The recent film Mona Lisa Smile, directed and scripted by Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, takes place in a 1953 setting at Wellesley College, a prestigious women's college. This film allows people to get an inside look into the society of a time that struggled with maintaining a conservative appearance while secretly desiring the new ideals and women's rights that were arising. In following the lives of four young 'Wellesley girls,' and a few revolutionary thinkers, we are forced to see both sides of the argument.
             In a time of conformity, Ms. Watson, played by Julia Roberts, presented numerous ideals contrary to what was expected. In the 1950's, a privileged girl of that age was expected to obtain an education for the sole purpose of pleasing her husband. Knowledge was a trophy; an accomplishment of a privileged girl meant to increase her chances of marrying in the right family. However, Ms. Watson believed it a crime to strive for academic excellence with no intentions of using it in the future. She believed that a woman was capable to live the dream of having a family, as well as a career. This forward attitude created individualism and allowed Ms. Watson to stand out, apart from the cookie cutter image that women were expected to show.
             Upon Ms. Watson's arrival, she found it difficult to adjust to the girls' high levels of conformity, not only in social manners, but also in their academics. As she entered her first class, she was exposed to an atmosphere that expected the students to not only know the topic of discussion, but to be well versed on its related controversies. At first she felt useless and intimidated. She was taken back by their structured memorization of a subject that, she felt should be about emotion and personal critique. She began to realize that she would have to reach them on a more emotional level. Instead of sticking to the trained respo
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