young women that
her students need not conform to stereotypes of women made by society. She felt
that Modern art was a questioning of the status quo and could be used as an
eye-opener for her students that were confused about their role in 1950's society,
even introducing the students to the work of Jackson Pollock a member of the art
avant garde at the time. She feels that women could do more things in life than solely
adopt the roles of wives and mothers. In one scene of the movie, she shows her
students four newspaper ads, and asks them to question what the future will think of
the idea that women are born into the roles of wives and mothers.
Watson's ideas and ways of teaching are contrary to methods deemed acceptable by
the school's directors, conservative women who believe firmly that Watson should
not use her class to express her points of views or befriend students, and should stick
only to teaching art. Watson is warned that she could lose her job if she continues to
interact with students as she has been doing.
Undaunted, Watson becomes stronger in her speeches about feminism and the
future of women. She is a firm believer that the outlook of women in society needed
to be changed if women were to achieve better futures, and that she needs to instill
a spirit of change among her students.
Watson eventually breaks things off with her boyfriend, Paul Moore (John Slattery),
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after a disastrous wedding proposal during a visit of his from California. She
eventually starts a relationship with Italian teacher Bill Dunbar (Dominic West).
Although the relationship is frowned upon by the faculty at Wellesley College, due to
inter-office romances being discouraged, the two continue seeing each other.
However, Watson ends the relationship after finding out that West lied about his
military service as he did not serve in Europe during World War II, but was rather
stationed in America.
The film also focuses on the lives of various students of Watson's, chief among them:
Elizabeth "Betty" Warren (Jones) (Kirsten Dunst), a rich girl with a conservative,
domineering mother (who, as head of the Alumni Association, exerts significant
power and influence at Wellesley) who marries a man who is unfaithful to her, and
also clashes constantly with Watson's teaching style; Constance "Connie" Baker
(Ginnifer Goodwin), who has insecurities about her body while searching for a
boyfriend; Giselle Levy (Maggie Gyllenhaal), one of the few Jewish students at
Wellesley at the time, who has affairs with teachers - including, at one point, with Bill
Dunbar - and older married men, but who is also one of the first student to admire
Watson; and Joan Brandwyn (Donegal) (Julia Stiles), who is initially conflicted about
whether to pursue law school after graduation or become a housewife to eventual
husband Tommy Donegal (Topher Grace).
Although many of the students are initially put off by Watson's style, as the film
progresses, more and more begin to come around and in many cases admire her.
Even Betty comes around at the end of movie, despite being her most vocal and
vehement critic.
Watson chooses to leave after the one year, but, as she is leaving the campus for the
last time, her students run after her car, to show their affection and to thank her for
her lessons. The entire departure scene is narrated by Betty who dedicates her last
editorial to Watson, explicitly stating that Watson is "an extraordinary woman" and
an individual who "seeks truth beyond tradition, beyond definition, beyond the
image." The film ends as Betty desperately struggles to keep up with Watson's taxi as
it speeds up, thereby portraying her admiration and respect for Watson.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa_Smile#Plot taken on Aug. 07 2009
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Movie Review
This 'Mona Lisa' needs a bigger grin and lots more warmth from an overly
conscientious Julia Roberts
Mick LaSalle, Chronicle Movie Critic
December 19, 2003
Fifty years ago, the aspirations of young men were more or less the same as they are
today, but women were different. What women expected, how they saw their lives,
their function, their importance, their potential and their future now seem alien to
us.
Those differences are fascinating -- and as a consequence, "Mona Lisa Smile,'' which
is set in 1953 and dramatizes those differences, is interesting as sociology. In the
coming weeks, women in their early 70s may find themselves being asked more than
once if the world of 50 years ago was really like that. The ladies I asked all said yes.
Yet the movie comes with a nagging dissatisfaction. Here's a film by Mike Newell
("Donnie Brasco,'' "Four Weddings and a Funeral''), starring Julia Roberts, and the
best that could be said for it is that the subject holds interest. "Mona Lisa Smile''
should be moving, but it isn't. We should feel swept up by it, but we don't. There's a
spark missing, and where it's missing is in Roberts' conscientious but all too reserved
performance.
She plays Katherine, a California bohemian who gets a one-year appointment to
teach art history at Wellesley, the great Massachusetts women's college. On the first
day of class, Katherine is disconcerted to find out that her students have all read and
apparently memorized the textbook. And they're snooty about it, besides. So
Katherine has to redo her syllabus just to be able to teach them something they don't
already know.
Like Gabe Kaplan on "Welcome Back Kotter,'' Katherine seems to teach only one class
and have only four or five students, despite the extras filling out the seats in the
lecture hall. Her most formidable challenge is Betty, a ferocious Kirsten Dunst, who
has her entire life planned. She's going to marry her boyfriend, then graduate, then
have babies and be enormously, ecstatically happy forever. Betty sizes up Katherine,
who is unmarried, as a "subversive,'' which was the third-worst thing anyone could
be called in the early '50s (after "Communist'' and "fellow traveler'').
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The notion of putting a free-spirited Californian into a conservative bastion has
potential, but Newell and Roberts don't make nearly enough of the clash. Maybe, if
you stared at Katherine for five minutes, you might figure out that she voted for
Stevenson and not Eisenhower, but otherwise she looks and acts the same as anyone
else on campus. In her essence, she doesn't suggest sexual freedom or ambition or
iconoclasm or even -- and this one's a problem -- happiness. She seems dour and not
someone the girls would want to emulate.
Katherine wants to teach her students about art and also about life, and although the
screenplay (by Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal) doesn't make enough of a
connection between the two -- how the freedom of one can inspire freedom in the
other -- Roberts effectively gets across Katherine's dismay at her girls' narrow life
plans. These are some of the smartest young women in the country, but their entire
focus is on marriage. Determined to save at least one, she tries to steer a brilliant
student named Joan (Julia Stiles) into going to law school.
Stiles, radiant with intelligence, and Dunst, radioactive with bile, are excellent, and so
is Maggie Gyllenhaal as Giselle, whose relaxed personality and relaxed morals make
her unique in this valley of the high-strung virgins. So long as the movie concentrates
on the rituals and mores of 1950s courtship, on period details like skirts and
percolators, and on the young women themselves, it's on safe ground.
But Roberts is the star, and her performance, though faultless on its own terms,
becomes problematic. Playing a generous, giving teacher, she chooses to act cold.
Playing a warm, open personality, she chooses to act covered. The movie does make
mention of a judgmental streak in Katherine's character, and any actress would have
had to integrate that element, but Roberts plays only that. This makes Katherine not
dislikable or wicked, but drab.
The result is that it's hard to believe Katherine could become a beloved teacher or
inspire her students, and in the case of "Mona Lisa Smile'' that's the same as saying
it's hard to believe the movie. Newell should have seen this coming. The script has
scenes of the girls gushing and weeping with thanks at how wonderful Katherine is.
Newell should have made sure Roberts seemed just a tiny bit wonderful.
Source:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/12/19/DDGV43PDTA1.DTL&typ
e=printable taken on Aug. 08 2009
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Memorable quotes for Mona Lisa Smile
Katherine Watson: Since your wedding, you've missed six classes, a paper and your
midterm.
Betty Warren: I was on my honeymoon and then I had to set up house. What does
she expect?
Katherine Watson: Attendance.
Connie Baker: [timidly] Most of the faculty turn their heads when the married
students miss a class or two.
Katherine Watson: Well then why not get married as freshman? That way you could
graduate without actually ever stepping foot on campus.
Betty Warren: Don't disregard out traditions just because you're subversive.
Katherine Watson: Don't disrespect this class just because you're married.
Betty Warren: Don't disrespect me just because you're not.
Katherine Watson: Come to class, do the work, or I'll fail you.
Betty Warren: If you fail me, there will be consequences.
Katherine Watson: Are you threatening me?
Betty Warren: I'm educating you.
Katherine Watson: That's *my* job.
________________________________________
Katherine Watson: It's brilliant, really. A perfect ruse. A finishing school disguised as a
college. Well, they got me.
Bill Dunbar: What do you expect?
Katherine Watson: More! I thought I was headed to a place that would turn out
tomorrow's leaders, not their wives!
________________________________________
Katherine Watson: Look beyond the paint. Let us try to open our minds to a new
idea.
________________________________________
Katherine Watson: I don't think I can go a year without a hot plate.
________________________________________
[about the Mona Lisa]
Betty Warren: [ironically] Look at this, mother. She's smiling. Is she happy?
Mrs. Warren: The important thing is not to tell anyone.
Betty Warren: She looks happy, so what does it matter?
________________________________________
[last lines]
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Betty Warren: [in Betty's last editorial] Not all who wander are aimless. Especially not
those who seek truth beyond tradition, beyond definition, beyond the image.
Taxi Driver: Get the hell out of the way.
Betty Warren: I'll never forget you.
________________________________________
Betty Warren: Dear Betty, I came to Wellesley because I wanted to make a difference.
But to change for others is to lie to yourself. 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. By the time you read this,
she'll be sailing to Europe, where I know she'll find new walls to break down, and
new ideas to replace them with.
[snapshot]
Betty Warren: I've heard her called a quitter for leaving and aimless wanderer. But
not all who wander are aimless, especially those who seek truth beyond tradition,
beyond definition, beyond the image. I'll never forget you.
________________________________________
Betty Warren: [in Betty's second editorial] Wellesley girls who are married have
become quite adept at balancing their obligations. One hears such comments, as I'm able to baste the chicken with one hand and outline the paper with the other.
While our mothers were called to workforce for Lady Liberty. It is our duty- nay,
obligation to reclaim our place in the home, bearing the children that will carry our
traditions into the future. One must pause to consider why Miss Katherine Watson,
instructor in the art history department has decided to declare war on the holy
sacrament of marriage. Her subversive and political teachings encourage our
Wellesley girls to reject the roles they were born to fill.
________________________________________
Betty Warren: [Betty's Third Editorial Voice Over] Wellesley girls who are married
have become quite adept at balancing their obligations. One hears such comments as,
"I'm able to baste the chicken with one hand and outline the paper with the other."
While our mothers were called to the workforce for lady liberty it is our duty, nay,
obligation to reclaim our place in the home bearing the children that will carry our
traditions into the future. One must pause to consider why; Ms. Katherine Watson,
instructor in the art history department, has decided to declare war on the holy
sacrament of marriage. Her subversive and political teachings encourage our
Wellesley girls to reject the roles they were born to fill.
Katherine Watson: Slide - Contemporary art...
Connie Baker: No, that's just an advertisement...
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Katherine Watson: Quiet. Today you just listen. What will future scholars see when
they study us, a portrait of women today? There you are ladies: the perfect likeness
of a Wellesley graduate, Magna Cum Laude, doing exactly what she was trained to do.
Slide - a Rhodes Scholar, I wonder if she recites Chaucer while she presses her
husband's shirts. Slide - hehe, now you physics majors can calculate the mass and
volume of every meatloaf you make. Slide - A girdle to set you free. What does that
mean? What does that mean? What does it mean? I give up, you win. The smartest
women in the country, I didn't realize that by demanding excellence I would be
challenging... what did it say?
[Walks over to a student and picks up her copy of the editorial]
Katherine Watson: What did it say? Um... the roles you were born to fill. Is that right?
[Looks up at Betty]
Katherine Watson: The roles you were born to fill? It's, uh, it's my mistake.
[Katerine drops the student's paper back onto her desk]
Katherine Watson: Class dismissed.
[Katherine walks out of the classroom]
________________________________________
Charlie Stewart: My parents say my future is right on the horizon.
Connie Baker: Tell them the horizon is an imaginary line that recedes as you approach
it.
________________________________________
[first lines]
Betty Warren: [voiceover] All her life, she had wanted to teach at Wellesley College.
So, when a position opened in the Art History department, she pursued it
single-mindedly until she was hired. It was whispered that Katherine Watson, a
first-year teacher from Oakland State, made up in brains what she lacked in pedigree.
Which was why this bohemian from California was on her way to the most
conservative college in the nation.
________________________________________
Staunton's Secretary: I was in California once. How do you get any work done with all
that sunshine?
Katherine Watson: We tan in class.
________________________________________
Giselle Levy: [in reference to the husband in etiquette class] Whatever you do, don't
put the boss's wife next to your husband.
Betty Warren: Why not?
Giselle Levy: She's screwing him.
________________________________________
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Connie Baker: And, it was perfect, romantic, we stayed up all night, talking.
Joan Brandwyn: [to Giselle] You're late, what happened to Sunday brunch?
Giselle Levy: We stayed up all night, too. Not talking.
Connie Baker: The psychoanalyst again.
Giselle Levy: Divine exhaustion.
________________________________________
Katherine Watson: [about Betty's Wedding] This is quite the event. I'm surprised I
was invited.
Bill Dunbar: Well, look around you.
[beat]
Bill Dunbar: Who wasn't?
________________________________________
[Giselle has been secretly seeing a married psychologist]
Betty Warren: Does he pay you for sex? I mean, at the rate you're going, you could
make a fortune.
Joan Brandwyn: Betty!
Betty Warren: Everyone thinks so. Do you know what they say? They say you're a
whore. And pretty soon, once they've all sampled you, they'll toss you aside like a
used rag.
Joan Brandwyn: Betty, stop! Now!
Betty Warren: The men you love don't even want you! Your father doesn't want you!
Giselle Levy: [to Connie] I'm gonna meet you downstairs.
Betty Warren: Professor Dunbar?
Connie Baker: Betty, that's enough!
Betty Warren: Everyone knows that you hide outside his house! It must be torturous
running after a man who doesn't even care about you. Who's in love with someone
else. Who hates you!
Giselle Levy: Betty...
Betty Warren: He *hates* you!
[Giselle pulls Betty into a hug]
Betty Warren: Get off of me!
[Betty struggles, but gives in a sobs on Giselle's shoulder]
Betty Warren: [about her husband] He doesn't want me!
Giselle Levy: [sympathetically] I know...
________________________________________
Bill Dunbar: [In reference to Betty's future in laws] Did you ever hear the phrase
"Keeping up with the Jones'"
[points to the Jones]
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Bill Dunbar: Mr and Mrs Jones the actual historic family they named the phrase after.
________________________________________
Katherine Watson: Slide. Contemporary art.
Connie Baker: Now that's just an advertisement.
Katherine Watson: Quiet! Today you just listen. What will the future scholars see
when they study us? A portrait of woman today? There you are ladies. The perfect
likeness of a Welesley graduate, Magna Cum Laude doing exactly what she was
trained to do. Slide. A Rhodes scholar. I wonder is she recited Chaucer while she
presses her husband's shirts. Slide. Heh, now you physics major's can calculate the
mass and volume of every meat loaf you ever make. Slide. A girdle to set you free!
What does that mean?... What does that mean?... What does it mean? I give up. You
win. The smartest women in the country... I didn't realize that by demanding
excellence I would be challenging... what did it say?
[walks over to student's desk and picks up newspaper]
Katherine Watson: what did it say? um... the roles you were born to fill
[looks up at Betty]
Katherine Watson: is that right? the roles you were born to fill?... It's uh it's my
mistake.
[drops paper and walks out of classroom]
Katherine Watson: Class dismissed.
________________________________________
Katherine Watson: It says here that you're pre-law. What law school are you going to
go to?
Joan Brandwyn: I hadn't really thought about that. After I graduate, I plan on getting
married.
Katherine Watson: And then?
Joan Brandwyn: [confused] And then... I'll be married.
________________________________________
Katherine Watson: These girls! Are you proud, President Carr?
President Jocelyn Carr: Yes, actually, I am.
Katherine Watson: Well, you should be, I guess. Half of them are already married,
and the other half, oh just give it a month or so! I mean, it's really only a matter of
time! That's what they're doing here, right, they're just biding their time until
somebody proposes!
President Jocelyn Carr: A hundred years ago, it was inconceivable for a woman to
*be* a college graduate! I think, perhaps, you should look back to see how far we've
come!
Katherine Watson: Well, I'm sorry, from where I sit it's just a different kind of corset.
9
President Jocelyn Carr: Well, we can all use a little support.
Katherine Watson: Oh, like the kind you gave Amanda Armstrong?
President Jocelyn Carr: She broke the law!
Katherine Watson: According to Betty Warren!
________________________________________
Betty Warren: Katherine Watson didn't come to Wellesley to fit in. She came because
she wanted to make a difference.
________________________________________
Katherine Watson: Katherine Watson, nice to meet you.
Giselle Levy: Dr. Watson, I presume?
[the class laughs]
Katherine Watson: Not yet.
________________________________________
Katherine Watson: From the beginning, man has always had the impulse to create art.
Can anyone tell me what this?
Joan Brandwyn: "Wounded Bison", Altameera, Spain, about 1500 BC.
Katherine Watson: Very good, Joan. Despite the age of these paintings, they are
technically very sophisticated...
Joan Brandwyn: Because of the shading, and the thickness of the lines as it moves
over the hump of the bison. Is that right?
Katherine Watson: Yes, that's exactly right. Next slide. This one, you are probably less
familiar with. It was discovered by archaeologists in...
Betty Warren: [dryly] 1879, Lesco, France, dates back to 10 000 BC, singled out
because of the flowing lines depicting the movement of the animal.
[the class laughs]
Katherine Watson: Impressive. Name?
Betty Warren: "Herd of Horses."
Katherine Watson: I meant yours.
Giselle Levy: We call her Flicka.
________________________________________
Dr. Edward Staunton: I'm curious about the subject of your dissertation. You suggest
'Picasso will do for the twentieth century what Michael Angelo did for the
renaissance"?
Katherine Watson: In terms of influencing movements.
Dr. Edward Staunton: So, these canvases they're turning out these days with paint
dripped and splotched on them, they're as worthy of our attention as Michael
Angelo's Sistine Chapel?
Katherine Watson: I'm not comparing them.
10
________________________________________
[Katherine shows the class a painting of a rotting animal]
Katherine Watson: "Carcass", by Soutine, 1925. Is it any good? C'mon, ladies, there's
no wrong answer. There's also no textbook telling you what to think. It's not that easy,
is it?
Betty Warren: Alright, no. It's not good. In fact, I wouldn't even call it art. It's
grotesque.
Connie Baker: Is there a rule against art being grotesque?
Giselle Levy: I think there's something aggressive about it. And erotic.
Betty Warren: To you, everything is erotic.
Giselle Levy: Everything *is* erotic.
Susan Delacorte: Aren't there standards?
Betty Warren: Of course there are! Otherwise, a tacky velvet painting could be
equated to a Rembrandt!
Connie Baker: Hey, my Uncle Ferdie has two tacky velvet paintings. He loves those
clowns.
Betty Warren: There *are* standards! Technique, composition, color, even subject.
So, if you're suggesting that rotted side of meat is art, much less *good* art, then
what are we going to learn?
Katherine Watson: Just that. You have outlined our new syllabus, Betty, thank you.
What is art? What makes it good or bad, and who decides?
________________________________________
[referring to a childlike drawing of a cow]
Katherine Watson: 25 years ago, someone thought this was brilliant.
Betty Warren: Who?
Katherine Watson: My mother. I painted it for her birthday. Next slide. This is my
mom. Is it art?
Susan Delacorte: It's a snapshot.
Katherine Watson: If I told you Ansel Adams had taken it, would that make a
difference?
Betty Warren: Art isn't art until someone says it is.
Katherine Watson: It's art!
Betty Warren: The right people.
Betty Warren: And who are they?
Giselle Levy: Betty Warren! We're so lucky we have one of them right here.
________________________________________
Connie Baker: [reading from an advertisement] "When your courses are set and a
dreamboat you've met, have a real cigarette! Have a Camel!" I've got my courses, I've
11
got my Camel cigarette. Where the hell is my dreamboat?
________________________________________
Connie Baker: [holding up a diaphragm] This isn't what I think it is, is it?
Joan Brandwyn: Where'd you get it?
Giselle Levy: From the school nurse.
Betty Warren: It's against the law!
Giselle Levy: No, honey, it's a girl's best friend.
Betty Warren: A certain kind of girl.
Giselle Levy: Meet the last virgin bride.
Betty Warren: Spencer is a gentleman.
Giselle Levy: And even gentlemen have dicks.
Connie Baker: Maybe I'll get one!
Giselle Levy: What, a dick?
Betty Warren: Don't be stupid, Connie!
Connie Baker: [hurt] Someone, somewhere, someday might be interested. Just in
case, I'll be prepared.
[Connie leaves, fighting back tears]
Joan Brandwyn: Was that necessary?
Betty Warren: I was taught it's best to speak honestly.
Giselle Levy: You're a bitch.
________________________________________
Joan Brandwyn: You gave me a C.
Katherine Watson: I'm kind.
Joan Brandwyn: The assignment was to write about Bruegel. That's what I did.
Katherine Watson: No, what you did was copy Strauss.
Joan Brandwyn: I was referencing an expert.
Katherine Watson: If I wanted to know what he thought, I'd buy his book.
________________________________________
[about a contemporary abstract painting]
Giselle Levy: That's Jackson Pollock.
Susan Delacorte: In a word.
Connie Baker: I was just getting used to the idea of dead, maggoty meat being art.
Now this?
Susan Delacorte: Please don't tell me we have to write a paper about it.
Katherine Watson: Do me a favor. Do yourselves a favor. Stop talking, and look. You're
not required to write a paper. You're not even required to like it. You *are* required
to consider it.
________________________________________
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Joan Brandwyn: I've got a secret to tell you. I got accepted early to Yale Law School.
Betty Warren: To *what*? Why? You don't want to be a lawyer!
Joan Brandwyn: Maybe I do.
Betty Warren: You won't switch brands of cold cream without asking me, but you
applied to law school?
Joan Brandwyn: On a lark. We never thought I'd get in.
Betty Warren: Who's 'we'?
Joan Brandwyn: Miss Watson. She practically filled out my application for me.
Betty Warren: You've got to be kidding me. What right does she have? You're getting
married!
Joan Brandwyn: First of all, there's no ring on this finger. Second, I can do both. I can!
Betty Warren: You are this close to getting you ever wanted. And this close to losing
it.
________________________________________
[about Vincent van Gogh]
Katherine Watson: He painted what he felt, not what he saw. People didn't
understand, to them it seemed childlike and crude. It took years for them to
recognize his actual technique. To see the way his brush strokes seemed to make the
night sky move. Yet, he never sold a painting in his lifetime. This is his self-portrait.
There's no camouflage, no romance. Honesty. Now, sixty years later, where is he?
Giselle Levy: Famous.
Katherine Watson: So famous, in fact, that everybody has a reproduction. There are
post cards...
Connie Baker: We have the calendar.
Katherine Watson: you go. With the ability to reproduce art, it is available to the
masses. No one needs to own a van Gogh original, they can paint their own. Van
Gogh in a box, ladies! The newest form of mass-distributed art; paint by numbers.
Connie Baker: [reading from the box] "Now everyone can be van Gogh. It's so easy.
Just follow the simple instructions and in minutes, you're on your way to being an
artist."
Giselle Levy: Van Gogh by numbers?
Katherine Watson: Ironic, isn't it? Look at what we have done to the man who
refused to conform his ideals to popular taste. Who refused to compromise his
integrity. We have put him in a tiny box and asked you to copy him.
________________________________________
Betty Warren: You don't believe in withholding, do you?
Katherine Watson: No. I do, however, believe in good manners. But for you, I'll make
an exception.
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________________________________________
[about Charlie Stewart]
Connie Baker: We spent last weekend at the Cape! A little hideaway he knew about.
Betty Warren: Operative word, 'hide'. Men take women to the Cape in the winter
when they're embarrassed to be seen with them. He's using you.
Giselle Levy: He's not using you if you want to go. Come here, don't listen to her.
Betty Warren: I love you, and I swear I'm not saying this to hurt you. Charlie's
promised to Deb McIntyre. She wears his pin. Giselle, you know it's true.
Giselle Levy: I don't know anything about a pin.
Connie Baker: Are her parents named Phillip and Vanessa?
Betty Warren: You know them?
Connie Baker: Only from a distance.
________________________________________
Betty Warren: Have you seen Spencer?
Connie Baker: [in tears] No. But I did see Charlie Stewart. And he told me that he and
Deb broke up last summer. And you told me that they were together when he invited
me to the Cape.
Betty Warren: Oh Connie, I don't keep track of his dates. They've been on-again,
off-again for the past few years.
Connie Baker: No, no apparently they've been off-again for a while. For quite a while.
Betty Warren: So?
Connie Baker: So you made me believe that he was hiding me! Either way, why
couldn't you let me be happy?
________________________________________
Bill Dunbar: [to Katherine] You didn't come to Wellesley to help people find their way.
You came to Wellesley to help people find *your* way.
________________________________________
Betty Warren: Miss Watson, can you help me get in touch with that friend of yours in
Greenwich Village?
Mrs. Warren: Oh, what do you need in Greenwich Village?
Betty Warren: An apartment. I filed for a divorce this morning. And since we know
I'm not welcome in your house. You remember Giselle Levy? What did you call her?
"A New York Kike", that's it. Well, we're going to be room mates.
________________________________________
Betty Warren: 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. By the time you read this, she'll be sailing to Europe, where I
14
know she'll find new walls to break down and new ideas to replace them with. I've
heard her called a quitter for leaving, an aimless wanderer. But not all who wander
are aimless. Especially not those who seek truth beyond tradition; beyond definition;
beyond the image.
________________________________________
Katherine Watson: There are seven law schools within 45 minutes of Philadelphia.
You can study and get dinner on the table by 5:00.
Joan Brandwyn: It's too late.
Katherine Watson: No, some of them accept late admissions! Now, I was upset at first,
I can tell you that. When Tommy came to me at the dance and told me he was
accepted to Penn, I thought, 'Oh God, her fate is sealed! She's worked so hard, how
can she throw it all away?' But then I realized you won't have to! You can bake your
cake and eat it too! It's just wonderful!
Joan Brandwyn: We're married. We eloped over the weekend. Turned out he was
petrified of a bit ceremony, so we did a sort of spur-of-the-moment thing. Very
romantic.
[Katherine is stunned]
Joan Brandwyn: It was my choice, not to go. He would have supported it.
Katherine Watson: But you don't have to choose!
Joan Brandwyn: No, I have to. I want a home, I want a family! That's not something
I'll sacrifice.
Katherine Watson: No one's asking you to sacrifice that, Joan. I just want you to
understand that you can do both.
Joan Brandwyn: Do you think I'll wake up one morning and regret not being a
lawyer?
Katherine Watson: Yes, I'm afraid that you will.
Joan Brandwyn: Not as much as I'd regret not having a family, not being there to raise
them. I know exactly what I'm doing and it doesn't make me any less smart. This
must seem terrible to you.
Katherine Watson: I didn't say that.
Joan Brandwyn: Sure you did. You always do. You stand in class and tell us to look
beyond the image, but you don't. To you a housewife is someone who sold her soul
for a center hall colonial. She has no depth, no intellect, no interests. You're the one
who said I could do anything I wanted. This is what I want.
________________________________________
Katherine Watson: I can assure all of you this is the place I want to be more than
anything.
________________________________________
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Amanda Armstrong: [to Katherine] Be careful, they can smell fear.
________________________________________
Katherine Watson: [to the class] This is history of art.
________________________________________
Katherine Watson: [to Bill] To hell with Wellesley. I'm done! Damn it!
________________________________________
Katherine Watson: Could it get worse?
________________________________________
Bill Dunbar: [to Katherine] Women need heroes, Katherine.
________________________________________
Giselle Levy: Do I look a little bit like her? I think she's fabulous.
________________________________________
Katherine Watson: [to Bill] Good bye. Good morning.
________________________________________
Katherine Watson: You can confirm to what other people expect of you, or...
Betty Warren: I know. Be ourselves.
________________________________________
Katherine Watson: See past the paint. Let's open our minds to a different idea.
________________________________________
Connie Baker: Do you swear not to repeat what you see or smell here tonight?
Katherine Watson: Smell?
Connie Baker: Yes, smell. Hands up.
________________________________________
Bill Dunbar: So how does a guy get to know you better, then?
Katherine Watson: Well, let me see. That's a good idea.
________________________________________
Bill Dunbar: [to Katherine] This place needs you, Katherine. We all do.
________________________________________
Bill Dunbar: [to Katherine] Ciao, Mona Lisa.
Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0304415/quotes taken on Aug. 07 2009
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