fundamental. Cult Classics
- Lou Palin
- Feb 4, 2017
- 4 min read
The Graduate
Poster for Mike Nicholls’ The Graduate. Image by Insomnia Cured Here on Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
50 years later, Mike Nichols’ cult classic still captures our post-university anxiety.
It’s that time again, when final year students have started to apply for graduate schemes and the job-searching panic and fear of the future start to hit. Perhaps also the ideal time to revisit an old Hollywood classic…
While Mike Nichols’ 1967 The Graduate is often remembered as the infamous story of a forbidden affair between Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) and the much older Mrs Robinson (Anne Bancroft), the film delves into the anxiety and pressure felt by new graduates like no other.
Although a lot has changed in the past 50 years, Benjamin’s quarter-life crisis isn’t symptomatic of his time: in an age when the number of 21 to 30-year-old graduates in skilled work keeps dropping, the film could just as well be depicting the current struggles of generations Y and Z in an economically changed world – we see the future as bleak and lacking opportunities, even more so than Benjamin.
From the opening scenes, Nichols paints a picture of both his lead character’s aloofness and angst: a close-up of Benjamin Braddock on an airport moving walkway, in his own reverie, as Simon and Garfunkel’s Sound of Silence plays. We then cut to a scene in Ben’s room where he voices his concerns to his father as guests are waiting downstairs at his graduation party: « Ben: I’m just… Dad: Worried? Ben: (sighs) Well… Dad: About what? Ben: I guess about my future. Dad: What about it? Ben: I just don’t know. I want it to be… Dad: To be what? Ben: …different. »
In his search for something different, Ben gets caught up in an affair with a married friend of his parents, femme fatale Mrs Robinson, who shamelessly seduces him when he drives her home one night.
While the film became a paradigm of sexual exploration, the story isn’t about sex. Rather it’s about Ben’s journey towards coming to terms with those feelings of disconnect and the uncertain future before him.
Even as Ben gets bombarded with questions about his promising future and his parents pressure him to think about grad school, he aimlessly spends his days by the pool and his nights meeting his older lover, all the while yearning for a more fulfilling life.
As Ben grows increasingly guilty and uneasy about the affair, he meets Elaine (Katharine Ross), Mrs Robinson’s daughter, and falls under her charm.
The character of Elaine feels like a breath of fresh air, and the time Ben spends with her a relief to the almost claustrophobic environment of his own home and his relationship with the older characters of the film, be it his parents or Mrs Robinson.
In a memorable scene, Ben’s father makes him show off his new birthday present to their friends: an apprehensive Ben comes out of the house in brand new scuba gear and gets pushed into the deep end against his wishes, a loaded metaphor for the daunting future he’s thrown towards. He is then seen submerged, unable to hear the voices of the adults above him.
Water is a recurring motif in the movie, with multiple scenes by the pool or the aquarium, and for good reason: for most of the film, Ben very much seems like a fish out of water, alienated and misunderstood, letting his life happen to him rather than taking control of events. Even the affair, perhaps his only act of rebellion, is instigated by Mrs Robinson.
In fact, both Elaine and Mrs Robinson seem to be way more in control compared to Benjamin and the film was perhaps ahead of its time when it comes to its portrayal of female characters, showing strong and multifaceted women.
When his father asks him: “What were those four years of college for? What was the point of all that hard work?”, Ben replies nonchalantly: “You got me“. The character seems subject to an existential crisis of sorts, reiterating throughout the film that he is “a little worried” about his future. The Graduate manages to encapsulate the still relevant anxiety of leaving the bubble of university and pressure to succeed outside of school, nowadays amplified by the fear of even finding a job.
When it came out in the 1960s, the film represented what the youth counterculture of the time was about, the hippie movement that rejected those middle class ideals and materialism; but today, the sentiment still rings true. Underneath its romantic comedy tropes, The Graduate is indeed an acute social satire, showing the white suburban middle class as superficial and materialistic.
While Ben could be seen as an immature privileged kid, Dustin Hoffman’s portrayal and impeccable comedic timing make him wonderfully awkward and ethical, and instantly relatable. His struggles still feel familiar to the disillusioned young adults of today as he embodies the awkwardness of transitioning into adulthood.
Now, even on its 50th anniversary, mention The Graduate to anyone and images of the seductive Mrs Robinson, Benjamin Braddock’s naïve quotes or Simon and Garfunkel’s score come to mind. But it’s the film’s ability to capture the feelings of self-doubt and uncertainty that so many recent graduates fall victim to that makes this coming-of-age story timeless.
If the review has put you in the mood to listen to some Simon and Garfunkel, here's The Graduate's soundtrack on Spotify:
Comments