Wellesley girls who are married have become quite adept at balancing their obligations....

Mona Lisa Smile • 2003
One hears such comments as
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Quote

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...
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]


Transcript

00:00:01.328 --> 00:00:05.736
Married Wellesley girls have become quite adept at balancing obligations.
00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:07.561
One hears such comments as:
00:00:07.728 --> 00:00:12.103
"I baste the chicken with one hand and outline the paper with the other."
00:00:12.272 --> 00:00:15.338
While our mothers were called to work for Lady Liberty...
00:00:15.505 --> 00:00:20.294
...it is our duty, nay, obligation to reclaim our place in the home...
00:00:20.464 --> 00:00:24.839
...bearing the children that will carry our traditions into the future.
00:00:25.991 --> 00:00:28.717
One must pause to consider why Miss Katherine Watson...
00:00:28.088 --> 00:00:31.084
...instructor in the Art History department...
00:00:31.248 --> 00:00:35.003
...has decided to declare war on the holy sacrament of marriage.
00:00:35.184 --> 00:00:38.664
Her subversive and political teachings encourage our Wellesley girls...
00:00:38.832 --> 00:00:42.247
...to reject the roles they were born to fill.
00:00:58.544 --> 00:01:00.003
Thank you.
00:01:19.001 --> 00:01:21.999
Slide.
00:01:23.001 --> 00:01:26.255
- Contemporary art. - That's just an advertisement.
00:01:26.416 --> 00:01:27.976
Quiet!
00:01:29.744 --> 00:01:32.297
Today you just listen.
00:01:34.004 --> 00:01:37.001
What will the future scholars see when they study us?
00:01:39.535 --> 00:01:43.003
A portrait of women today?
00:01:45.776 --> 00:01:47.001
There you are, ladies.
00:01:48.999 --> 00:01:50.001
The perfect likeness of a Wellesley graduate.
00:01:50.703 --> 00:01:56.137
Magna cum laude, doing exactly what she was trained to do.
00:01:56.304 --> 00:01:57.514
Slide.
00:01:59.152 --> 00:02:00.999
A Rhodes scholar.
00:02:02.608 --> 00:02:06.999
I wonder if she recites Chaucer while she presses her husband's shirts.
00:02:06.048 --> 00:02:07.069
Slide.
00:02:09.001 --> 00:02:13.001
Now, you physics majors can calculate the mass and volume...
00:02:13.999 --> 00:02:16.202
...of every meat loaf you make. Slide.
00:02:17.999 --> 00:02:19.999
A girdle to set you free.
00:02:19.696 --> 00:02:21.001
What does that mean?
00:02:26.001 --> 00:02:28.809
What does that mean?
00:02:30.011 --> 00:02:32.998
What does it mean?
00:02:36.999 --> 00:02:38.999
I give up.
00:02:40.001 --> 00:02:42.149
You win.
00:02:42.001 --> 00:02:46.923
The smartest women in the country.
00:02:49.999 --> 00:02:54.001
I didn't realize that by demanding excellence...
00:02:54.999 --> 00:02:57.678
...I would be challenging...
00:02:59.999 --> 00:03:01.999
What did it say?
00:03:03.001 --> 00:03:05.446
What did it say?
00:03:07.001 --> 00:03:11.119
"The roles you were born to fill."
00:03:11.001 --> 00:03:13.839
Is that right?
00:03:17.001 --> 00:03:19.999
The roles you were born to fill?
00:03:26.999 --> 00:03:29.999
It's my mistake.
00:03:41.679 --> 00:03:43.916
Class dismissed.
00:03:55.001 --> 00:03:59.001
These girls... Are you proud, President Carr?
00:04:00.001 --> 00:04:04.002
- Yes, actually, I am. - Well, you should be, I guess.
00:04:04.999 --> 00:04:07.471
Half of them are married. The other half, give it a month or so.
00:04:07.631 --> 00:04:09.999
It's really only a matter of time.
00:04:09.084 --> 00:04:12.996
They're biding time until somebody proposes!
00:04:12.001 --> 00:04:14.001
A hundred years ago, it was inconceivable for a woman...
00:04:15.989 --> 00:04:16.002
...to be a college graduate.
00:04:16.001 --> 00:04:19.404
Perhaps you should look back to see how far we've come.
00:04:19.001 --> 00:04:22.999
I'm sorry, from where I sit, it's just a different kind of corset.
00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:26.998
- Well, we can all use a little support. - Oh, like Amanda Armstrong?
00:04:27.001 --> 00:04:29.999
- She broke the law! - According to Betty Warren.
00:04:29.423 --> 00:04:31.001
According to the state of Massachusetts.
00:04:35.001 --> 00:04:37.003
To hell with Wellesley. I'm done.
00:04:39.999 --> 00:04:41.998
Goddamn it!
00:04:43.998 --> 00:04:46.994
It's brilliant, really. A perfect ruse.
00:04:46.255 --> 00:04:49.955
A finishing school disguised as a college. They got me.
00:04:49.997 --> 00:04:51.991
- What do you expect? - More. More.
00:04:51.999 --> 00:04:54.003
I thought it was a place for tomorrow's leaders, not their wives.

Clip duration: 296 seconds
Views: 199
Timestamp in movie: 01h 05m 08s
Uploaded: 08 September, 2021
Genres: drama
Summary: The story of Katherine Ann Watson, a feminist teacher who studied at UCLA graduate school and in 1953 left her boyfriend behind in Los Angeles, California to teach at Wellesley College, a conservative women's private liberal arts college in Massachusetts, United States.


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Actors

Betty Warren - Kirsten Dunst
Connie Baker - Ginnifer Goodwin