Lessons Beyond The Classroom

In two separate classrooms, one filled with young women in pearls and the other full of boys wearing ties and blazers, two teachers challenge everything that their students think they know about a successful life. Dead Poets Society and Mona Lisa Smile, on the surface, may appear to be two completely different movies; however, both tell a similar story: What happens when education stops being about thinking and starts revolving around conformity. Even many years later, these films describe how gender shapes our ideas of rebellion. 

In the film Mona Lisa Smile, Katherine Watson, played by Julia Roberts, walks into a classroom expecting to find knowledge-hungry young women. Instead, she finds that all of her students are being prepped for marriage rather than a career. Similarly, when the teacher, John Keating (Robin Williams), from The Dead Poets Society, enters his classroom, his students, being men, face the opposite pressure. Male students are being trained to become future strong leaders and providers. Different gender, same problem: being forced into a lifestyle by the facade of excellence. While both professors attempt to push back on these ingrained ideals, it remains true to the audience and the students that society’s reactions based on their gender are what matter. 

When watching these two movies recently, I realized that when women think, it is perceived as rebellion, and when men feel, it’s a tragedy. Katherine Watson pushed the young women in her class to believe that they can have a life outside of being a housewife. This is quite radical thinking for her time, and though her students do begin to question if marriage is simply destiny or habit, rebellion still looks like it is a choice. Keating differs in encouraging his male students to feel something. The definition of masculinity that has been drilled into the young boys’ minds centers around stoicism. Keating takes his students on a journey of self-expression and vulnerability. It is quite a silly thing when you think about it. When women rebel, they are labeled as difficult. When men rebel, they are crushed by pressure. Both genders are losing something, just in different ways. 

In the end, neither classroom wins its personal revolutions. Katherine leaves the school with quiet pride, while Keating leaves in heartbreak and guilt. Both, however, leave behind students who will never see the world the same way again. And honestly? That is the part that still seems relevant to college students today. Many modern students have a five-year plan, or a need to achieve perfect grades and follow someone else’s definition of success. These films remind us that education is meant to open up our minds to new opportunities, not box us in. 

While both of these movies may be set in another era, their messages are timeless. Overall, freedom doesn’t look the same for everyone, regardless of gender, age, or background. For some, it is about finding their unique voice. For others, it is finding the confidence to use it. And just maybe, like Katherine Watson or John Keating, many of us are still learning how to proudly stand on a desk or walk out of a room when society and the world are telling us to sit still. 

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