The Graduate was released in 1967, which was about twenty years before I was born. The fact that this film was so easily relatable is something that as a twenty-three year old I would not have guessed before I saw this film. The story is about Ben who at twenty-one just graduated college and is now back at home trying to figure out his life. He finds himself sparking a relationship with his father’s partner’s wife, who is considerably much older than he is. Ben finds himself stuck in a rut not sure what to do, and continuously ends up in the same bed with the ever striking Mrs. Robinson. He is then forced to go on a date with Mrs. Robinson’s daughter Elaine. At first he is reluctant to see her, but then after a few hours falls completely in love with her. Which is a problem for Mrs. Robinson. There is a lot of drama that occurs after, which includes Mrs. Robinson blowing the cover of their relationship, and Elaine going back to college not speaking to Ben. Ben chases after her and follows her to school where he waits for months asking her everyday if she will marry him. Finally Ben finds out that she will be getting married to another man, and runs in dramatic fashion to the chapel and grabs her and runs out right as she is to be married. There are so many different aspects of this film. The reason why I can honestly relate to this film has nothing to do with the relationships that Ben creates. As a twenty-three year old I know what its like to not know what you are going to do after you graduate. Its a bizarre period of time where you try and make the most of the time that you have, and try and start a successful career. Ben is confused, as I think most of us in our twenties are. The main storyline for most of the film is Ben trying to win back Elaine, and I think subconsciously that also means that Ben finally figured out what he wants to do. His parents are always on him to go to grad school, and rebelling to him is spending his nights out.
In class we discussed how even though what Dustin Hoffman’s character is doing is very morally wrong, and he should be the bad guy, we can almost sympathize for him and root for him in the end. I think the reasoning for that, is that as the viewer you realize how at some point we have all mad mistakes. We have all be confused, and maybe not to the same degree as Ben have been in situations where we probably should not be. He realizes what he wants, and knows what he has to do to get it. At that moment when drives to Stanford you see him trying to do right, and for that you can root for him.
Besides the interesting and depth story lines that include emotion, romance, and confusion this film has also been praised for its cinematic beauty. At the time there had not been a film that had used interesting camera shots as the The Graduate had. The scene that I felt was the most true to this was when Ben was in the pool underwater, just floating around, and saw the adults on the top of the water looking down at him. At that moment he felt like he was submerged in problems and doubt and the adults symbolized success, they knew what they were doing. Overall I enjoyed this film more than any other the others that we watched. Like I mentioned before can relate to Ben’s character.
