Mike Nichols’ 1968 classic, The Graduate, is a stirring, hilarious, and intimate portrait of American life at the end of the 60’s. The film provides a fascinating examination of the relationships and conflicts that exist between individuals separated by age and class. The main protagonist of the film, Ben Braddock, in a quest to cure his oppressive boredom and disgust with the soulless qualities inherent in his parent’s generation, launches himself into an affair with the wife of his father’s business partner, Mrs. Robinson. This beautiful film is a great example of a media text which is specifically geared towards a specific population, namely the youth population.
The film, when viewed in its historical context, is symbolic of the dissatisfaction and rebellion which was brewing amongst the youth population in 1968 America and was destined to explode in the early 1970’s. The film remains a perfect statement about each generation of youth and remains relevant today where we find ourselves struggling with disturbingly similar issues. The film explores how each generation strives desperately to not repeat the mistakes of their parents and how each person hopes that they will be able to carve out their own unique place in the world.
The themes and ideas explored by The Graduate and the struggles of the main character, Benjamin, are easily relatable to many college students as they attempt to answer serious questions about their identity, their past experiences, and their future plans. As our world lies in current economic, social, and political ruin my generation can only look upon the horror that our parent’s generation has brought about with genuine shock, disgust, and perhaps if we are lucky, hope. We must hope that we can inherit this awful mess of a planet and work to make the world a better place. On a much smaller scale, Benjamin Braddock sees hope for his own personal future through Mrs. Robinson’s daughter, Elaine. After engaging in a torrid, exhausting, stressful, and somewhat depressing affair with the sexy yet pathetic Mrs. Robinson, Benjamin sees Elaine as something untouched, innocent, and full of spirit. This is exactly what he needs to break him out of his daze and set him out on a more direct path to a sense of happiness.
The Graduate does not necessarily provide many answers to the questions it raises, but the general idea of wholeheartedly pursuing your own source of happiness and hope is explored in a terrifically complex manner. The film’s final statement on this idea comes with the final scene, where Benjamin steals Elaine away from her nasty parents and her arranged marriage to the odious Carl Smith. As the two run away from the church they board a strange bus which appears to be traveling to the middle of nowhere. The couple sits and laughs at their good fortune of finally escaping the harmful influences of their parent’s generation but slowly their smiles fade away right before the film ends. I believe that with this final scene the final point of the film comes across. Everyone, including our parent’s generation, and their parent’s generation, and their parents generation is trying to make their own path through life the best they can, and nobody knows where their life choices will take them.
Adam Mohrbacher
02/23/2009
www.rottentomatoes.com/m/graduate/
Adam, I think you stumble onto an angle in this piece that could really contribute something new to discussions of a much, much, much discussed movie. No one is going to learn much from the big reveal that The Graduate has special appeal for college students--hell, you could get that from the title--but your reconsideration of the film from a contemporary student perspective in light of the Current Economic Climate has real promise. I'd love to see the whole review pursue that angle, especially since the general info you provide probably isn't needed if the film is, as you generally assert, iconic.
ReplyDeleteOne other thing: pasting a URL into the text is NOT a link!! Cut it out, and give me some actual links!