The Graduate: A Film for Then and Now

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 two different generations are also reflected in other dualities: the two rival women (young innocent daughter Elaine and the older seductress Mrs. Robinson), the two California settings (Los Angeles and Berkeley), South and North California cultures (materialistic vs. intellectual), and finally the devision in Benjamin’s character (morally drifting and indecisive vs. committed).” (Dirks).

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. It seems to be a reciprocal process for each generation to view their parent’s generation in a extremely negative and critical light. Early on in the film Benjamin is pulled aside by his father’s business partner, Mr. Robinson, and told that there is a great future in “plastics”. This statement can be interpreted as a comment on how Benjamin perceives the lives and behaviors of his parents and their friends. He interprets their lives as being  devoid of any real warmth or purpose, and although they are shiny on the surface, these lives are actually artificial and insincere. Benjamin clearly displays feelings of isolation and apathy for the activities of his parents. In one scene his father relentlessly pushes Benjamin to come out and show off the new scuba suit that he has bought and forced Benjamin to wear. Benjamin is nearly forced into the family’s swimming pool and he sits at the bottom of the pool quietly alone in his own blue world. He mutely stares up at his family and his parent friends who are above the water line.    

This timeless film still holds relevance to the state of America in the present day. 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. However, it is almost by accident that Benjamin discovers that Elaine is someone whom he could forge a real connection with.  During one scene Benjamin is forced into taking Elaine out on a date. He intentionally behaves in an extremely rude and even offensive manner due to Mrs. Robinson’s warnings that she does not want Benjamin involved with her daughter. Because of his crass behavior Benjamin moves Elaine to tears and this triggers a extremely important character change inside of Benjamin. Benjamin realizes that Elaine is someone who has not surrendered to many of the qualities that Benjamin observes in his parent’s generation. She is someone who is the prime of her life and is ready and able to experience pain, hope, desire, fear, and most of all love. 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. The film is smart enough to recognize that a rebellious reaction to a certain lifestyle or pattern of thought doesn’t really provide any sort of definite answer. 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. Benjamin and Elaine’s struggles are not over by any means. They are responsible for making their lives how they want them. However, they have finally taken positive steps to live their own lives and move away from exterior influences. 

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/graduate/

http://www.filmsite.org/grad.html