You are in for a good time if you have not seen "Mona Lisa Smile," particularly if you enjoy films about cold, catty women who lie constantly. In other words, the movie's a feminist lesson for post-feminist moviegoers who never understood the big whoop about keeping one's name after marriage.The setting is Wellesley College, Eisenhower era, when the goal of any normal girl was none other than marriage. Period. For Betty (Kirsten Dunst), the traditionalist alpha girl, marriage to a suitable society catch is all she and her mother dream of.
Julia Roberts comes in as Katherine Watson, a freethinking art history professor. In her prime, she's a cookie-cutter original, one of those colorful teachers disliked by the rest of the faculty because she's different. She arrives, bringing little more than a box of slides that include modern art.
Now in my opinion, I find that the film illustrates quite a good deal on how the four "idols" or distortions get in the way of clear thinking. As such, we shall now take a closer look at how the idols are illuminated in the film to give you, dear reader, an idea of their definitions.
Idols of the Tribe refers to fallacies in thinking due to human nature. As it was depicted during the movie, the female students of Wellesley College were both born and bred up to be women who have been taught to believe that marriage and housewifery was the only meaningful option for women of their class and that it was guaranteed to provide fulfillment.
When Joan Brandwyn (Julia Stiles) decided to apply for law school at Harvard after her graduation, her best friend, Betty Warren (Kirsten Dunst) was anything but uncritical towards the notion of not keeping a strict adherence to tradition. She accused Joan of not pursuing her initial 'dreams' of having a family and criticizes their teacher, Katherine, for even possessing the nerve to encourage her friend in submitting her law application.
Idols of the Cave are the individual prejudices we bring with us because of our own backgrounds and personalities. For instance, Katherine Watson (Julia Roberts), an art history graduate, came to the prestigious and conservative school not only to teach the brightest girls in the country, but to challenge the conservative administration. She had hope to inspire her students to look the image of what is and consider the possibilities of what could be. Naturally this puts her in direct opposition to the school authorities, as well as parents of some of her students. Therefore, because the college isn't accustomed to her 'different' methods of teaching, they turned against her hoping to uphold the old-fashioned and narrow-minded way of the school's legacy.
Idols of the Marketplace are social in nature and centres on imprecise use of language. If you have seen the film, you would probably remember that Betty Warren was not just a mere student at Wellesley College. She was also the editor of the school's newspaper, and during her time when Miss Watson was still an art history teacher, she wrote two articles. One was about a teacher who distributed condoms to one of her students to promote 'safe sex' and the other was on Katherine's poor disregard for their traditions just because she was subversive, which in turn led to retrenchment and a heed of warning from the school's authorities respectively. Betty's impact of words variously used without attention to their true meaning only in turn condition the understanding and breed fallacies that the two instructors were both disruptive to the system.
Idols of the Theatre are fallacies that occur when we accept fashionable ideas uncritically. Betty is a perfect example of this. As the daughter of the alumni association president, she stridently fights to maintain Wellesley's traditionalistic policies for she has been groomed from an early age to follow into her mother's footsteps - a thorough education, a perfect marriage to a prominent family, and for all appearances, a happy life. She did not question, but simply follow like the obedient child she was. So we see here that false superstructures are raised on false foundations, and in the end systems barren of merit parade their grandeur on the stage of the world.
And that's my take on the four idols. What's yours?
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2 comments:
hmmm, i don't take communications so i am not very knowledgeable on the 4 idols and their definitions as you have explained in ur entry. though i somehow, just based on my opinion and on ur entry alone, find that there is a fine line between idols of the cave and idols of the theatre. maybe you would like to clarify this?
so to clarify, Kai...
idols of the Cave are those which arise within the mind of the individual. This mind is symbolically a cavern. The thoughts of the individual roam about in this dark cave and are variously modified by temperament, education, habit, environment, and accident. Thus an individual who dedicates his mind to some particular branch of learning becomes possessed by his own peculiar interest, and interprets all other learning according to the colors of his own devotion.
while Idols of the Theater are those which are due to sophistry and false learning. These idols are built up in the field of theology, philosophy, and science, and because they are defended by learned groups are accepted without question by the masses. When false philosophies have been cultivated and have attained a wide sphere of dominion in the world of the intellect they are no longer questioned.
maybe in my entry my illustrations are not neither clear nor concrete enough. thanks for pointing that out tho. :)
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