Mona Lisa Smile (2003) - Quotes

Discovering Beyond What They Had

Taglines: They had everything. She showed them more.

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Empowering Women to Embrace Their Lives

Taglines: In a world that told them how to think, she showed them how to live.

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Seeking Independence and New Beginnings

Betty Warren: Ms. Watson, can you get me in touch with your friend at Greenwich Village?

Mrs. Warren: [rudely pulls her to the side] What do you need at Greenwich Village?

Betty Warren: [confronting her mother] An apartment. I filed for divorce and since you 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, she and I are going to be roommates.

Giselle Levy: [going to Betty] Hi. Are you ready?

Betty Warren: Yeah.

Katherine Watson: [Betty nods] You ok. Greenwich Village.

Betty Warren: For a while. Then who knows, maybe law school. Maybe Yale.

Katherine Watson: [proud of Betty] Well, I wouldn't go up against you in any court, anywhere.

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Future Aspirations and Traditional Roles

Katherine Watson: [''Looking over Joan's file''] Pre-law? Well... have you decided which law school you're going to?

Joan Brandwyn: Well, I haven't really thought much about it. After Wellesley, I plan on getting married.

Katherine Watson: And then what?

Joan Brandwyn: [''confused''] And then... I'll be married.

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Challenging Societal Expectations of Women

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 Wellesley graduate, Magna Cum Laude doing exactly what she was trained to do. Slide. A Rhodes scholar. I wonder is she reciting 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?

Katherine Watson: what did it say? um... the roles you were born to fill

Katherine Watson: is that right? the roles you were born to fill?... It's, uh, it's my mistake.

Katherine Watson: Class dismissed.

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Unexpected Invitations at a Social Gathering

Katherine Watson: [''about Betty's Wedding''] This is quite the event. I'm surprised I was invited.

Bill Dunbar: [''beat''] Well, look around you. Who wasn't?

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Late Night Conversations and Misunderstandings

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.

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Caution Against Unwanted Seating Arrangements

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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Teaching Aspirations in a Conservative Environment

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.

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The Illusion of Future Possibilities

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.

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Balancing Choices: Home and Personal Ambitions

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 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 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.

Joan Brandwyn: 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: [''hugs Joan''] Congratulations. Be happy.