1. It’s almost unreal to see a young Dustin Hoffman and to know that he was nominated for his first ever-starring role in The Graduate. The film is mostly a tale about a boy coming home from college and not knowing what lies ahead and is filled with Simon and Garfunkel music to make you want to go buy the soundtrack after hearing it non-stop. This movie was also aimed at the college students at the time who were protesting the war in Vietnam and captured their interest in being one of the first youth rebellion movies. The ending was also a triumph and the birth of the first anti-hero.
2. Just from watching the movie, I thought that Mrs. Robinson, played by Anne Bancroft, was much older then Ben just by the way they looked, but Dustin is only six years younger than her. Maybe there was a lot of makeup to make her look older, but I’m not sure if it was that or if she was just aging really fast. The other part about the movie that I haven’t seen in any of the others were the use of camera angles and how they showed some of the shots going through some of the objects. Like in the beginning and Mrs. Robinson opens her legs and you see Ben through them or at the hotel through a whole in the desk, I thought those were pretty cool. http://www.destinationhollywood.com/movies/graduate/funfeatures_content.shtml
3. Many of the things from this site can be related to the film. Almost everything just sheds some light onto what went into the film and how it separates it from others during its time. From the shots this film uses to be more artsy to the way it is the birth of the anti-hero, this film was a game changer that many films today can’t seem to do. It’s a timeless film that has a target audience that will always find this film relatable and that is a true testament to the film itself.
4. Out of all the films in this class, The Graduate might be my favorite because it is the one that is most relevant to what is going on in my life. I’m nearing the end of my college education and have no idea how the world is going to treat me once I leave. Like Ben, I’m uncertain about my future and tired of everyone getting on me about it when all I want to do is relax and take my time to figure out what I want to do. I can totally relate what is going on in my life right now with this film and makes me wonder if I will have some of the similar experiences that Ben is having.
I know that I won’t have an affair with an older woman or go after a girl who is getting married to some other guy because I love her, but I know that there are going to be times where people just understand what I’m dealing with and will draw me to them in some sort of way. Just like how Ben instantly falls in love with Elaine Robinson, played by Katharine Ross, he is just looking for someone to understand what he is going through and listen to what he has to say rather than have his family and friends pressure him into escaping to Mrs. Robinson. The time where a man needs to be a man isn’t always going to be an easy transition, just like how leaving an institution that has been teaching you for almost 20 years can leave people with a sense of displacement when they finally have to enter the workforce and find out just what it is they want to do. Sometimes you have to go against the morals of society to be happy and as long as it doesn’t cause anyone harm, the way that you find your path should be the way that you live your life.
