The Graduate Introduction Introduction
Release Year: 1967
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Director: Mike Nichols
Writer: Calder Willingham, Buck Henry, Charles Webb (novel)
Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft
Sometimes, you can get a killer outfit for a bargain basement price.
When producer Lawrence Turman optioned the rights to Charles Webb's novel The Graduate for $1,000, he probably had no idea that it would eventually become a major cultural phenomenon. For one thing, the book itself had…not been. But after Turman, along with director Mike Nichols (fresh off the critical success of the movie version of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?), screenwriter Buck Henry, and the movie's cast—including Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft in their now iconic roles—got through with it, it had morphed into one of the masterpieces of American cinema.
The Graduate is a classic "coming of age" movie, right up there with Mighty Ducks 5 and The Karate Kid 3. Of course, Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman in a breakthrough role) isn't an eccentric high school kid trying to go to prom with a slightly less eccentric girl. No, that's a sub-plot from Sixteen Candles. This kid has just graduated from college and has no idea what to do with his life. In the process of figuring it out, he's seduced by his parents' glamorous friend, starts an affair with her, and falls in love with her daughter.
Oops.
The Graduate, which was pretty racy for its time, became a counter-culture classic. And Benjamin Braddock wasn't even a hippie. There are no drugs, no references to Vietnam, no political protests, no long hair. Benjamin's a clean-cut privileged child of wealthy suburban parents who just feels out of place in their world. He's the poster child for alienation and anomie.
Premiering in 1967, the film went on to scoop up a Best Director Oscar for directing phenom Mike Nichols and Oscar nominations for newcomer Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross, and Turman (for Best Picture, as producer). It broke box office records for many of the theaters that screened it and ended up as the highest-grossing film of 1967. It was a critical success as well, landing at #7 on AFI's 100 Best Movies list (before falling to #17 on a later AFI revision of the same list—still not too bad).
The film turned Dustin Hoffman into a household name and cemented Nichols' reputation. After The Graduate, romantic leading men no longer had to be conventionally tall, confident, good-looking movie star types. Different was in. Smart was cool. Nerdy and awkward were okay. All you young actors of that description—you know who you are—have The Graduate to thank for that.
While definitely a period piece, most critics find that The Graduate remains fresh. It still manages to resonate because of its universal themes: trying to find your direction in life, navigating the confusing waters of love and sex, wondering why exactly you went to college, clueless parents…the list goes on. Audiences, especially young audiences, relate to Ben: his anxiety about his future, his rejection of his parents' values, and his seriously bad decisions.
It's funny, depressing, and philosophical. And we didn't even mention the soundtrack.
Why Should I Care?
Shmoop isn't trying to seduce you.
We swear. That's not what this pair of virgin banana daiquiris and Michael Bolton's softly playing "Greatest Hits" are all about.
We're just trying to get you to watch The Graduate.
The Graduate is one of the all-time, classic "alienated youth" films, so if you happen to be someone who is trying to figure out what you're supposed to be doing in life apart from what society expects from you, the film's apparently targeted at you. But what if you're not a recent college graduate from the mid-1960s with contempt for your parents and everything they stand for? How can you still relate to The Graduate? How can you groove on those freaky vibes of the film, and get hip to that cosmic jive in an appropriately drug-free manner? Shmoop has the answers. (And there aren't really any hippies in The Graduate, thus rendering our '60s-lingo shtick woefully off base).
The "Real World"
Eventually, you are going to be tossed into the Real World, probably screaming and covered in refuse. When you get there, you'll be faced with at least some of the same dilemmas that Benjamin Braddock faced. Hopefully you don't get involved in some weird relationship with your parents' friend, but you might find yourself entertaining the same thoughts as Benjamin, who wants his future to be "different" and have some higher purpose. You also might find yourself drifting on a metaphorical inner tube, swirling on a sea of discontent and disillusionment. You might find your sense of self to be a little shaky.
Of course, The Graduate doesn't so much solve these problems as it does empathize. It takes a guy with fairly typical feelings of disappointment and confusion, then watches him while he tries to figure things out. Benjamin's not a bad boy renegade or even a rebel, really. He's just a little aimless, something which can resonate with all of us at some point.
On the other hand, Ben's a privileged kid and a former BMOC at the classy eastern college he attended—track star, great grades, editor, fellowship winner. If the typical trajectory of law school or whatever didn't appeal to him, it seems he could have figured out some way to give his life some meaning other than sleeping with Mrs. Robinson and running away with her daughter (after about two dates, btw). Seriously, this was 1967. How about the Peace Corps? Anti-war activism? Volunteering at a health clinic for the poor? Mind-expanding drugs? (Just kidding, although it was a popular solution at the time.) Instead, he makes a few impulsive moves and considers himself decisive and committed at last.
While you're watching the film, consider this: is Benjamin finally taking his life into his own hands and becoming an independent young man who can finally break away from his parents' expectations? Or is he a self-indulgent rich kid who can't get out of his own way? Maybe the answer to that depends on whether you're 18 or 68. It's worth studying the film to see how director Mike Nichols creates sympathy for this anxious, aimless kid who's got everything going for him but can't get going.